[FIXED] Lot taxes seem too low

by MapleSimmer
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Accepted Solution

[FIXED] Lot taxes seem too low

[ Edited ]
★★★★ Pro

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Often (50% - 99%)
What is your current game version number? PC: 1.63.133.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? Up to and including Tiny Living
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Check your sims' billing information
What happens when the bug occurs? Across 6 of 7 households, the lot taxes are only 300 simoleons even though the underlying lot values vary from 56k to 430k (excluding personal inventory).
What do you expect to see? The lot taxes to vary based on 'all the objects on the lot and the lot's value' as the description says.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Not now. I've removed them.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Yes
Please describe the patch or change you made. This happened after the new billing system was added with the June 3/20 game update ( PC: 1.63.133.1020 )

Here's a screenshot of the tooltip saying what the Lot Taxes should be based on:

Here's a screenshot of the billing information, you can see that it the lot taxes are only 300 simoleons and I can confirm I saw the same across approx a bunch of different saves (a minimum of 10, and 2 of the saves had much lower lot values & the lot taxes were only 226 simoleons & 183 simoleons respectively). You can also see in the Bills & Utilities screenshot that the prior bills, which this household had not actually got yet as it was still early Monday morning, were much higher. (There is no power and water cost as this was the first time I had loaded this particular save). 

Their lot value was and when I added the value of their personal inventory it was 80k (this particular household has the highest lot & asset value of the sims' households I looked at).

 

Contrast these lot taxes on this tiny home (tiny residential lot), with a lot value of almost 15k and approx 900 simoleons in the sims' personal inventory (the other one for which I have no screenshot had bills of 183 simoleons on lot value of 12.2k & no personal inventory): 

 

 

So it appears that at the low end there is a lot tax calculation being done, but it seems to cap out at 300 simoleons.

 

Also, re the 'removed mods', that was a number of months ago and I regularly delete my localthumbcache file and repair my game and did so after the game update. Standard smile

 

Best regards, 

Jennifer

 

Edit By Crinrict: Added Tag to Title

Message 1 of 114 (14,151 Views)

Accepted Solution

Re: Lot taxes seem too low

Hero

You pay your new bills, all the new bills, keep track of all the bills. We think you can do it. So, hope you like this update too as we have adjusted Lot Taxes to be more appropriate per Lot.

Fixed in Patch 1.67.45/ 1.32

If you're still experiencing this issue, please create a new thread.

Good Luck
Crin

Trennlinie

I don't work or have any association with EA. I give advice to the best of my knowledge and cannot be held responsible for any damage done to your computer/game.
Please only contact me via PM when asked to do so.



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Message 113 of 114 (7,694 Views)

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Re: Lot taxes seem too low after June update

★★★★ Apprentice

I have the same problem in a completely mod free save.  Yesterday the bills were >$18000. Following the patch, with no change to the property, the bills are $267.

Message 2 of 114 (14,014 Views)

Re: Lot taxes seem too low after June update

[ Edited ]
★★★★ Pro

@MapleSimmerThis is a feature, not a bug, they said so in the livestream. When they changed the billing system we can make sims pay less or more depending on how electricity-efficient and water-efficient the objects are, and also how much they use the objects. For example a larger TV uses more electricity than a smaller TV, and for example a broken toilet leaking water makes the water-bill going up.

But yes, I think it's too low with only §300 for the lot taxes. I would prefer if the lot taxes actually depended on what the lot costed, so that larger lots have higher lot taxes and smaller lots have lower lot taxes.

Also, I would like it if the category of other taxes would be a percentage of what the sims have earned in that week. Including the earnings of published books, licenced music etc.

 

Edit: I was wrong, the 300 simoleons is a bug, not a feature. See elelunicy’s comment at the top of page 2.

Message 3 of 114 (13,985 Views)

Re: Lot taxes seem too low after June update

[ Edited ]
★★★★ Guide

It's a bug. Lot taxes are supposed to be based on the lot value and the value of all objects on the lot. (As seen in the attached pic.) However, every lot shows $300 for lot taxes, even if it's a mansion.

Message 4 of 114 (13,919 Views)

Re: Lot taxes seem too low after June update

★★★★ Pro

@SqueamishNerd  The tool tip for the lot tax category indicates that part is still supposed to be "based on the value of all objects on the lot and the lot's value". 

 

 

 

This report is about the lot taxes themselves being too low, not about the bills in general. Standard smile The 'feature' mentioned in the live-stream should apply to things like water and power usage, and possibly the rebate calculation.  I don't know enough about how any of those three items are calculated to comment on whether or not they seem reasonable.  However, given that I am seeing a flat 300 simoleon charge for lot taxes in the majority of my households, and the lot taxes are only showing as a lower amount in a couple of households where the value is less than 20k, it appears that the lot taxes are not being calculated as described in the tool tip shown above & it seems like this issue starts once the lot values start getting a bit higher, possibly once they get higher than 20k.  

 

Best regards, 
Jennifer

Message 5 of 114 (13,906 Views)

Re: Lot taxes seem too low after June update

[ Edited ]
★★ Guide

I can confirm this bug as well - I posted on to the official Forum about this, thank you for submitting this. It's rather game-breaking for me. 

 

I played through my main save of a very wealthy family with a $204,000 mansion and when their bill finally came at the end of the week they owed $460.

 

Whereas, I played through a new save of a single sim on a small home worth $12,000 and at the end of the week, her bill was $424. 

 

Has to be a bug. 

Message 6 of 114 (13,840 Views)

Re: Lot taxes seem too low after June update

★★★ Apprentice

off the grid houses also pays 300 kinda weird to me. if i want to live lika a jungle life and i stil need to pay stuff for notting it feels useless to be off the grid. the 300 bill in a jungle survival is weird.

Message 7 of 114 (13,764 Views)

Re: Lot taxes seem too low after June update

★★★★ Apprentice

Having just watched Carl's Sims Guides video on the update it appears to not be a bug.  All lots seem to have a flat tax of $300 irrespective of size of lot or worth of property.  The bills are based on how much water and power the sims use.  So my property worth over $500000 on a 64x64 lot now pays less than $500 in bills as I only have one toilet, a small fridge, and a small TV. (The property is full of expensive junk, and I'm fixing it up.)

 

Message 8 of 114 (13,657 Views)

Re: Lot taxes seem too low after June update

[ Edited ]
★★★★ Guide

@Flockleader Did you look at the screenshots above? The tooltip says that lot taxes are based on the value of the lot and everything on it. It's not a flat rate. It only appears that way because it's a bug. What sense would it make for every lot to only pay $300? The utilities hardly add up to anything. Lot taxes is where the majority of the bill comes from. Or would come from, if it were working properly.

Let's not forget that they told us that bills would roughly be the same. $18,000 is not even close to $267. They even said in the livestream that lot value is still used to help calculate bills. The bug is present even in the livestream, but they either didn't notice or ignored it.

Message 9 of 114 (13,649 Views)

Re: [UNSURE] Lot taxes seem too low

★★★★ Apprentice

I'm a rotational player with families at many levels of wealth, so I can confirm that the Lot Taxes are only 300 simoleons across properties that range from 13,121 (though with items in sims' inventories) to 467,847. I also started a brand new save in Evergreen Harbor to test things out. The Lot Taxes were 300 simoleons for not only my new sim in his starter but also every single Maxis premade family.

 

In my (old) rotational save, none of the families have the new power/water generating items yet, so these should not be a factor. Some of them have the "Frugal" reward trait and two families live in tiny homes, and these give appropriate credits in the "Tax Breaks & Penalties" section of the bills breakdown. 

 

I do use mods, but I also tested taking out my mods folder and clearing my cache, which still resulted in 300 simoleon Lot Taxes across the board. (And of course I am only using mods that are updated or confirmed safe.)

 

I assume this is a bug not only due to the fact that the hover tooltip tells us the lot taxes are affected by item/lot value, but also because it completely negates the main gameplay draw of apartments in the pack that finally gives us new apartments. If my lot taxes are only 300 simoleons on even the most massive and expensive lots, why on earth would I choose to limit my ability to build, garden, and use eco-items while paying a thousand+ simoleons in rent each week (plus deposit and utilities) for the "privilege"? Apartment rent should be cheaper than lot taxes in an equivalent house due to the restrictions placed on them, as it was before this patch. If this change was intended, it was ill considered and should be reassessed.

 

As a side note, using the thermostat does not seem to have any impact on power usage according to my limited testing. That doesn't seem to be functioning as intended either? It's a shame about these bill issues; I was very excited for the new features when they were announced.

Message 10 of 114 (13,543 Views)