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Renters are already paying all of the property tax. The expenses for any business (including being a landlord) are, in the long term, paid by the customers. Oth

Renters are already paying all of the property tax. The expenses for any business (including being a landlord) are, in the long term, paid by the customers. Otherwise the business becomes insolvent.

AznHisoka 9y ago
I concede renters may be paying a part of it. However if a landlord is like a business owner, and property tax is a business expense, why should they not be allowed to deduct it (just like any other business expense)? Amazon has expenses too related to storing products in warehouses, which they can deduct. Part of that cost is priced into the product. So in theory, customers should be able to deduct a portion of every product they buy from Amazon?
- SmellTheGlove 9y ago
  Just my opinion, but society benefits from having manageable costs of living. I acknowledge that landlords have a business to run, but we also have a policy favoring ownership. Not allowing a property tax or non-occupied mortgage interest deduction raises the costs of being a landlord, disfavoring that activity a bit from a policy perspective. That, in turn, may lower housing costs (and increase owner-occupation of primary residences) by taking some landlords out of that market. We built a broad middle class by favoring home ownership, allowing regular folks to build wealth in the form of their primary residence. I think we need to get back to that, and that does mean making policy decisions that eats into the margins of landlords.
  - Turing_Machine 9y ago
    > allowing regular folks to build wealth in the form of their primary residence Sometimes that's true, sometimes it isn't. Sometimes people wind up with underwater mortgages, rather than building wealth.
- Turing_Machine 9y ago
  I don't think other business expenses should be deductible either, as that incentivizes inefficient businesses. I would favor eliminating all business deductions, combined with lowering the tax rate enough to make the change revenue neutral.

Renters are already paying all of the property tax. The expenses for any business (including being a landlord) are, in the long term, paid by the customers. Otherwise the business becomes insolvent.

AznHisoka 9y ago

I concede renters may be paying a part of it. However if a landlord is like a business owner, and property tax is a business expense, why should they not be allowed to deduct it (just like any other business expense)? Amazon has expenses too related to storing products in warehouses, which they can deduct. Part of that cost is priced into the product. So in theory, customers should be able to deduct a portion of every product they buy from Amazon?

SmellTheGlove 9y ago
Just my opinion, but society benefits from having manageable costs of living. I acknowledge that landlords have a business to run, but we also have a policy favoring ownership. Not allowing a property tax or non-occupied mortgage interest deduction raises the costs of being a landlord, disfavoring that activity a bit from a policy perspective. That, in turn, may lower housing costs (and increase owner-occupation of primary residences) by taking some landlords out of that market. We built a broad middle class by favoring home ownership, allowing regular folks to build wealth in the form of their primary residence. I think we need to get back to that, and that does mean making policy decisions that eats into the margins of landlords.
- Turing_Machine 9y ago
  > allowing regular folks to build wealth in the form of their primary residence Sometimes that's true, sometimes it isn't. Sometimes people wind up with underwater mortgages, rather than building wealth.
Turing_Machine 9y ago
I don't think other business expenses should be deductible either, as that incentivizes inefficient businesses. I would favor eliminating all business deductions, combined with lowering the tax rate enough to make the change revenue neutral.