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The Tax Policy Center's

Briefing Book

A citizen’s guide to the fascinating (though often complex) elements of the US tax system.

Tax Policy Center Briefing Book

The State of State (and Local) Tax Policy

  • Briefing Book
  • Specific State and Local Taxes
  • How do state and local property taxes work?
  • Chapters
    • Introduction
      • Introduction
        • Introduction
    • Some Background
      • Federal Budget
        • What are the sources of revenue for the federal government?
        • How does the federal government spend its money?
        • What is the breakdown of revenues among federal, state, and local governments?
        • How do US taxes compare internationally?
      • Federal Budget Process
        • How does the federal budget process work?
        • What is the history of the federal budget process?
        • What is the schedule for the federal budget process?
        • What is reconciliation?
        • How is a budget resolution enforced?
        • What is PAYGO?
        • What are rescissions?
      • Federal Budget Outlook
        • How accurate are long-run budget projections?
        • What have budget trends been over the short and long term?
        • How much spending is uncontrollable?
        • What are tax extenders?
        • What options would increase federal revenues?
        • What does it mean for a government program to be off-budget?
        • How did the TCJA affect the federal budget outlook?
      • Taxes and the Economy
        • How do taxes affect the economy in the short run?
        • How do taxes affect the economy in the long run?
        • What are dynamic scoring and dynamic analysis?
        • Do tax cuts pay for themselves?
        • On what do economists agree and disagree about the effects of taxes on economic growth?
        • What are the economic effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act?
      • Economic Stimulus
        • What is the role of monetary policy in alleviating economic downturns?
        • What are automatic stabilizers and how do they work?
        • What characteristics make fiscal stimulus most effective?
      • Distribution of Tax Burdens
        • How are federal taxes distributed?
        • Are federal taxes progressive?
        • How should progressivity be measured?
        • What is the difference between marginal and average tax rates?
        • What criticisms are levied against standard distributional analysis?
        • How should distributional tables be interpreted?
        • Who bears the burden of the corporate income tax?
        • Who bears the burden of federal excise taxes?
        • How do financing methods affect the distributional analyses of tax cuts?
        • How do taxes affect income inequality?
      • Tax Expenditures
        • What are tax expenditures and how are they structured?
        • What is the tax expenditure budget?
        • Why are tax expenditures controversial?
        • What are the largest tax expenditures?
        • How did the TCJA affect tax expenditures?
      • Tax Gap and Tax Shelters
        • What is the tax gap?
        • What does the IRS do and how can it be improved?
        • What is a tax shelter?
      • Recent History of the Tax Code
        • What did the 2008–10 tax stimulus acts do?
        • What did the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 do?
        • How did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act change personal taxes?
        • How did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act change business taxes?
    • Key Elements of the U.S. Tax System
      • Individual Income Tax
        • What is the standard deduction?
        • What are itemized deductions and who claims them?
        • How did the TCJA change the standard deduction and itemized deductions?
        • What are personal exemptions?
        • How do federal income tax rates work?
        • What are tax credits and how do they differ from tax deductions?
        • How do phaseouts of tax provisions affect taxpayers?
      • Capital Gains and Dividends
        • How are capital gains taxed?
        • What is the effect of a lower tax rate for capital gains?
        • What is carried interest, and how is it taxed?
        • How might the taxation of capital gains be improved?
      • AMT
        • What is the AMT?
        • Who pays the AMT?
        • How much revenue does the AMT raise?
        • How did the TCJA change the AMT?
      • Taxes and the Family
        • What is the child tax credit?
        • What is the adoption tax credit?
        • What is the earned income tax credit?
        • Do all people eligible for the EITC participate?
        • How does the tax system subsidize child care expenses?
        • What are marriage penalties and bonuses?
        • How did the TCJA change taxes of families with children?
      • Taxes and the Poor
        • How does the federal tax system affect low-income households?
        • What is the difference between refundable and nonrefundable credits?
        • Can poor families benefit from the child tax credit?
        • Why do low-income families use tax preparers?
        • How does the earned income tax credit affect poor families?
        • What are error rates for refundable credits and what causes them?
        • How do IRS audits affect low-income families?
      • Taxes and Retirement Saving
        • What kinds of tax-favored retirement arrangements are there?
        • How large are the tax expenditures for retirement saving?
        • What are defined benefit retirement plans?
        • What are defined contribution retirement plans?
        • What types of nonemployer-sponsored retirement savings accounts are available?
        • What are Roth individual retirement accounts?
        • Who uses individual retirement accounts?
        • How does the availability of tax-favored retirement saving affect national saving?
        • What’s the difference between front-loaded and back-loaded retirement accounts?
        • What is an automatic 401(k)?
        • How might low- and middle-income households be encouraged to save?
      • Taxes and Charitable Giving
        • What is the tax treatment of charitable contributions?
        • What entities are tax-exempt?
        • Who benefits from the deduction for charitable contributions?
        • How would various proposals affect incentives for charitable giving?
        • How large are individual income tax incentives for charitable giving?
        • How did the TCJA affect incentives for charitable giving?
      • Taxes and Health Care
        • How much does the federal government spend on health care?
        • Who has health insurance coverage?
        • Which tax provisions subsidize the cost of health care?
        • How does the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance work?
        • What are premium tax credits?
        • What tax changes did the Affordable Care Act make?
        • How do health savings accounts work?
        • How do flexible spending accounts for health care expenses work?
        • What are health reimbursement arrangements and how do they work?
        • How might the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) be reformed?
      • Taxes and Homeownership
        • What are the tax benefits of homeownership?
        • Do existing tax incentives increase homeownership?
      • Taxes and Education
        • What tax incentives exist for higher education?
        • What tax incentives exist to help families pay for college?
        • What tax incentives exist to help families save for education expenses?
        • What is the tax treatment of college and university endowments?
      • Tax Complexity
        • Why are taxes so complicated?
        • What are the benefits of simpler taxes?
        • What policy reforms could simplify the tax code?
      • Wealth Transfer Taxes
        • How do the estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes work?
        • Who pays the estate tax?
        • How many people pay the estate tax?
        • What is the difference between carryover basis and a step-up in basis?
        • How could we reform the estate tax?
        • What are the options for taxing wealth transfers?
        • What is an inheritance tax?
      • Payroll Taxes
        • What are the major federal payroll taxes, and how much money do they raise?
        • What is the unemployment insurance trust fund, and how is it financed?
        • What are the Social Security trust funds, and how are they financed?
        • Are the Social Security trust funds real?
        • What is the Medicare trust fund, and how is it financed?
      • Excise Taxes
        • What are the major federal excise taxes, and how much money do they raise?
        • What is the Highway Trust Fund, and how is it financed?
      • Energy and Environmental Taxes
        • What tax incentives encourage energy production from fossil fuels?
        • What tax incentives encourage alternatives to fossil fuels?
        • What is a carbon tax?
      • Business Taxes
        • How does the corporate income tax work?
        • What are pass-through businesses?
        • How are pass-through businesses taxed?
        • Is corporate income double-taxed?
      • Tax Incentives for Economic Development
        • What is the new markets tax credit, and how does it work?
        • What is the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and how does it work?
        • What are Opportunity Zones and how do they work?
      • Taxes and Multinational Corporations
        • How does the current system of international taxation work?
        • How do US corporate income tax rates and revenues compare with other countries’?
        • What are the consequences of the new US international tax system?
        • How does the tax system affect US competitiveness?
        • How would formulary apportionment work?
        • What are inversions, and how will TCJA affect them?
        • What is a territorial tax and does the United States have one now?
        • What is the TCJA repatriation tax and how does it work?
        • What is the TCJA base erosion and anti-abuse tax and how does it work?
        • What is global intangible low-taxed income and how is it taxed under the TCJA?
        • What is foreign-derived intangible income and how is it taxed under the TCJA?
    • How Could We Improve the Federal Tax System?
      • Comprehensive Tax Reform
        • What is comprehensive tax reform?
        • What are the major options for comprehensive tax reform?
      • Broad-Based Income Tax
        • What is a broad-based income tax?
        • What would and would not be taxed under a broad-based income tax?
        • What would the tax rate be under a broad-based income tax?
      • National Retail Sales Tax
        • What is a national retail sales tax?
        • What would and would not be taxed under a national retail sales tax?
        • What would the tax rate be under a national retail sales tax?
        • What is the difference between a tax-exclusive and tax-inclusive sales tax rate?
        • Who bears the burden of a national retail sales tax?
        • Would tax evasion and avoidance be a significant problem for a national retail sales tax?
        • What would be the effect of a national retail sales tax on economic growth?
        • What transition rules would be needed for a national retail sales tax?
        • Would a national retail sales tax simplify the tax code?
        • What can state and local sales taxes tell us about a national retail sales tax?
        • What is the experience of other countries with national retail sales taxes?
        • What did the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform say about the national retail sales tax?
      • Value Added Tax (VAT)
        • What is a VAT?
        • How would a VAT be collected?
        • What would and would not be taxed under a VAT?
        • What would the tax rate be under a VAT?
        • What is the difference between zero rating and exempting a good in the VAT?
        • Who would bear the burden of a VAT?
        • Is the VAT a money machine?
        • How would small businesses be treated under a VAT?
        • What is the Canadian experience with a VAT?
        • Why is the VAT administratively superior to a retail sales tax?
        • What is the history of the VAT?
        • How are different consumption taxes related?
      • Other Comprehensive Tax Reforms
        • What is the flat tax?
        • What is the X-tax?
      • Recent Comprehensive Tax Reform Proposals
        • Simple, Fair, and Pro-Growth: Proposals to Fix America’s Tax System, Report of the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, November 2005
        • The Moment of Truth: Report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, December 2010
        • Debt Reduction Task Force, “Restoring America’s Future,” Bipartisan Policy Center, November 2010
        • The Tax Reform Act of 2014: Fixing Our Broken Tax Code So That It Works for American Families and Job Creators, House Ways and Means Committee
        • The Graetz Competitive Tax Plan, Updated for 2015
      • Return-Free Tax Filing
        • What is return-free filing and how would it work?
        • What are the benefits of return-free filing?
        • What are the drawbacks of return-free filing?
        • How would the tax system need to change with return-free filing?
        • Who would qualify for return-free filing?
        • Would return-free filing raise taxes?
        • What was the experience with return-free filing in California?
        • What other countries use return-free filing?
    • The State of State (and Local) Tax Policy
      • State and Local Revenues
        • What are the sources of revenue for state governments?
        • What are the sources of revenue for local governments?
      • Specific State and Local Taxes
        • How do state and local individual income taxes work?
        • How do state and local sales taxes work?
        • How do state and local property taxes work?
        • How do state and local corporate income taxes work?
        • How do state estate and inheritance taxes work?
        • How do state earned income tax credits work?
        • How do state and local severance taxes work?
        • How do state and local soda taxes work?
        • How do marijuana taxes work?
      • Fiscal Federalism and Fiscal Institutions
        • How does the deduction for state and local taxes work?
        • What are municipal bonds and how are they used?
        • What types of federal grants are made to state and local governments and how do they work?
        • What are state rainy day funds, and how do they work?
        • What are tax and expenditure limits?
        • What are state balanced budget requirements and how do they work?
    • Glossary
      • Glossary
        • Glossary

How do state and local property taxes work?

Specific State and Local Taxes

<3/9>
Q.

How do state and local property taxes work?

A.

Jurisdictions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia impose property taxes. Most property tax revenue comes from local levies (county, municipal, township, school district, and special district) on land and improvements to it, but some states also tax personal property (such as machinery, equipment, and motor vehicles).

HOW MUCH REVENUE DO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS RAISE FROM PROPERTY TAXES?

While property taxes are a significant source of local government revenue, they are a very small revenue source for most states (table 1). State governments levied property taxes in 36 states in 2017, collecting $16 billion in revenue, or 1 percent of their own-source general revenue. (Own-source revenue excludes intergovernmental transfers.) Meanwhile, local governments collected $509 billion from property taxes in 2017, or nearly half of their own-source general revenue.

Property taxes are the largest own-source of revenue for counties, cities, townships, school districts, and special districts, which are specific-purpose units, such as water and sewer authorities. School districts rely quite heavily on property taxes, collecting $212 billion in 2017, which was 83 percent of their own-source general revenue. Because school districts receive substantial intergovernmental transfers, own-source revenue makes up less than half (about 45 percent) of their total general revenue.  

IN WHICH STATES ARE PROPERTY TAXES MOST IMPORTANT?

New Hampshire, which has neither a broad-based income tax nor a general sales tax, was the most reliant on property taxes in 2017, with property tax revenue accounting for 49 percent of its combined state and local own-source general revenue. Property taxes also contributed more than 30 percent of state and local revenue in Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont. Alabama was the least reliant on property tax revenue in 2017, with only 10 percent of its combined state and local own-source general revenue coming from the tax. Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and West Virginia also collected less than 15 percent of combined state and local revenue from property taxes (figure 1).

Looking only at local governments, property taxes provided more three-quarters of own-source general revenue in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Rhode Island in 2017. Alabama’s local governments received 20 percent of their own-source revenue from property taxes, the lowest percentage in any state.

At the state level, Vermont’s property taxes contributed 26 percent of state own-source general revenue in 2017, far and away the highest percentage in any state. Nearly all of Vermont’s education spending is financed at the state level, and the state property tax is the largest source of that funding. The next-highest percentages were in Arkansas, New Hampshire, and Wyoming, where property taxes were approximately 9 percent of own-source general revenue in each state. Wyoming’s property tax revenue is relatively high in part because the state levies its tax on mineral production.

Property taxes were also 5 percent or more of state own-source revenue in Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, and Washington. State property taxes are often on personal property and taxes on land that is used for utilities. Fourteen states did not levy a state-level property tax.

HOW MUCH DO PROPERTY TAX RATES DIFFER ACROSS THE COUNTRY?

Effective property tax rates differ widely across and within states, making them difficult to compare. In addition to variation in statutory tax rates, local governments use various methods to calculate their real property tax base.

The taxing jurisdiction typically assesses the real property value by estimating what the property would sell for in an arms-length transaction. However, some jurisdictions base value on the last sale price or acquisition value of the property, others consider the income that a property could generate (for example, an empty lot that could be used for a hotel), and some base the assessment solely on the size or physical attributes (e.g., design, location) of the property. There is also variation in the timing of assessments, with some jurisdictions assessing annually and others less frequently.

Some jurisdictions tax the entire assessed value of the property (before deductions and credits). Others tax only a fraction of the assessed value. For example, counties in South Carolina tax only 4 percent of a property’s assessed value. Jurisdictions may impose different statutory tax rates (“classifications”) for different types of property, most commonly distinguishing between residential and business property.

HOW DO STATES LIMIT PROPERTY TAXES?

Many states have imposed limits on property tax rates, property tax revenue, or increases in assessed property values, reducing reliance on the property tax as a source of revenue. California, for example, limits the tax rate to 1 percent and annual assessment increases to 2 percent until a property is resold. As a result, neighbors with similar houses may have dramatically different tax liabilities depending on when their houses last changed hands.

States and local governments also often use limits, exemptions, deductions, and credits to lower tax liability. Here are some examples:

  • Assessment limits prevent a property’s assessed value from increasing by more than a fixed percentage between assessments. These limits can reduce a property’s assessed value below its market value and prevent rapid property value increases from raising the owner’s tax burden. When the property is sold, its assessed value is reset at market value.
  • Homestead deductions and exemptions decrease the taxable value of real property by a fixed amount (much the same way a standard deduction decreases taxable income) for owners who occupy the property. Forty-six states and the District of Columbia have homestead exemptions that reduce the fraction of the assessed property value subject to tax.
  • Circuit breaker programs provide relief for elderly and low-income residents with property tax liabilities above a specified percentage of their income. Although relief is based on property tax payments, it is typically provided via an income tax credit. In most states, the state government collects income tax while local jurisdictions collect property tax, making circuit breakers a type of subsidy from state to local governments. Unlike the other approaches described here, circuit breakers benefit renters as well as homeowners in some jurisdictions. According to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 33 states and the District of Columbia offer some form of circuit breaker program in 2018. In 22 of these states and the District of Columbia, renters are eligible for a circuit breaker program (some states offer multiple programs for different types of residents).
  • Property tax deferrals allow elderly and disabled homeowners to defer payment until the sale of the property or the death of the taxpayer.
Updated May 2020
Data Sources

US Census Bureau. Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances.

Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. State and Local Finance Data: Exploring the Census of Governments. Washington, DC: Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

Further Reading

Harris, Benjamin H., and Brian David Moore. 2013. “Residential Property Taxes in the United States.” Washington, DC: Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. “Significant Features of the Property Tax.”  

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