In an earlier post I detailed how last year you paid more income taxes than ExxonMobil, Bank of America, and General Electric combined, even though they made billions of dollars in 2009! In fact, Bank of America and General Electric received billions of dollars in tax refunds and credits last year.
But the rich and powerful not only receive mega income tax breaks but also property tax breaks. Yankee baseball player, Alex Rodriguez, will only pay $1,200 per year on a luxury condo on the Upper West Side of Manhattan when the customary real estate tax would be $60,000 for property with a fair market value of $6 million! Is this tax equity in our laws? A $33 million per year baseball player only pays $100 per month of real estate taxes on a $6 million condo in the plushest of areas of Manhattan?! When will the American taxpayers awake from their catatonic stupor and tar and feather all of these crooks in Congress, the White House, City Hall, Governor’s mansions, state legislatures, mayors’ offices, and municipal councils?
In this particular instance, how does Alex the $33 million man get away with paying less real estate property taxes than you? Needless to say, the local politicians of New York City inserted a little tax loophole called the section 421A program, which grants as much as a 98% percent tax abatement for up to 25 years to condo owners in newly built housing. But since land values are extraordinarily high in Manhattan, anything newly constructed would need to be luxury in order to be economically feasible. Smart, huh? Those crafty demons.
It is estimated that this one more tax cut for the rich costs the City of New York as much as $1 billion every year! And A-Rod pays virtually no real estate taxes while the middle class gets hammered with real estate taxes in Manhattan and elsewhere. LOL!
Isn’t America a great country? If you’re rich, that is.
Accountants CPA Hartford, LLC