2nd home property taxes (esp NH)

Cannonball said:

Thanks. Good advice. I've been thinking along those lines too. The way our business are set up actually either one of can easily be MA or NH residents. But it's true that it may make sense for me to be in MA and her in NH.

We probably wouldn't rent. Our starting assumption is that we would only do it if we can afford to own it without having to rent it. If that is true then rental just becomes a bonus option.

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As mentioned, can deduct interest and taxes on your second home on Fed taxes, but also remember there is a limit to how much you can deduct. In ME at least, no difference if you are a primary resident or not, with regards to tax rate.

When people list mil rate, isn't that almost impossible to compare from town to town? A low mil rate, but high assessments may be more expensive than a high mil rate in a town with low property assessments.

The way I figure, NH has no sales or income tax...that leaves property taxes (and tolls lol) as pretty much the main revenue generator. It's never gonna be cheap.

The is more than property taxes and tolls that ding you in NH.

SkiFanE said:

The way I figure, NH has no sales or income tax...that leaves property taxes (and tolls lol) as pretty much the main revenue generator. It's never gonna be cheap.

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Yes and no. The property tax rate in Lincoln, NH is almost the same as in Marshfield, MA. But the property values in Marshfield are 2-3 times what they are in Lincoln.

Both my wife and I could be residents in either state without really changing our work situations too much. If we actually moved from MA to NH we'd save over 10K on income tax plus a few thousand on property tax. Of course we're not talking about moving. But even with buying a 2nd place in NH and calling that the primary. We'd save way more in income tax than it would cost in property tax on 2 places.

Cannonball said:

Yes and no. The property tax rate in Lincoln, NH is almost the same as in Marshfield, MA. But the property values in Marshfield are 2-3 times what they are in Lincoln.

Both my wife and I could be residents in either state without really changing our work situations too much. If we actually moved from MA to NH we'd save over 10K on income tax plus a few thousand on property tax. Of course we're not talking about moving. But even with buying a 2nd place in NH and calling that the primary. We'd save way more in income tax than it would cost in property tax on 2 places.

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Do you work in NH? IIRC NH residents working in MA still get hit with income taxes...

hammer said:

Do you work in NH? IIRC NH residents working in MA still get hit with income taxes...

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Her company is in London. Her "office" is her laptop. So becoming a NH resident is no problem. My situation is more difficult. I have one business that can reside anywhere and one that is tied to MA. But you are right, that is the case.

Cannonball said:

Thanks. Good advice. I've been thinking along those lines too. The way our business are set up actually either one of can easily be MA or NH residents. But it's true that it may make sense for me to be in MA and her in NH.

We probably wouldn't rent. Our starting assumption is that we would only do it if we can afford to own it without having to rent it. If that is true then rental just becomes a bonus option.

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You can rent for 14 days per year without having to declare the income on your federal income taxes. I know people who do that Christmas week, MLK long weekend, and Presidents Week when you can command peak dollar for multi-day rentals. You still need to deal with state taxes. Vermont watches their rooms/lodging tax carefully and they have a funky way of taxing non-resident income that pushes it into the highest possible tax bracket. New Hampshire doesn't have the income tax problem but you still probably need to pay them their lodging/rooms tax.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc415.html

Geoff said:

New Hampshire doesn't have the income tax problem but you still probably need to pay them their lodging/rooms tax.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc415.html

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Yup - 9%. And they watch sites like vrbo.com an homeaway.com very carefully at the DOR.....