Boundary fraud: does anyone care

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

If someone pays taxes in DC and owns/rents multiple residences in DC, I have no problem with them picking one as their IB school. I also don’t have a problem with a DC resident who uses a DC family member caretaker (grandma/grandpa)‘s address for an IB address. I think residency fraud is different hill of beans.

Trouble is that by reporting their rental property as their primary residence, they are also committing tax fraud. DC has a very low tax rate for one’s primary home.

So don't rent formally, so there's no lease holder. Let friends or relatives stay short-term and let them help you financially and in other ways. Move between properties for various reasons. Do whatever works quietly, as long as you pay your taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

If someone pays taxes in DC and owns/rents multiple residences in DC, I have no problem with them picking one as their IB school. I also don’t have a problem with a DC resident who uses a DC family member caretaker (grandma/grandpa)‘s address for an IB address. I think residency fraud is different hill of beans.

Trouble is that by reporting their rental property as their primary residence, they are also committing tax fraud. DC has a very low tax rate for one’s primary home.

So don't rent formally, so there's no lease holder. Let friends or relatives stay short-term and let them help you financially and in other ways. Move between properties for various reasons. Do whatever works quietly, as long as you pay your taxes.

No, it doesn't. The mill rate is exactly the same for primary residence vs not. The only difference is the possibility of a homestead deduction which reduces your assessed value by @75k. Given DC's very low mill rate that's @$640.

[Anonymous]

The tax fraud argument is scaremongering BS. You don't have to claim the homestead deduction, it's optional.

Claim the property you want as a residence, as long as you're not formally renting it out and stay there sometimes.

Be sure to have your residency docs, and then some, linked to the property you use to enroll your kid in DC public school. That's it, that's all.