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Frenchman's Cove taxes scare...

Numismatist

Numismatist

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2009
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Location
Coast of Maine
Folks, St. Thomas is in some serious financial trouble, HOVENSA is pulling out, and WAPA had a multi-week water rationing fiasco.

Virgin Islands Daily News asked for residents to comment on how to fix it all; one of the comments was:

Tax on timeshares/vacation homes.

http://virginislandsdailynews.com/n...-i-s-financial-crisis-1.1264498#axzz1l4nVSvUI

Looks like the locals might like us Owners to pay for it all...how do we ensure this does not happen in an unfair manner? Seems like absent Owners would be an awesome target for taxes...

Debate?
 
Numismatist said:
Folks, St. Thomas is in some serious financial trouble, HOVENSA is pulling out, and WAPA had a multi-week water rationing fiasco.

Virgin Islands Daily News asked for residents to comment on how to fix it all; one of the comments was:

Tax on timeshares/vacation homes.

http://virginislandsdailynews.com/n...-i-s-financial-crisis-1.1264498#axzz1l4nVSvUI

Looks like the locals might like us Owners to pay for it all...how do we ensure this does not happen in an unfair manner? Seems like absent Owners would be an awesome target for taxes...

Debate?
Click to expand...

This is distressing -- unfortunately timeshare owners are viewed as wealthy people who can pay more taxes. Maui did this same thing because the County Council doesn't like timeshare owners and wanted to offer dramatically reduced taxes to Maui residents and astronomical taxes to timeshare owners.

Taxation without representation -- not good stuff. I'm very sorry to hear this because this will just cause more owners who are struggling to give up on their timeshares.

I hope this doesn't happen -- good luck and please keep us posted.

Best,

Greg
 
Numismatist said:
Folks, St. Thomas is in some serious financial trouble, HOVENSA is pulling out, and WAPA had a multi-week water rationing fiasco.

Virgin Islands Daily News asked for residents to comment on how to fix it all; one of the comments was:

Tax on timeshares/vacation homes.

http://virginislandsdailynews.com/n...-i-s-financial-crisis-1.1264498#axzz1l4nVSvUI

Looks like the locals might like us Owners to pay for it all...how do we ensure this does not happen in an unfair manner? Seems like absent Owners would be an awesome target for taxes...

Debate?
Click to expand...

This is undoubtedly an issue that the ARDA-ROC PAC should and will work on.
 
BocaBoy said:
This is undoubtedly an issue that the ARDA-ROC PAC should and will work on.
Click to expand...

:rofl: forgive me, but I doubt that they will work on it :hysterical:

Should they? Of course. I suppose if they are still selling units they might show an effort.
 
Interesting rant by the VI daily News. If you read through it they are not just proposing TS tax increases but taxes on everything and increased government fees for everything. They also feel that the USVI should legalize marijuana and make itself the world's biggest exporter of it.

They truly are in a financial pickle right now but maybe they'll wake up to the fact that tourism is their biggest industry and they should do more to promote and encourage it rather than tax it.

Sounds an awful lot like current politics in the US right now.
 
Numismatist said:
:rofl: forgive me, but I doubt that they will work on it :hysterical:

Should they? Of course. I suppose if they are still selling units they might show an effort.
Click to expand...

I am sure they will be on it. The ARDA-ROC PAC represents owners, though I don't think they have the same money and clout at the regular ARDA that represents developers. The regular ARDA will also be on it just as they were in Maui. These hinder sales and I am sure there are other resorts in the USVI even if there are no active sales at MFC.
 
Actually, that article was the paper compiling suggestions made by readers, not an editorial piece by the paper itself. As such, it would serve as a better barometer of how the locals are feeling.
 
amycurl said:
Actually, that article was the paper compiling suggestions made by readers, not an editorial piece by the paper itself. As such, it would serve as a better barometer of how the locals are feeling.
Click to expand...

I agree. The problem is that locals, councils, and governments see out of town tourists as easy targets to raise money. They will almost always have 100% support from the local population as long as their taxes don't go up. We see this with hotel and car rental taxes that are almost always higher than taxes on other local goods and services.

There will come a tipping point though where raising taxes more and more will come back to bite them. Do they really want local properties to go through foreclosure or tax sale because the owners can't pay the taxes any longer? That doesn't help them more in the end. All these different areas all compete for a slice of the tourist dollar. It should be more about getting people to the destination through competitive pricing and have those people spend money in the area to support the local economy, not tax them to get the same result.
 
I believe the government had previously imposed a higher rate on TS/condos (10 years ago) that was taken to court by the owners, resulting in the real estate tax being thrown out until they fixed it. This is why we have only paid up thru 2008 RE taxes; they were not able to get it past the courts until early 2010. Maybe if they just caught up with their RE taxes for 2009 and 2010 they might be in better shape.

The comments by the locals are not surprising - a small group of them are still looking for reparations fron Denmark for slavery prior to 1848. Denmark moved out of the VI in 1917. I think every group wants someone else to pay; the better if those who pay don't live or vote there.

If the economy is tanking there, they need to be careful not to bite the hand that is feeding them - tourism. Actually, the last few trips there I have noticed that most of the "locals" I meet are imports.
 
As I read it its not a tax on timeshares per-se it a tax on income from timeshares thats being suggested

"Hotel tax and gross receipts tax and probably income tax on everyone that rents property under 90 days."

This is already something we are supposed to be paying here. Ive underlined what I think is the key word. If you dont rent your timeshare the readers suggestion doesnt apply.

Dont you already pay tax on the income you derive from tor timeshare? and if your state has a bed tax (Florida does) dont you pay that?
 
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