Free Republic

Michigan's highest court this month dealt another blow to the practice known as home equity theft, further chipping away at the state's ability to seize people's homes and keep the profits when owners accrue modest tax debts. That such a decision was necessary is troubling for a few reasons. There is, of course, the perversion of the practice itself, which has seen the government rob people effectively of everything they have when they're already down on their luck. Michigan woman Tawanda Hall, for example, fell $900 behind on her property taxes; with penalties, interests, and fees, she owed $22,642. So...

As Tax Day nears, fiscally conservative leaders in several states are pushing to abolish property taxes, with one Pennsylvania lawmaker arguing that homeowners shouldn’t have to "pay rent" to the government. That lawmaker, state Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon, spoke to Fox News Digital on Thursday ahead of his latest effort to end the collection of such taxes in the Keystone State. Diamond will put forward a resolution — titled HB 900 — which Fox News Digital learned exclusively will be filed imminently. The document is a draft constitutional amendment he hopes will go to the voters on Election Day, and...

A senior from Montana has delivered a viral speech about the sorry state of property taxes in the Treasure State. “I’m on Social Security, I’m 68-years-old and working just to pay my taxes,” says Kurt, in a clip shared on TikTok by Ryan Busse, who is running to be the next governor of Montana. Kurt claims that over the last couple of years, his annual property taxes have soared from $895 to almost $8,000 — an increase of around 790% — which he says is like paying almost “$700 a month rent to the state to live in our own...

Rumors are flying that the health-care legislation Congress passed this year will impose a sales tax on all real estate sales. But the rumors are based only partly on fact. Although there is a new tax, it will not apply to everyone, and existing tax breaks for home sales will remain in place. The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which President Obama signed into law March 30, is comprehensive and complex. Section 1402, "Unearned Income Medicare Contribution," imposes a 3.8 percent tax on profits from the sale of real estate -- residential or investment. But the levy...

Once the fatted lamb of upper income earners is consummed, and it won't be long, the next lamb for slaughter will be personal property. Like all other taxes it will be said to be small and only a tax on those with a higher net worth. Make no mistake as time goes on, and it won't be long, the percentage will increase and the floor will drop.