One thing that has been very interesting about quarantine is it is introducing me to “real” life. I have spent the majority of my adult life touring the nation with Broadway shows, moving to a new city anywhere from every night, to every few weeks, so have not done a lot of just sitting in one place. I have especially never sat at home often, as when I would have time off from work I would spend it traveling to catch up with family and friends I had not seen. This sitting down at home has introduced me to ways I did not even know it was possible to save money, and I wanted to share one with you now.
I have always thought that when it comes to things like taxes the government tells you what you owe, you pay it, and you go on about your business. Through the years I have learned some tips and tricks to help lower my tax burden, contributing to my 401K, making sure I hold stocks long term before selling, but as a whole the government tells me what I owe and I pay.
I received my personal property tax bill in the mail recently for my vehicle and while it was only around $70, I decided to wait until closer to the due date to pay it, and boy am I glad I did. My mom saw the bill laying on the table and told me she thought I should appeal it based on the wear and tear on my vehicle. I looked at her like she was crazy as I did not even realize this was something I could do.
In the back of my mind I knew you could appeal some things. Shortly after we purchased one of our rental properties we appealed the tax assessed value, as the city assessed the property for $100,000 more than we purchased the property. While I would love to tell you that the reason was because we acquired the property at an amazing steal, we did not, at least not 100K amazing. After much haggling, and many letters and emails sent, the city thankfully lowered their assessment and thereby our tax liability.
Even having gone through that with the rental property I still did not realize it was possible to appeal my truck’s valuation, or why I should. While my truck does have some wear and tear, especially in the bed (see top picture), I think for it’s age it is holding up quite well (see picture below). Still, in the interest of saving money I decided to look into what my mom had mentioned. On the back of my property tax bill it stated that you can appeal your amount based on either “wear and tear” to your vehicle or “high mileage”, and listed the website to access to file your appeal.
I went to the website and discovered all I had to do was mark the reason for the appeal and attach supporting photos. I said I was appealing the amount because of wear and tear and attached my 5 supporting pictures (the max allowed). Less than 24 hours later I received an email saying they were lowering my bill by almost $30. I was floored, and very grateful for my mom’s encouragement and teaching in the matter.
Do you have any tips and tricks for saving money that you were amazed to learn?
