Did property taxes go up during Biden administration?
Executive summary
Federal property taxes are set and collected by state and local governments, not the federal government; available reporting notes that Biden has not proposed a nationwide annual property tax and the federal government does not collect local property taxes [1]. The Biden administration has repeatedly proposed federal tax changes affecting capital gains, estate rules, and high earners (FY2025 Green Book and related analyses), which could indirectly affect owners of real property but are distinct from local property-tax levies [2] [3] [4].
1. Property tax vs. federal tax: the core distinction
Many public confusions arise because “property tax” is commonly used to mean any tax tied to real estate, yet Reuters’ fact check stresses the federal government does not levy routine property taxes — those are local/state levies — and Biden has not proposed a nationwide annual 3% home tax that circulated in 2020 [1]. Federal proposals in Biden’s budgets target income, capital gains, estate, and corporate tax rules, which operate differently and are not the same as local ad valorem property levies [2].
2. What the Biden administration has proposed that touches real estate
The Administration’s FY2025 Green Book and budget materials include multiple tax proposals affecting real-estate owners and heirs: changes to capital gains treatment (including taxing some unrealized appreciation on transfers), potential repeal of like‑kind exchanges, and estate/gift recognition proposals that would treat transfers as realization events — all federal income/estate tax concepts summarized in the Green Book and legal analyses [2] [4]. These are federal tax-rule changes that could increase federal tax liabilities tied to property transactions or inheritances, not increases in local property tax bills [2] [4].
3. Independent analysts frame Biden’s budgets as “tax increases” overall
Policy shops and trade groups analyzed Biden’s FY2025 budget as proposing multitrillion-dollar gross tax increases over the budget window, with figures such as roughly $4.4–$5.3 trillion cited in Tax Foundation and NAIOP summaries; those totals refer to proposed federal revenue changes across many categories, heavily weighted toward businesses, high earners, and capital gains — not local property levies [5] [3]. The Tax Foundation and others map those federal proposals to state-level impacts and conclude that, after 2025, every state would see net federal tax increases under the plan — again a federal tax modeling exercise [6] [5].
4. Direct effects on homeowners and landlords: mixed and conditional
Coverage from sources such as Forbes, Kiplinger, and Elliott Davis highlights concrete federal proposals that would hit certain property owners: higher federal capital gains rates for very high earners, limits on estate exemptions, and closing select real-estate tax “loopholes” like portions of 1031 exchanges [7] [8] [9]. These changes would increase federal tax liability in some transactions (sales, transfers, inheritances) particularly for wealthier filers, but they do not raise the local property tax rate set by municipalities [7] [8] [9].
5. Misinformation to watch for: conflating proposals with enacted law
Reuters’ fact check flags a persistent false claim that Biden proposed an annual 3% federal home tax; campaign staff and multiple think tanks disputed that and noted the federal government lacks routine property tax authority [1]. Several sources (Tax Foundation, NAIOP, Forbes) discuss proposed federal increases — proposals do not equal enacted law — and some analyses use worst-case aggregate figures for political context; readers should note the difference between proposal, legislation, and implementation [5] [3] [10].
6. Political and policy context: agendas and incentives
Analysts interpret the administration’s tax agenda as focused on raising revenue from high earners, capital gains, and corporations to finance domestic priorities (infrastructure, family benefits, housing measures), reflected in the Green Book and multiple commentaries [2] [5]. Interest groups and industry outlets emphasize how particular proposals would affect their constituencies; for example, real-estate trade and tax advisers stress threats to 1031 exchanges and estate planning vehicles [9] [7] [4]. Those perspectives reflect stakeholders’ implicit agenda to defend favorable tax treatments.
7. Bottom line for a homeowner asking “did my property taxes go up?”
If you mean local property tax bills: changes during the Biden administration reported in these sources do not reflect a federal increase in local property tax rates — local/state governments control those levies and the Biden administration has not enacted a nationwide property tax [1]. If you mean federal tax policy that affects property-related transactions, the administration proposed several federal changes (capital gains, estate, 1031s) that could increase federal taxes for some property owners if enacted [2] [4].
Limitations: available sources do not provide comprehensive data on every municipality’s local property-tax rate changes during the Biden years; reporting here relies on federal proposals and national analyses provided in the supplied documents (not found in current reporting).