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Re: Texas Statewide Proposition 9, November 2019 Election

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 9:25 am
by Libertarian666
MangoMan wrote:
Thu Nov 07, 2019 8:59 am
Libertarian666 wrote:
Thu Nov 07, 2019 8:34 am

If and when we move to a higher cost area near Austin, our taxes will go WAY up, probably tripling in all due to the higher rate and more expensive housing.
Why on earth would someone with your views want to move to highly liberal Austin? I assume it's pretty conservative where you are now?
Not in Austin, near Austin. It's a 55+ retirement community that is very conservative overall: https://www.sctexas.org/club/scripts/se ... .asp?NS=HP

Re: Texas Statewide Proposition 9, November 2019 Election

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:05 am
by Tyler
ochotona wrote:
Thu Nov 07, 2019 8:17 am
I know many of you gush about Texas, but I just looked at my property taxes, and they exceed 2% of the value of my property, which is pretty bad in my view. It's not a low tax State... it could be depending on your holdings and your sources of income. It's a mixed bag.
Yeah, property taxes are high in Texas. I've paid ~2.5% average between Dallas and Austin. It ain't cheap, and they almost always find a way to raise appraisals the maximum amount each year. But the thing I like about property taxes is that because they're tied to a consumption item you do have some amount of control in terms of the house you buy. And despite the high rate and rising housing costs, homes are still generally a lot cheaper in Texas than they are elsewhere. Double the property tax percentage on a house 1/4th the price is still half the overall tax paid compared to a similar home in California.

In any case, I see the amendment as a way to make it harder for politicians to institute an income tax on top of the already high property taxes. Because you know the type interested in creating an income tax would not be the same type to look to reduce taxes elsewhere.

Re: Texas Statewide Proposition 9, November 2019 Election

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 4:31 pm
by ochotona
Pug, can't you move to Indiana?

Re: Texas Statewide Proposition 9, November 2019 Election

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 7:48 pm
by Kriegsspiel
My property taxes are like 3.5% of what I bought my house for.

From what I remember, Texas had pretty cheap electricity in addition to its low taxes. I don't really buy much so sales tax doesn't affect me.

Re: Texas Statewide Proposition 9, November 2019 Election

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2019 8:57 am
by vnatale
Kriegsspiel wrote:
Thu Nov 07, 2019 7:48 pm
My property taxes are like 3.5% of what I bought my house for.

From what I remember, Texas had pretty cheap electricity in addition to its low taxes. I don't really buy much so sales tax doesn't affect me.
Using what you bought your house for as a denominator is a different measure than using its current assessed value (or fair market value) if you bought your house awhile ago and there is a major disparity between the two values. I bought my house on April 30, 1982 for about $30,000 and it is now assessed for about $165,000 so using those two in the denominators would lead to major differences in percent of the current taxes I am paying.

Vinny

Re: Texas Statewide Proposition 9, November 2019 Election

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2019 1:08 pm
by FarmerD
Libertarian666 wrote:
Wed Nov 06, 2019 7:03 pm
jhogue wrote:
Wed Nov 06, 2019 6:49 pm
Do you know of any plans for Texas to strike their own gold coins?
That would not be Constitutional: https://www.heritage.org/constitution/# ... te-coinage
But recognizing privately minted coins as legal tender would be perfectly Constitutional.
I'm pretty sure they are going to do that.

I have also heard that they have plans to issue debit and/or credit cards settled by transferring ownership of gold held in collective storage.
I visited the Depository a few weeks ago and talked to the Texas Comptroller Representative. He said once the debit card is issued, you can sell some of your precious metal to the US Gold Bureau (they are co-located at the depository) and they will deposit dollars to fund your debit card account. So there apparently will not be any kind of collective storage nor will they be actually transferring gold from your account to someone else's account (except to US Gold Bureau).
I specifically asked the representative if the IRS would be able to tax a state run gold backed currency as Texas will be doing. He would not go into detail with me but did offer that Texas has sent several letters to the IRS on this issue over the past couple years but have not gotten any written replies. To me it's obvious the IRS knows they can't levy taxes on gold sales but are just stalling for time and hoping Texas drops the issue.

Re: Texas Statewide Proposition 9, November 2019 Election

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2019 2:35 pm
by Xan
A wealth tax would still be pretty effective against this, I would think.

Re: Texas Statewide Proposition 9, November 2019 Election

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2019 5:38 pm
by Kriegsspiel
vnatale wrote:
Fri Nov 08, 2019 8:57 am
Kriegsspiel wrote:
Thu Nov 07, 2019 7:48 pm
My property taxes are like 3.5% of what I bought my house for.

From what I remember, Texas had pretty cheap electricity in addition to its low taxes. I don't really buy much so sales tax doesn't affect me.
Using what you bought your house for as a denominator is a different measure than using its current assessed value (or fair market value) if you bought your house awhile ago and there is a major disparity between the two values. I bought my house on April 30, 1982 for about $30,000 and it is now assessed for about $165,000 so using those two in the denominators would lead to major differences in percent of the current taxes I am paying.

Vinny
I bought it last summer, it's probably worth a few thousand more right now, but whatever.

Re: Texas Statewide Proposition 9, November 2019 Election

Posted: Sat Nov 09, 2019 5:34 am
by Libertarian666
FarmerD wrote:
Fri Nov 08, 2019 1:08 pm
Libertarian666 wrote:
Wed Nov 06, 2019 7:03 pm
jhogue wrote:
Wed Nov 06, 2019 6:49 pm
Do you know of any plans for Texas to strike their own gold coins?
That would not be Constitutional: https://www.heritage.org/constitution/# ... te-coinage
But recognizing privately minted coins as legal tender would be perfectly Constitutional.
I'm pretty sure they are going to do that.

I have also heard that they have plans to issue debit and/or credit cards settled by transferring ownership of gold held in collective storage.
I visited the Depository a few weeks ago and talked to the Texas Comptroller Representative. He said once the debit card is issued, you can sell some of your precious metal to the US Gold Bureau (they are co-located at the depository) and they will deposit dollars to fund your debit card account. So there apparently will not be any kind of collective storage nor will they be actually transferring gold from your account to someone else's account (except to US Gold Bureau).
They are indeed planning to have collective storage:

"Will the Texas Bullion Depository ever have a pooled storage offering?
A: The depository will offer a pooled method for storing gold or other precious metals in the future."

(from https://www.texasbulliondepository.gov/faqs)

And the person I usually talk to there told me that this was going to be set up so that you could transfer an amount of gold to collective storage and use your book entry in the collective storage to back the debit card. That way you wouldn't have to leave a lot of money tied up in cash but could leave it in gold.

Re: Texas Statewide Proposition 9, November 2019 Election

Posted: Sat Nov 09, 2019 5:35 am
by Libertarian666
MangoMan wrote:
Fri Nov 08, 2019 2:26 pm
Would that also apply to non-Texas residents who invest?
I don't think it would matter where the owner lived for that purpose.

Re: Texas Statewide Proposition 9, November 2019 Election

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 9:21 am
by FarmerD
Libertarian666 wrote:
Sat Nov 09, 2019 5:34 am
FarmerD wrote:
Fri Nov 08, 2019 1:08 pm
Libertarian666 wrote:
Wed Nov 06, 2019 7:03 pm


That would not be Constitutional: https://www.heritage.org/constitution/# ... te-coinage
But recognizing privately minted coins as legal tender would be perfectly Constitutional.
I'm pretty sure they are going to do that.

I have also heard that they have plans to issue debit and/or credit cards settled by transferring ownership of gold held in collective storage.
I visited the Depository a few weeks ago and talked to the Texas Comptroller Representative. He said once the debit card is issued, you can sell some of your precious metal to the US Gold Bureau (they are co-located at the depository) and they will deposit dollars to fund your debit card account. So there apparently will not be any kind of collective storage nor will they be actually transferring gold from your account to someone else's account (except to US Gold Bureau).
They are indeed planning to have collective storage:

"Will the Texas Bullion Depository ever have a pooled storage offering?
A: The depository will offer a pooled method for storing gold or other precious metals in the future."

(from https://www.texasbulliondepository.gov/faqs)

And the person I usually talk to there told me that this was going to be set up so that you could transfer an amount of gold to collective storage and use your book entry in the collective storage to back the debit card. That way you wouldn't have to leave a lot of money tied up in cash but could leave it in gold.
I'm confused now. I wonder if "collective storage" and US Gold Bureau's working inventory are the same thing? I'll be visiting the Depository again in a couple weeks and I'll try to clarify.