Property taxes are the ones based on real estate valuation such as homes, lands, and commercial buildings. You pay this tax based on the property location and its current market value, and almost every person has to pay the property tax every year. Therefore, it is best to understand the core and calculations involved in it.
First, you must know that the federal government has nothing to do with property tax. Instead, local governments collect these taxes, and therefore, these taxes vary significantly in every state and community worldwide.
Local governments use this revenue to fund schools, police, fire departments, road construction, and other services.
To calculate this tax, you must know the actual value of the property. Therefore, we will tell you different ways to access the property value. After that, we will also show you how to calculate tax rates on various properties.
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How to access your property value
A local tax officer assesses your property value every year or just once in five years, depending on the state’s laws you live in. Some ways you can check your property value are:
Sales comparison
The assessor will check the values of properties sold in the same area and compare them with your resident. After this, it will check whether your home is more or less valuable than sold buildings. For example, if your home is well-furnished than those properties, the assessor will add more value to the accounts.
The cost method
If your property is older, then the assessor will access your property via the cost method. This assessment technique will see how much money it will take to build the house from the ground up, including labor and material costs. Furthermore, he/she will also include the land cost in this assessment method.
Income method
This method suits best for commercial buildings and business properties. The assessor estimates how much income that property will earn if it is rented out based on maintenance cost, rental rates, and insurance expenses.
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How to calculate your property tax
The general procedure behind property tax is simple. Local tax officers determine your land value by the above-given assessment methods and then charge you based on the price of building and ground according to the state laws.
These tax laws are different for vacant lands, household buildings, community, and commercial properties.
Mileage rate
Also referred to as “mill levy,” is the tax applied to the property’s assessed value. One mill is usually $1 tax per $1000 of the assessed value. Local governments set mill rates depending on the total value of the property within their jurisdiction and use this revenue in different projects.
You can assess your property tax by multiplying the estimated value with the mill rate and dividing it by 1000. Keep in mind that the mill rate can be different for different towns, cities, districts, and counties. Let me explain this with an example.
Suppose you have a property value of $150,000 with a mill rate of 6 in your state. Then, use the above formula, multiply the value with mill rate ($150,000 x 6) and divide by 1000; you will get $900 property tax.
Bottom line
Almost two-thirds of the world population own houses and other properties and have to pay property tax. Therefore, you must be aware of all the details of it. This article discusses how the local government assesses your property value and applies tax that you can see above.
We hope that you can calculate your property tax now. However, if you are still facing any difficulty, feel free to contact us for any help!
Writer and content creator interested in Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Jobs and landlord issues. I have a bachelor’s degree in Communication from the Andrés Bello Catholic University, VE, and I also studied at Chatham University, USA. In this blog I write and collect information of interest around agreements, property and mortgage.