Realtors hope to ban transfer tax

‘Read my lips, no new taxes’ on the purchase and sales of real estate.

That is the message the Arizona Association of Realtors wants to send Governor Janet Napolitano and any other government officials who may think about implementing a real estate transfer tax in Arizona.

In order to do this, the organization has placed a measure on the November ballot that will ban counties and the state from implementing a real estate transfer tax.

A real estate transfer tax is a monetary fee imposed by states or counties when a person buys a piece of real estate. This piece of real estate could be a business, a home or land.

Currently 26 states have such a tax, and those taxes range anywhere from a tenth of a percent up to two percent of the sale price.

A citizen’s commission formed by Governor Napolitano in 2003 considered enacting such a tax in Arizona, and last year two state legislators attempted to get a bill passed that would allow counties to enact such a tax.

Realtor support for the measure to put a ban on real estate transfer taxes is clear. The state requires an organization to turn in 230,000 signatures to get a measure on the ballot. The Arizona Association of Realtors turned in 372,000, which set a new record for the most signatures ever submitted. The previous high was 303,614.

In order to take away government’s ability to impose this tax, voters are being encouraged to vote yes on the November proposition.

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