The New ‘Taylor Swift Tax’ Targets The Rich

Rhode Island’s rich seasonal owners, together with Taylor Swift, are on the middle of a heated controversy over a brand new tax concentrating on second properties valued at $1 million or extra.

Dubbed the “Taylor Swift Tax” by pissed off locals, the proposal goals to slap luxurious owners with annual charges if their properties will not be used for not less than six months out of the yr.

The “Taylor Swift Tax,” included within the state’s proposed $14.3 billion funds, has sparked backlash from celebrities, realtors, and longtime residents alike, with some threatening to desert their summer season retreats altogether.

Amongst these within the crosshairs is Swift herself, who has owned a $17 million oceanfront mansion within the upscale seaside city of Watch Hill since 2013. Whereas meant to help reasonably priced housing initiatives, critics argue the surcharge is a misguided try and squeeze longtime residents and seasonal guests.

The backlash has been fierce.

Native enterprise proprietor James Nicholas, whose household has run the beloved St. Clair Annex ice cream store for 4 generations simply down the hill from Taylor Swift’s property advised Each day Mail, “As one of many individuals who run small companies that profit from from summer season residents, I am considering of others like landscapers, lumber yards, contractors, pool corporations who’re are counting on these summer season guests.”

“It isn’t the golden bullet that the individuals assume it’s, that we’re simply gonna textual content wealthy individuals and nothing’s gonna occur. There’s downstream penalties,” he continued. “There is a stratum of society that may take up that price, however common individuals, possibly they do not put an addition on the home, do not you recognize go to the native eating places, or they do not store on the native retailers as a lot, taxing them is short-sighted considering.”

Barstool Sports activities founder Dave Portnoy additionally weighed in, warning that the tax might set a harmful precedent throughout the Northeast.

“We do not like that tax,” Portnoy stated in a video. “Now, I haven’t got any homes in Rhode Island, however I received some fairly shut. I do not like these states getting the concepts.”

In response to the proposal, second-home homeowners would pay an annual surcharge of $2.50 per $500 of assessed worth past the primary $1 million. For Swift’s mansion and different Watch Hill estates, that might imply six-figure annual charges.

However realtor Larry Burns identified that the tax will not simply hit celebrities.

“There’s individuals like Taylor Swift, individuals will take a look at her and assume, ‘Effectively, she has a lot cash she’ll by no means even discover a rise like this,'” Burns stated. “However $100,000 right here is perhaps a school schooling for a yr for a child, or two children. Not everybody has inexhaustible assets.”

The funds additionally features a 63% hike to the true property conveyance tax, a payment paid when properties are bought, with income from each taxes earmarked for reasonably priced housing initiatives.

Native realtor Geb Masterson echoed the priority, claiming it’s “simply one other strategy to go after the rich when the state’s funds run dry… It is one other nail within the coffin.”

He additionally stated many residents are threatening to take their cash elsewhere, and fears that native companies, which depend on summer season tourism, will take a success if the seasonal crowd begins to vanish.

On Wednesday, Rhode Island Governor Daniel J. McKee declined to signal or veto the invoice, criticizing the tax hikes as pointless.

“At this second in time, there wasn’t a necessity to lift taxes on anybody,” McKee stated, although he did not utterly rule out a future model of the invoice.

The legislature can nonetheless revise the funds to realize McKee’s approval, however for now, the tax stays in limbo.