The Five stages of Tax Grief
Ironflight said:
I'm all for sharing information on this and other topics related to our passion - I'm generally not very paranoid....
Just my 2 cents.....(after tax value, of course)
"You are not paranoid unless they are really are out to get you." author unknown
That is true but it is what it is. There is no escaping death and taxes. The info is out there already. I get your point where all Texas RV owners get together and not "fight each other". I know you are not saying this but collusion and evasion of paying taxes will get you into deep doo-doo.
I liken this to a loss and the grieving process:
1. Denial, shock and Isolation:
2. Anger:
3. Bargaining:
4. Depression:
5. Acceptance:
You can fight it. Say that they have to prove you owe tax, but that likely will not work. I hate it and got a few letters like this. I found personally the sooner I paid it and got it over with, the better I felt, sooner.
In states that have property tax, sales tax, income tax, use tax (boat & plane) and personal property, we have to pay.
There are no secrets. The data is already out there. My point is don't falsify records or lie. You can forget (Gonzales style 60-70 times) but don't make it up. When you intentionally evade taxes, and they can prove that, the more trouble you can get.
My estate lawyer who also does taxes told me about another airline pilot she represented; He made up an out of state address to avoid state income tax. He got caught and she helped him avoid jail and fines, but he still had to pay the tax plus interest. Some Northwest pilots made the news a year or so ago. They went to jail for tax evasion. Now this was federal and state income tax, but the point is made.
We all go through the five stages of tax grief like you all, but we all pay.
I guess its good and I'm blessed I have money and a plane that I have to pay taxes on.
I thought about starting a transition training business with my RV, since I have all the CFI tickets. It would have lowerd some tax bills, but when I worked out the savings in tax, verses the cost in extra insurance, time and effort verses income, I would go broke avoiding paying a little tax.
There's nothing wrong with trying to pay as little as (legally) possible. They expect that and probably will deal with you if its reasonable. The tax guys may be lazy, but they are not dumb. They don't want a fight they want money and move cases.
What really surprised me is the Texas 8.25% rate! Usually on big ticket items like planes and boats they have a lower tax rate.
Texas does not have income tax, so there you go. As some one wrote some states take income tax and personal property tax. Texas has no income tax, so they are going to stick it to you in other areas, property / plane tax.
Tax General:
Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming have not income tax. New Hampshire and Tennessee limit their state income taxes to dividends and interest income only. Vermont is the worse at 9.5% income tax.
Texas is 39th in (overall) taxes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_tax_levels
Massachusetts is the worst.
Does any one have a list of tax on airplanes / personal property by state?