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Amendment should be approved
 Though you may not realize it, a general election in Louisiana will be held Nov. 19.
You may not be aware of it because few local elections will be decided throughout the state that day and only one proposed Constitutional Amendment will dot the general election ballot. With few races and just one Constitutional Amendment to be decided next week, voter turn-out in the general is expected to be light.
The Constitutional Amendment to be entertained by voters state-wide concerns a real estate transfer tax.
Currently, Louisiana does not levy a tax on real estate transactions though efforts have been made in the past to do just that – tax the sale or transfer of immovable property. Don't let the issue confuse you with taxes levied on property that are based on the value of property. We all pay them directly or indirectly.
Though they're not a tax or fee on a real estate transaction, we all pay fees or incur other costs when we buy or sell property. An attorney is paid to handle the transaction and your local Clerk of Court collects a fee to record the transaction. Those are your run-of-the-mill expenses that must be paid to buy or sell immovable property.
According to the always informative Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana (PAR), some states and some local governing bodies elsewhere levy a special conveyance tax on a real estate transfer simply to supplement revenues for government. This conveyance tax is called a real estate transfer tax, or RETT. RETTs are usually calculated as a percentage of property value or calculated on the amount of the loan that's incurred to buy property. RETTs may be charged to the buyer or seller or both.For the full story, subscribe to the The Concordia Sentinel's NEW E-Edition! |
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