sold a house - did I pay taxes?

[cptacek]

This sounds silly, but here is the situation.

I owned a house and paid property taxes in December of 2005. I then sold the house in August of 2006 and bought another house in another state also in August 2006.

I am working on my 2006 taxes, and I need to know the property taxes I paid to the county and city for the house I sold for 2006. I never wrote a check for those taxes, I know that. But when I sold the house, before they sent me the money, did they take out some money for taxes up to that point in the year? I tried to call the county office, and they only had who was responsible for the taxes for 2006 (the person who bought my house), not if I had paid any.

Where should I look?

I had a moving coordinator handle most of this for me, since I moved for my job. They found the real estate agent, signed the papers for me, and sent me the money. I guess I should ask them, huh?

[Ima saver]

The property taxes would be prorated and should be shown on your closing statement.

[disneysteve]

Of course you paid taxes. No way would they give you a free ride for 8 months. I agree with Ima that it should be itemized on the closing paperwork.

[Ima saver]

I just closed in january and they took out almost the full amount due March 1st, out of my closing money. It was on my closing statement.

[cptacek]

I contacted my moving consultant, and she had not put the correct documents on the website for me to look at. She emailed me the Equity Statement yesterday, and they did take taxes out for the portion of the year I owned the house. Thanks, Ima, for the information!

[cptacek]

Of course you paid taxes. No way would they give you a free ride for 8 months.

I know Steve, I said it was a silly question

Thinking about it, if the buyer had to pay all the taxes for the year, then no one would buy at the end of the year. If the seller had to pay all the taxes for the year, then no one would sell at the begenning of the year.

[sweeps]

Also what can be confusing is in many (most?) areas, you pay taxes for the previous year. So in 2007, you're actually paying property taxes for 2006.

This is why when you a buy a house, the sellers usually pay you for their property taxes. You'll be paying for the time they lived in the house.