How Is My Property Taxes Assessed?
Understanding how your property taxes are calculated can often feel like unraveling one of the deepest mysteries of the universe. However, it’s vitally important that you get your arms around this tax, if you are subject to it, as it’s often a large expense that you may be saddled with for a lifetime. Property taxes can vary wildly, not only between different areas of the country, but even between different parts of the same municipality. Just how do property taxes work? Shouldn’t they be the same for everyone? First, Real Property Versus Personal Property When we refer to “property taxes,” what we really mean is “real property tax.” The term “real property” means the land you own and everything that is permanently affixed to it. For example, if you have a stick-built house, a garage, a shed with a permanent foundation — these are all things that would be considered “real property.” On the other hand, you may also have “personal property,” which is basically anything else th...