Legislators Push Change to Nevada Real Estate Property Taxes

Although the law would face an uncertain future when put to Nevada voters, its final hurdle before becoming effective, Nevada state Democrats' plan to have real property taxes reassessed upon sale passed in the state legislature in 2017 and is set for another vote in 2019. If successful, the measure would then go on the ballot for voter approval in 2020. The new system would be similar to the one already in effect in California.

Outrageous Property Tax Increases on the Horizon: Nevada Legislature Democrats Push SJR14 by Lyle Brennan, Nevada Business, December 1, 2018

Coalition to Stop SJR 14

Nevada Senate Race May Be Decided in Reno and Washoe County

Unlike election 2016, the 2018 Nevada Senate race of incumbent Republican Dean Heller vs. challenger Democrat Jacky Rosen may come down to Reno and Washoe County:

When Catherine Cortez Masto became the first Latina elected to the United States Senate, some of Nevada’s political class called her “the senator from Clark County.” Her victory map from November 2016 looked like a cupful of water at the tip of an upturned gas can. Clark was the only county Cortez Masto won. It’s home to the Las Vegas Valley, 2.2 million people, and 70 percent of the state’s electorate. By running up the score in Clark, she did enough to overcome losses in rural counties and a narrow defeat in Washoe County, which encompasses Reno. ...

Libertarians, voters concerned about gun rights and federal land use, evangelical Christians, Mormons, and the business community are [Heller's] bedrock support. ...

[Rosen] may need “The [former Nevada Senator Harry] Reid Machine,” the coalition of union members, their families, and former campaign aides to Harry Reid who are actively canvassing in Reno and Las Vegas, to outdo itself. ...

The race may come down to the margin in “The Biggest Little City in the World”—Reno and its suburbs. Cortez Masto lost Washoe County, but by falling within 2 percentage points there, she kept intact the statewide lead she built in Clark County. This might explain why Heller has spent significant money claiming Rosen is in thrall to the ultimate Washoe County and Interior West boogeyman: California.

“That plays to the libertarian strand in Nevada,” says David Fott, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “It’s the fact that California is overwhelmingly Democratic, hostile to libertarianism, with high taxes, high cost of living, what some people have left California to escape.”

How to Win Nevada, by Dan Hernandez, POLITICO, October 27, 2018.

Nevada: Tax Haven of the West

Real estate industry disruptor Redfin labels Nevada a "tax haven of the West" in its recent article discussing U.S. internal migration trends and the reasons behind them:

[P]eople in expensive, high-tax coastal markets including San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. searched for homes in metros like Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami, where taxes are lower and housing is more affordable ....

Las Vegas, another low-tax haven, had the highest share of non-local searches. Forty-one percent of the people searching for homes in Las Vegas were searching from outside the metro area. Nearly 40 percent of these inbound searches originated in Los Angeles, followed by the San Francisco Bay Area (12%), Portland, Oregon (8%), and Seattle (5%). The influx of new residents to the area is causing prices and competition to accelerate. Median home prices in Las Vegas rose by 11 percent in July year over year, marking 17 months in a row of double-digit price growth.

“Affordability definitely plays a role in home searchers considering Las Vegas as their new home city,” said Nicole Lazarski, a Redfin agent in Las Vegas. “Even though home prices are climbing fast, they have still not returned to their 2007 height. With a median sale price around $270,000 in July, plus Nevada’s low property taxes and lack of a state income tax, it’s a very attractive place for people looking to leave California and other expensive places.”

In Las Vegas, the typical homeowner pays $1,500 (0.8%) in property taxes and about 8 percent in local sales taxes, with no state income tax, whereas in Los Angeles, the respective amounts are $3,600 (0.8%) property taxes, about 9 percent sales tax rate, and 8 percent state income tax rate.

Migration to Low-Tax Metros is Accelerating as More People Looked to Leave Expensive Coastal Areas in the Second Quarter by Alina Ptaszynski, Redfin.com, September 12, 2018

Large Out of State Online Sellers Must Now Collect Nevada Sales Tax

Effective today, merchants in other states with no physical presence in Nevada that sell $100,000 or more in sales to Nevada or have more than 200 sales transactions in a year are required to collect Nevada sales tax on such sales. These online sellers will need to register for a Nevada sales tax account and file Nevada sales tax returns. The thresholds ensure that eBay and Amazon marketplace sellers and other small online merchants will not be affected. The law comes in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's Wayfair decision, that paved the way for states to require sales tax collection by out of state retailers.

Reno Tahoe Office

My new primary office address and mailing address is 10775 Double R Blvd., Reno, NV 89521. 775-376-7155. Client meetings by appointment only. Reception hours Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM.

Google map: Law Office of Jonas M. Grant, A.P.C.

Class Action Waivers in Employment Agreements Upheld by Supreme Court

In the consolidated cases of Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, No. 16-285; Ernst & Young LLP et al. v. Morris et al., No. 16-300; and National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc., et al., No. 16-307 (May 21, 2018), the Supreme Court has resolved a conflict amongst the U.S. Federal Circuit Courts, and once again the Ninth Circuit has been overruled. This time SCOTUS confirmed that class action waivers in employee arbitration agreements are enforceable (if properly drafted). The Supreme Court had previously ruled these as enforceable in consumer arbitration agreements in 2011. The favorable ruling for employers had been opposed by the Obama Administration and more recently supported by the Trump Administration.

This ruling is a valuable tool for Nevada employers if properly deployed.