Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020) • Hacker News Board

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#771

Post by Retric » Thu, Aug 18, 2022, 5:00 PM UTC

choko wrote: post #765

Retric wrote: post #501

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because this would actually save the government and thus taxpayers 100+ million dollars a year? A change of address is informing the government you moved and happens millions of times a year. Automating it doesn't just save citizens 10’s of millions of hours per year it also saves all the effort by all these different agencies when people communicate the same information to multiple agencies.

Would it though? The agencies are at different levels - local vs. federal. In addition, you are notifying the post office you have moved, not the government. Your federal notification is basically to the IRS, and not everyone pays income tax, so integration there would not work. Also, not all taxpayers are eligible to vote - another complication. You have oversimplified the details of this sort of integration and con…

Federal and state agencies communicate all the time. It’s much easier going from the federal level down to the state level and local level.

It’s not that it takes a lot of effort per person to update the DMV and voter records it’s dumb specifically because most government agencies are automatically updated. So essentially this is just wasting 330 million peoples time for absolutely zero benefit.

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#772

Post by lesuorac » Thu, Aug 18, 2022, 5:22 PM UTC

coryrc wrote: post #538

lesuorac wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[Citation needed] From what I see WA had a turnout of 75% compared to USA's 66%. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1h_2pR1pq8s_I5buZ5agX...

You're cherry-picking the most interesting election of the last five years. The recent primary was ~38% turnout. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/which-wa-...

Ok, so WA had 38% turnout for a primary so what? The whole point is that you need to compare it to other states to make any sense of the data.

Arkansas had 38% is looking pretty good.

[1]: https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/AR/112731/web.28556...

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#773

Post by cheriot » Thu, Aug 18, 2022, 5:30 PM UTC

dionidium wrote: post #751

cheriot wrote: post #711

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a world with stable rents, renters also become long term residents and invested in the community. If someone’s only “invested” financially I doubt that they have the community’s interests at heart.

There will always be transients, students, travelers, and so on. In a world where most people rent and renters are indistinguishable from owners, renting will cease to be a signal that those people are present, but they won't disappear. They'll just be harder to identify.

The idea that municipal governance should intentionally disadvantage "transients, students, travelers, and so on" is appalling to me. This directly feeds into wealth inequality and the cycle of poverty. I get that people will want to protect their privilege, but I have no respect for it.

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#774

Post by FactKnower69 » Thu, Aug 18, 2022, 5:45 PM UTC

there are thirty empty housing units for every single homeless person in the US, but sure, housing supply is the issue. let's deregulate the construction industry and have our own Grenfell!!! :)

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#775

Post by robotburrito » Thu, Aug 18, 2022, 5:49 PM UTC

I read once that as a peasant serving under a lord you were usually guarantied land via agreements that went back generations. It’s funny how some things feel like they slide backwards.

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#776

Post by swiley-taway » Thu, Aug 18, 2022, 5:53 PM UTC

idkyall wrote: post #122

Housing in the US has gotten to where it is due to horrible laws effectively allowing total tax avoidance for landlords. Take some investment property. You buy it at some basis price, let's say 500k. You rent it out for 15k a year. Each year you can offset your rental income against deprecation of the property and property taxes - meaning, you pay no income tax on your rental income. ~30 years later, you've deprecate…

No post body was provided.

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#777

Post by dexterdog » Thu, Aug 18, 2022, 6:00 PM UTC

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #599

dexterdog wrote: post #529

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the universe where the tax was already paid on what was inherited, AKA this one.

The tax is paid on the transfer, not the property. And, as has been repeatedly noted, for an estate of less than $12M, there is no tax at all.

The tax was paid on the money that paid for the asset by the person who paid for it and then passed it on.

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#778

Post by dexterdog » Thu, Aug 18, 2022, 6:02 PM UTC

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #612

dexterdog wrote: post #594

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If he lives in that jurisdiction then he is paying the taxes for the place where he is living.

But also benefits from the taxes paid on the rental property that help pay for things they and their family use.

How does he benefit from the rental property? He doesn't live there an use the services. If he lives somewhere else in the town he pays taxes based on that. He charges rent for the other location to cover the taxes because he doesn't benefit from those taxes. The renter does.

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#779

Post by dexterdog » Thu, Aug 18, 2022, 6:03 PM UTC

frumper wrote: post #712

dexterdog wrote: post #521

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you are the owner/user and not the landlord you should be paying the taxes because most of the taxes are for use in the local community and most of that is schooling. The landlord gets no benefit from the majority of that stuff. The tenant does.

The landlord still pays property taxes on his investment properties. It’s his income tax that is offset.

But he passes the cost of those taxes on to the renter because the renter is the one benefiting from the schools/roads/police/fire/etc that the taxes fund.

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#780

Post by dionidium » Thu, Aug 18, 2022, 6:05 PM UTC

cheriot wrote: post #773

dionidium wrote: post #751

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There will always be transients, students, travelers, and so on. In a world where most people rent and renters are indistinguishable from owners, renting will cease to be a signal that those people are present, but they won't disappear. They'll just be harder to identify.

The idea that municipal governance should intentionally disadvantage "transients, students, travelers, and so on" is appalling to me. This directly feeds into wealth inequality and the cycle of poverty. I get that people will want to protect their privilege, but I have no respect for it.

I would encourage you to try to read those words without any of the baggage often implied. The reason I chose the examples, "dorm room" and "magical year in NYC," above is that those both apply directly to me. If someone in my neighborhood in NYC would have said to me, "you don't really care deeply about this place, you're just going to be here for a year or two and then settle down somewhere else," they wouldn't have been entirely wrong.