Lawmakers plan tax on NYC cash home sales, as Hochul details pied-a-terre plan

Key Points:

• New York Governor Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers plan to impose a 1% tax on cash purchases of homes priced at $1 million or more in NYC's five boroughs, aiming to raise $160 million to help close the city's budget deficit.
• This new tax is separate from Hochul's proposed pied-à-terre tax targeting unoccupied second homes valued at $5 million or more, expected to generate $500 million annually but complicated by current property assessment methods.
• The pied-à-terre tax would apply different rates for one- to three-family homes and condos/co-ops, with higher surcharges on condos/co-ops due to their lower assessed values, and includes a plan to revise assessment methods over two years.
• Both tax proposals have faced opposition from the real estate industry, which argues that additional taxes could deter property transactions and harm existing revenue streams for the state and city.
• Lawmakers are still negotiating the state budget, which is more than six weeks overdue, with hopes to begin voting on the $268 billion spending plan by the end of next week.