The New ‘Taylor Swift Tax’ Targets The Wealthy

Rhode Island wealthy seasonal homeowners including Taylor swiftare at the center of a heated dispute on a new tax on other homes worth $ 1 million or more.

Under the name “Taylor Swift tax”, the “Taylor Swift tax” of the frustrated local, the Taylor Swift tax “aims to hit luxury homeowners with annual fees if their properties are not used for at least six months of the year.

The “Taylor Swift tax”, which is included in the proposed $ 14.3 billion budget from the state, has aroused the backback of celebrities, brokers and long -term residents, some of which threaten to abandon their summer retreats completely.

Among the crosses is Swift himself, who has owned the $ 17 million seaside manor for expensive beach town of Watch Hill since 2013. Although the purpose is to support affordable housing initiatives, critics claim that the additional fee has been misunderstood for long -term residents and seasons visitors.

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Local company owner James Nicholas, whose family has led the beloved St. Clair Annex Ice Cream Shop four generations just down from Taylor Swift Manor Daily mail“As one of the people who take care of small businesses from summer residents, I think of others, such as landscapes, timber yards, contractors, swimming pool companies who trust these summer guests.”

“It is not a golden bullet that people think we just write rich people and nothing happens. There are the consequences of the end,” he continued. “There’s a layer of society that can absorb that cost, but regular people, maybe they don’t put an addition to the house, don’t you know go to local restaurants or they don’t buy so much in local shops, taxing on them is a short -sighted thinking.”

Founder of bar sports Dave Portnoy It was also weighed warning that the tax could create a dangerous precedent in the northeast.

“We don’t like that tax,” Portnoy said in the video. “Now I don’t have houses on Rhode Island, but I got pretty close. I don’t like those states that get ideas.”

According to the proposal, the owners of the second home will pay an annual additional fee of $ 2.50 for $ 500 for the estimated value of more than $ 1 million. For Swift Manor and other Watch Hill Estates, it can mean six -digit annual fees.

But real estate broker Larry Burns pointed out that the tax not only hit fame.

“People like Taylor Swift, people look at him and think,” Well, he has so much money that he will never even notice such growth, “Burns said.” But $ 100,000 may be a year -long degree for a child or two children. Not everyone has non -empty resources. “

The budget also includes a 63%hiking real estate tax, which is paid for the sale of real estate and income from both taxable income for affordable housing projects.

The local real estate agent Geb Masterson repeated worry, claiming that “only one way to go after the wealthy when state funds run dry … it’s another nail in the coffin.”

He also said that many residents are threatening to take their money elsewhere, and they are afraid that local companies that trust summer tourism will get a hit if the season begins to disappear.

On Wednesday, Daniel J. McKeke, the governor of Rhode Island, refused to sign the bill or appealed to the bill by criticizing tax increases as unnecessary.

“At the moment there was no need to raise taxes to anyone,” McKee said, even though he did not completely exclude the future version of the bill.

Still, the legislature can check the budget for McKe’s approval, but so far the tax remains limited.