The renters who are using the system are paying a kind of "tax" in the form of high rents- but it is NOT going for the services they use, instead it is going into the owners pocket.
There's your problem. High rents aren't a "tax" going to a gov't authority, they are revenues to existing owners, some of whom are also 20-somethings who pay as much or more in mortgage & expenses, and are trying to recoup as best they can. You'll discover that if you get into the grass-roots politics of it.
If rents are too high, don't pay them. Find another place, there are lots of cheaper ways to live, as we found out in San Francisco, where it's $2,500 to live in a nice studio on Russian Hill, but $600 to share an apt on 16th street.
If taxes are too high, tho', you don't have a choice. You must pay them or go to jail, or have your property confiscated.
See the difference?
The renters' services are being subsidized by those that do pay meaningful taxes, people like me.
Again, 40% of everything is gov't expenditure and, therefore, tax. So everyone pays "meaningful taxes", even renters.
If you're in a non-appreciating situation with large r.e. investments that aren't performing to your satisfaction, it isn't fair to tax others who aren't in that situation. The rules haven't changed since you made those investments, but your awareness of the "taxing" nature of gov't probably has. |
