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Some states in the US do have high property taxes. Texas, for example, hovers around 3%, and it's generally a much healthier fiscal environment for residents t

by nugget 11y ago

Some states in the US do have high property taxes. Texas, for example, hovers around 3%, and it's generally a much healthier fiscal environment for residents than states with lower property taxes (and higher income taxes), such as California.

seanmcdirmid 11y ago
Property taxes encourage good behavior in making people use their property productively. With property taxes, you just can't sit on property as a form of speculation, which would take it out of use to the detriment of the local economy. In china, even in first tier cities, you have a huge number of apartments that are unoccupied because they are bought for speculation reasons alone. China has a huge problem, however, in that property was bought already with upfront taxes and the assumption of no property taxes. Introducing a property tax now is going to make those people mad, understandably.
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  > China has a huge problem, however, in that property was bought already with upfront taxes and the assumption of no property taxes. Introducing a property tax now is going to make those people mad, understandably. Why would you assume economic rules would never change? Just because there is no tax today does not mean there's no tax tomorrow. If anything, you should aways be assuming taxes will be higher in the future.
  - seanmcdirmid 11y ago
    You buy X in the states knowing the rules of how X is taxed. Property taxes might go up on X in the future, but you know that. Now consider buying X in China. You have to pay a tax up front, and the developer paid a tax (or well, paid for the land). Also, X's price is much higher since the assumption is that X will not be taxed in the future. Now China introduces a completely new property tax on X and all your assumptions are destroyed. The rules of the game are different, and now you can't resell X under the same assumptions.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]

by nugget 11y ago

seanmcdirmid 11y ago

Property taxes encourage good behavior in making people use their property productively. With property taxes, you just can't sit on property as a form of speculation, which would take it out of use to the detriment of the local economy. In china, even in first tier cities, you have a huge number of apartments that are unoccupied because they are bought for speculation reasons alone. China has a huge problem, however, in that property was bought already with upfront taxes and the assumption of no property taxes. Introducing a property tax now is going to make those people mad, understandably.

toomuchtodo 11y ago
> China has a huge problem, however, in that property was bought already with upfront taxes and the assumption of no property taxes. Introducing a property tax now is going to make those people mad, understandably. Why would you assume economic rules would never change? Just because there is no tax today does not mean there's no tax tomorrow. If anything, you should aways be assuming taxes will be higher in the future.
- seanmcdirmid 11y ago
  You buy X in the states knowing the rules of how X is taxed. Property taxes might go up on X in the future, but you know that. Now consider buying X in China. You have to pay a tax up front, and the developer paid a tax (or well, paid for the land). Also, X's price is much higher since the assumption is that X will not be taxed in the future. Now China introduces a completely new property tax on X and all your assumptions are destroyed. The rules of the game are different, and now you can't resell X under the same assumptions.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]