Tax System Shouldn’t Punish Disaster Victims
December 19, 2007
Every year, people who lose their homes to fire or flood get a lesson in the harsh realities of New Hampshire’s tax system, a system the Legislature should revisit. For assessment purposes, New Hampshire’s property tax year begins - appropriately in our view - on April Fool’s Day. If a property exists on April 1 and burns down on April 2, it’s taxed as if it existed for a full year.
Jack and Beatrice Knight of Epping, whose home was razed by fire last May, were hit with a full $6,360 tax bill. They have asked Epping’s selectmen for an abatement. Granting one is within the board’s power, but the state Department of Revenue Administration recommends that abatements never be granted. A veteran department official can’t remember the last time it happened. Granting an abatement sets a dangerous precedent, one that could cause problems later when others, whose case may not be as strong, cite precedent and demand similar treatment, state tax officials say.
Read the rest of the editorial from the Concord Monitor
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