By Tara Losinski, Money Wise | With no income tax, Tennessee can seem like an attractive option for American families — and businesses — looking to lower costs. However, as the Financial Times reports, a resulting boom in the state’s capital, has driven up sales and property tax.
Tom Morales, owner of Nashville’s Acme Feed & Seed, told the news outlet that when he opened the property tax bill for the four-floor music venue this past October, he was shocked to see it had gone from $129,000 a year to $589,000.
“You just open up the envelope and say, ‘What? This can’t be right,'” said Morales, who had wanted to leave the business to his children. “Having a business you can give to your kids is something you dream about. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve just ruined their lives.'”
“We were thinking it would go up 30, 40 percent; I could never have imagined it was going to go up 380 or 400 percent,” added his daughter, Lauren.
A funding shortfall
As the Tax Foundation notes, states with high property taxes can rely heavily on them to make up for low — or no — tax in other categories, like zero income tax in the case of Tennessee (although it does have the second-highest combined state and local tax rate, at 9.61%, behind Louisiana, 10.11%, but ahead of Washington, 9.51%).
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Go here to read more of this disaster for property owners:
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/economy/policy/articles/I’ve-just-ruined-lives-nashville-130500215.html
