Max Biedermann and Michael Hilkin examine NYC's new pied-à-terre tax in Family Wealth Report

Family Wealth Report recently published a byline from Max Biedermann and Michael Hilkin examining the significant legal and administrative uncertainty surrounding New York City’s new pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes valued at $5 million or more. The authors noted that the tax, which took effect July 1, 2026, has already drawn controversy over a data list of properties, entities, and people that City Hall released publicly.

Max and Michael highlighted several unresolved questions facing property owners and advisors, including how ownership through LLCs, trusts, and corporations will be treated for purposes of the tax’s primary-residence exclusion, and whether layered ownership structures can qualify even when a trust’s sole beneficiary lives in the property full time. They also flagged the compliance challenges created by the law’s two-phase valuation methodology for co-ops and condos, and the practical burden placed on co-op boards, which must pay the tax at the building level and then seek reimbursement from individual shareholders.

With the New York Department of Finance required to issue initial tax determinations by August 30, 2026, and only a 30-day appeal window available to property owners, they urged anyone potentially subject to the tax to begin preparing documentation to support an appeal now.