No, I’m not going to envoke a lively conversation on whom you should vote for as our next Commander in Chief. I will, however, encourage you to vote “Yes” on Proposition 100. A “Yes” vote will protect your home from a Real Estate Transfer Tax.
“What is a Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT)?”, you ask.
A real estate transfer tax (RETT) is a state or local government imposed tax that is collected when you transfer ownership of your home, land or commercial real estate.
Some states in the Midwest & Eastern part of the country have this tax and it is now up to as much as 8% of the sales price of your home. Just imagine, selling a home for $250,000 and owing a $20,000 TAX ! What may start as an innocent .47% tax has (in other states) grown over the years to a much higher rate. Once the tax source is approved, the tax rate may be changed without further voter input.
Why YES! Means
NO TO DOUBLE TAXATION!
You may wonder why a “Yes” vote stops double taxation? Good question!
By voting “Yes“, you are approving a citizens’ initiative that will amend the Arizona Constitution and provide the best protection our homes can have against the damaging effects of a real estate transfer tax.
While we currently do not have a real estate transfer tax, there is nothing prohibiting state or local governments from enacting one at any time. The best possible way to stop the state legislature or any special interest from ever enacting this tax is to amend the Arizona Constitution, prohibiting this tax. And to amend the Arizona Constitution you need to vote “Yes” on the amendment.
So, to ensure there is never a Real Estate Transfer Tax you will need to vote “Yes” on the Protect Our Homes Initiative. This is a unique example of when “Yes” actually means “NO” to a tax.
Across the nation, 36 states have unfortunately authorized real estate transfer taxes on individual homes and properties just like yours to raise revenues to fund government bureaucracies. However, since governments already collect taxes on your property based on the property’s value, this new tax would unfairly cause a second tax to impact your home or property.
As we have all seen recently with the budget fight at the state capitol and in some of our state’s cities and towns – government has been growing at a faster rate than the revenues currently provided by the taxpayers. New sources of revenue come from additional taxes – which could be through a real estate transfer tax, causing the double taxation of your home, property or the transfer of your home or property into a trust.
Fortunately, a group of concerned citizens, backed by the Arizona Association of REALTORS®, is working to give the voters of Arizona the opportunity to protect their homes and property from double taxation through the Protect Our Homes Initiative.
On November 4th, 2008, voting “YES” on the Protect Our Homes Initiative, brought to the ballot by Arizona’s registered voters, would prevent Arizona’s state or local government s from EVER targeting our homes or property with a real estate transfer tax.
Instead of waiting and working to repeal a tax, we are working to stop the tax from ever being applied to the sale or transfer of our homes and property and damaging our hard-earned equity.
How about that? Stopping a tax before it ever has the chance to be raised! That is why “Yes” means “No” to double taxation on your home!
So please, join the Protect Our Homes Coalition and help us to spread the word, learn more about the initiative and get your family, friends and neighbors to understand that in this case voting “Yes” will actually mean “No” to:
- Double Taxation on our home and property.
- Reducing the equity in our homes and property
- Hurting lower income families through increased purchasing costs.
- Slowing down even further a real estate market that is already negatively impacting many Arizona families.
- Punishing homeowners by damaging the most important investment that many of us will ever make in our lifetime and the “nest egg” of our future and our children’s future.
Please visit here to learn more & be sure to sign up for the updates!
Vote YES on Prop. 100 to PROTECT YOUR HOME on November 4th!
Pass this on to your friends, family & business associates!
