Don't understand Idaho's high taxes (Boise, Idaho Falls: sale, schools, taxi)

[boi2socal]

The grass is always greener, apparently. No matter what.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by volosong

At least in Idaho, I can get a CCW permit. They don't issue them in Los Angeles county.

Yup. But you are also more likely to get shot in a crossfire between the good guys and bad guys, too.
It nearly happened here just last Sunday when a bunch of bounty hunters tried to capture a bond jumper and a shoot-out resulted. Several people came out of their apartments, ready to join the gunfight. The bond jumper was killed, but several of the bounty hunters came very close to becoming targets themselves. They started flashing their badges real fast after the shooting stopped.

Given the power of a .44 mag, there were a lot of innocents in the apartment complex that could have been hit by a stray slug that can penetrate dry wall with no problems.

A volunteer shootist was killed in Moscow a few years ago in a gunfight that broke out there. It's always possible good people carrying a gun can end up just as dead as a bad guy in any gunfight.

The ease of obtaining CCW permits may prove to be a double-edged sword; while I'm sure some carriers are good with their weapons and are completely responsible in their use, I'm also sure not everyone who carries here is any good at either. Expertise is completely voluntary, and not required for a permit.

And right now, roughly 1 of every 22 of us is carrying a concealed weapon.

[Sage of Sagle]

Hey...how about we stay on topic, folks? With a few exceptions, we're just wandering here...

[newtocolumbia]

Try Portugal sales tax at 23%.

[LionFamily]

Originally Posted by newtocolumbia

Try Portugal sales tax at 23%.

[newtocolumbia]

Thread CLOSED. Reason: everyone got shocked and died.

[zed42]

Originally Posted by ScottStielow

Also. Military retirement is taxed, until your reach age 65 than i believe you can get a waiver. Any other Federal retirement is also affected, not including RR Retirement, along with any 401k or TSP( similar to a 401 or a Roth) Savings programs.
I do not pay state taxes in Hawaii on my Military retirement. Its worse than Washington or Idaho on all other taxes.

You do not need a waiver for military requirement upon reaching 65. It is exempt, all you do is complete Idaho Form 39R. In addition Social Security income is not taxed in Idaho.

[Rogarven]

Interesting . The guy from Austin is correct. Our property tax rate here in TX is high. And sales tax is 8 and 1/4 in our city . The good thing is there is NO state income tax. I have been looking at AZ and there are many deductions in their state income tax. Their property tax is about a quarter of ours. I appreciate learning about taxes in ID.

[f5fstop]

Property taxes can change drastically from where in a state you live. However, on an average, ID is a tiny bit lower than AZ and UT is a tiny bit lower than ID. But where I lived in UT, UT was a lot higher than where I live now in ID.

Here's one chart that shows some average rates per state...
Property Tax Rates By State 2015 - Tax-Rates.org

Here's another...
Property Taxes on Owner-Occupied Housing by State, 2004 - 2009 | Tax Foundation

For a fair comparison you need to determine where, in each state, you want to live, and then look at the property tax rate.

But from my experience when first starting my search for where to retire to, AZ was not a cheap state to live in; at least in the Sedona or other areas at a higher altitude for a more moderate climate. But it all depends on where and what type of climate you want to move to.

[Linda_d]

Originally Posted by KurtAngleDoesn'tSuck

Exactly. You don't understand.
Most families receive a $100 per person grocery tax credit per year.
Idaho grocery credit - Idaho State Tax Commission
The tax on a single person's income of $10,718 is less than 3%.
Anything they make over and above that is taxed at 7.4%
Individual Income tax rate schedule - Idaho State Tax Commission

^^^

Originally Posted by Sage of Sagle

Perhaps it's in relation to the state from which you relocate...

Compared to California, the difference in state and county taxes and "fees" and regulatory "fees" and costs of compliance are over $10k per year in my pocket since relocating here.

It depends upon the state. My state income tax in Idaho in 2015 would have been about $3500+ based on KADS's table, which is $700+ more than it actually was in supposedly high tax New York.

Originally Posted by f5fstop

For me, a Retiree, ID is better than the two previous states I lived in, UT and MI. And I believe more tax friendly than TN.
Not the friendliest, but I did not want to move to AZ, NV or SD, and only places in WY I liked were too expensive to live (western side of state) and I certainly was not moving to the southeast.

State-by-State Guide to Taxes on Retirees-Kiplinger

Keep in mind that when these guides are created, especially by investment oriented entitites, they are usually based on high-income individuals because Kiplinger's wants to sell investments. About 90% of New Yorkers have taxable incomes of less than $60,000 a year, so the high rates that many of these articles use in their calculations only apply to a small % of taxpayers.

When I retire, my state income tax in NY will drop to around $ 0 because NYS doesn't tax SS nor does it tax NYS pensions (I will have some investment income). I'd still have to pay about $2000 in state tax in Idaho I think.

NYS doesn't have sales tax on food, prescription/nonprescription drugs, clothing & shoes under $110 per item, certain types of entertainment tickets although some local governments do have sales taxes on those items except food and drugs. That's an important consideration for seniors on fixed income, especially if they are lower income.

NYS real estate taxes are high because the local governments provide lots of public services (ie, most roads in NY in my county are paved, unlike the mud tracks in neighboring PA), but there are a large variety of senior apartment communities around, including subsidized ones for low income seniors, even in small towns. There's also a state tax break for seniors on school taxes, which are a major component of senior's tax bills. My school tax will drop between $500 and $600 this year because I turned 65.

In short, whether a state is a good choice for retirement all depends upon your individual situation. For low or moderate income retirees, NYS is not nearly the tax hell that the Kiplinger's article made it seem. OTOH, taxes are not the only thing that drives COL ... popular so-called "low tax" retirement states like Florida or coastal South Carolina, for example, are costly in other ways, such as high homeowners' insurance because of the fairly regular threat of hurricanes and/or flooding. What does it matter if you pay $2300 in real estate taxes and $700 in HO insurance or if you pay $ 1000 in real estate taxes and $2000 in HO insurance? It's still $3k out of your pocket.