California Property Taxes

Removing certain taxes is something the CA Legislature can control to lessen the current financial strain on middle class  Californians. Income taxes and sales tax pose greater political obstacles at the revision stage, and payroll taxes fund Medicare and Social Security to a large extent – therefore California would do well to look carefully at decreasing or putting property taxes on hold, until the pandemic lifts and normalcy has returned to some degree.

The California Legislature proposing tax deferments for a few months will not help the state if thousands of homeowners are about to be foreclosed on and evicted – hence paying no property taxes thereafter; as an example of non-taxation that the government will survive without for a year or two.  Putting property taxes on hold  would not trouble California in any meaningful way.

Certainly, lowering or removing property taxes is a logical solution for property owners who are in trouble all over the state. Insisting on all property taxes being paid no matter what is a poor answer right now, as long as the Covid crisis continues causing shutdowns, mass unemployment, widespread under-employment, and unprecedented health issues.

If pausing property taxes is not a realistic possibility, then the state government would be wise to spend more time and energy educating the public on property tax breaks that are available to them, such as how to still take advantage of Prop 58, as well as Proposition 13 and who, as well as how, folks can make use of Proposition 19. Communications on this to educate the public in California is not nearly as robust as it could be.

Increased, easy to understand information dissemination on Proposition 13 and Proposition 58, as well as Proposition 19 and parent to child property tax transfer on an inherited home.  This would help Californians take more advantage of sibling-to-sibling CA property transfer in conjunction with Prop 19; to become more familiar with parent-child transfer rights – taking advantage of every key property tax break… establishing an exemption from paying  current, property tax rates when inheriting or transferring a primary residence, within a 12-month period.

More residents should be exposed to information about getting a trust loan, to take advantage of a sibling-to-sibling CA property transfer in concert with Proposition 19, to be able to lock in a low Proposition 13 property tax base – buying out siblings’ inherited property tax shares without issues, plus equalizing distribution, in fact for more money than an outside buyer would offer, for heirs that want to sell their inherited property shares.

. All of these decreases would help California to assist residents in spending less on taxes, if not implementing a total hold on property taxes until the pandemic is completely under control and life returns to normal in California, and throughout America as a whole.