I saw a post on YouTube about how someone's dad was struggling to pay their property taxes. One of the comments went like this:
"America, where you can spend your entire life paying off mortgage and then still be one missed tax payment from losing it all."
Is that true and how is this not perpetual serfdom if you can't ever really own a home?
They don’t evict you but put a lien on your home. When it’s sold the gov gets their taxes then. Also, a sheriff is an elected official and evicting an 80 year old because they can’t pay their taxes is not good for their career.
Surely one missed tax payment is not enough for the government to evict and assume ownership? I see these cases in SF occasionally and it takes years of non-payment.
> Is that true and how is this not perpetual serfdom if you can't ever really own a home?
https://phillipslytle.com/a-review-of-new-yorks-response-to-...
Until 2023, some (many?) would sell off your house and pocket the difference, even if it exceeded the tax liability!
Is there any country where I can walk into town with a bag of money, buy a house in cash, and never have to pay taxes on it again? EU countries either have a property tax or a wealth tax that includes people's first homes.
You're looking for allodial title. It's essentially impossible to obtain today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allodial_title
So does one ever actually get to retire and rest after a lifetime of "paying one's dues"?
Could someone go off the grid to some "commons" land and build a log cabin there or something?
What the heck are "property taxes" paying for?
The house is just sitting there, not consuming any finite resources (you already paid for the land) or requiring constant maintenance or upkeep from the government..
Whatever utilities you use you pay bills for.
Said house may not be consuming any finite resources in a sense, but there are various services and amenities that are provided to it and to the other homes in a community. These services need to be paid for. There are roads that take you to your house, which need to be paid for. In addition, firefighters and police are funded via property taxes. So are schools, as are other amenities, including parks, libraries, and in some places, public transit.
You can look up a property tax bill and get an idea of what property taxes pay for. Mine is itemized and it breaks down exactly where my money is going.
And, sure, you could go off the grid and live in a shack in the boonies. That's always an option. If you feel like you don't need the services and amenities that property taxes pay for in a particular place, you can move, and many people do. In that case, yes, your property taxes on said shack-in-the-boonies will be low. But that's going to be in large part due to the lower value attached to this property and the land it sits on, in addition to fewer services and amenities available to it. That's a tradeoff that you can make. But at least in my case, I don't mind paying my property taxes because I can easily afford them, and I and others receive many benefits in return.
Fine, you win. We're all serfs. You've redefined "serfdom" to mean living in a modern civilization with public infrastructure, and the property tax tradeoff that comes with it. I'll choose this serfdom until a better viable option presents itself.
Because Serfs didnt own the land. Lords did but had taxes.
Apparently medieval people owned quite a bit of property, possibly more than the average person today (though not the same in technological value of course):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Em96NVxO9Q — So This is Progress (Terry Jones, BBC, 1991)
Probably depends on when you look. I think the point stands that are drawing a false comparison to serfdom. Tax obligations are not the same as serfdom