A Slim Majority of U.S. Homeowners Think Local Property Tax Rates Are Unfair

New survey data show that 51 percent of Americans feel that local property tax rates are personally unfair to them.

The biggest majorities of Americans who feel local property tax rates are personally unfair were in Chicago (64 percent), New York (63 percent), and San Jose (60 percent). Americans differed in how they see the fairness of property taxes along political lines. Republicans said they believed property taxes are unfair to high-income households, while Democrats think they’re unfair to low-income households, per Zillow's survey data.

Many U.S. homeowners are reportedly exploring pre-paying future property taxes prior to the end of 2017 in hopes of taking advantage of current laws that expire in 2018 that are more generous to homeowners ... In 2017, homeowners could deduct all of their local property taxes on their federal return, in addition to all state and local income taxes. Under new rules beginning in 2018, those deductions are capped at $10,000.

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