One of the most important issues the REALTORS advocate for is keeping property taxes low and generally reducing the tax burden on property owners. Wisconsin has the sixth highest property taxes in the country. While the State has had levy limits in place since 2011, there is always work to do to keep taxes low. In the last budget approved by Govenor Evers, a bill eliminating the personal property tax, which impacts businesses, was signed into law. This will save companies time and money on this time-consuming tax. Read more about the elimination of the personal property tax below:
Eliminating the Personal Property Tax
Most property owners receive one property tax bill annually, but many business owners, receive two tax bills — one tax bill for their home and land and a second tax bill for their personal property, including furniture, fixtures, tools, and other business-related items.
The yearly process of calculating the amount of personal property taxes owed requires an understanding of what personal property is taxable, and then establishing the value of those taxable items. This process can be time consuming, frustrating, and expensive.
Wisconsin’s personal property tax is riddled with exemptions, and the $202 million it generates today is a tiny fraction of the $1.2 billion collected in 1971. This onerous and exclusive tax on small business owners should be eliminated.
The personal property tax is unnecessary. The personal property tax was instituted in the 1830’s and was the primary source of funding for territorial government before statehood. At the time, Wisconsin had no sales or income tax. Today, we have both sales and income taxes, and the personal property tax unfairly targets a small portion of the population.
Since its inception, the personal property tax has been amended a total of 14 times to exempt different kinds of personal property. Over the past 100 years, state lawmakers have discussed eliminating the personal property tax. The WRA fully supports the elimination of this tax and, hopefully, this is the year it happens.
For more information on the REALTOR’s work around holding the line on taxes HERE.