Filling the Budget Hole with Struggling Homeowners

This is teh stupid (0.00 / 0)

Now my advice for those who die
Declare the pennies on your eyes
-George Harrison

...the Doo Dah Man once told me you've got to play your hand. Sometimes the cards ain't worth a dime if you don't lay 'em down.

---

by: rambler american @ Sun May 31, 2009 at 05:54:45 AM CDT

Agree (4.00 / 4)

It is not a good idea. One story I read said the tax would be paid by the banks. No, it won't, it will be passed through to the homeowner, no matter how they couch the language.

One of the ironies of the budget discussions ever year is that everyone talks about the overburdened property owners, but that is the same well they keep going back to, Like LCHIP - another cost passed onto buyers of real estate.  And now this?  We already have one of the highest transfer tax rates in the country. It would be one thing if the tax was imposed on the portion that was not used to pay off an existing mortgage - in other words, tax the equity being pulled out. But to tax people who are trying to put their families into a better position with a lower interest rate?  That stinks.    



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

---

by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Sun May 31, 2009 at 06:54:00 AM CDT

Yes! (0.00 / 0)

It would be one thing if the tax was imposed on the portion that was not used to pay off an existing mortgage - in other words, tax the equity being pulled out. But to tax people who are trying to put their families into a better position with a lower interest rate?

That's the crux, right there.

birch, finch, beech

---

by: Dean Barker @ Sun May 31, 2009 at 17:32:13 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

taxing the equity (4.00 / 1)

when the equity is going down - and when the entire purchase price has already been taxed once - and the entire value of the home is taxed at rates up to 4.5% every year - is just plain nuts.

How far do we have to go in this absurd and destructive direction before people realize that here, in one of the wealthiest states in the nation, we have a budget crunch because the "New Hampshire Advantage" is an advantage FOR THE RICH?

And that the "advantage" is that here, they have arranged to HAVE THE POOR PAY THEIR SHARE OF TAXES INSTEAD??

Sorry to yell, but I have absolutely had it up to here on this issue. Every day we perpetuate this atrocity that is our tax system is a crime against every low income person in this state.

Beverly Woods For NH State Senate

---

by: beverlywoods @ Sun May 31, 2009 at 21:58:15 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Yeah, (0.00 / 0)

I think the whole idea should be scrapped, but Kathy's point is a good one.

birch, finch, beech

---

by: Dean Barker @ Mon Jun 01, 2009 at 04:36:02 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Scrap the whole thing (4.00 / 1)

Taxing struggling home owners who are trying to get their payments under control is no way to balance the budget.

Neither is taxing the equity folks cash out.  

There are many reasonable reasons folks cash out equity.  Like sending their kids or themselves to college.

And some of them - paying for needed home repairs or financing a small business - even create jobs and good old taxable business profits.  Things we should want to encourage right about now.

So let's just scrap the whole idea.

---

by: Karen @ Sun May 31, 2009 at 18:31:31 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

God forbid we tax people based upon their ability to pay (ie their income from whatever source). (4.00 / 3)

Now I need to wash my mouth out with soap.

"But, in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope." Si se puede. Yes we can.  

---

by: Paul Twomey @ Sun May 31, 2009 at 09:55:20 AM CDT

Fair Tax Inevitable (4.00 / 1)

The only variable is the measure of pain.
The longer we put it off, the more pain there is.

Gambling costs much more than it would pay; that's a non-solution.

There will be cuts this year that will hurt more than people think. There will be higher fees, which will also cause harm.

The dynamic never seems to change; sweep the problem under the rug year after year after year.
How long will it take until that bump gets so big NH trips and falls? The more time we avoid the inevitable (tax fairness) the more pain we will have inflicted on ourselves.  

And to say the year Lynch won was a referundum on the income tax is inaccurate. Sure that was an issue, but there were personalities which weighed heavily into the outcome.

Save NH: fair tax now!


No'm Sayn?

---

by: BurtCohen @ Sun May 31, 2009 at 16:30:35 PM CDT

Maybe, but come up with a different name. (0.00 / 0)

When I hear "Fair Tax", I think of the silly proposal for national sales tax to replace all other federal taxes.

---

by: This Was The Moment @ Sun May 31, 2009 at 16:47:01 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Definition (0.00 / 0)

It is stated on BH again and again:
What is fair is a tax based on ability to pay.

My home doesn't write any checks to pay taxes.
I do. No matter what kind of tax it is, the source is our wallets. What fills our wallets? Our income.

No'm Sayn?

---

by: BurtCohen @ Sun May 31, 2009 at 17:46:46 PM CDT

[ Parent ]