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Posted on 08/30/2025 11:17:27 AM PDT by Jacquerie
Taylor Swift’s $17 million Rhode Island mansion isn’t just a star-studded backdrop anymore—it’s ground zero for a growing tax revolt aimed at the wealthy.
Starting next summer, the state will slap a new surcharge on vacation homes worth $1 million or more, a move already dubbed the “Taylor Swift Tax.” The goal: Make deep-pocketed second-home owners pay more, and set the stage for a wave of similar crackdowns from Montana’s mountains to Connecticut’s suburbs.
And yet, at the very top of the market, wealthy buyers are still scooping up real estate. As of April 2025, the $1 million-plus category has been the fastest-growing real estate sales segment for 21 months straight, according to data from the National Association of Realtors®.
Next summer, Rhode Island will roll out the “Taylor Swift Tax,” a new levy on non-primary residences worth $1 million or more. The math is simple and punishing: $2.50 for every $500 of assessed value above that first million.
For a coastal trophy home like Swift’s $17 million Watch Hill estate, that’s an extra $136,000 a year in property taxes—enough to make even the ultrawealthy take notice.
The state’s pitch is blunt: Wealthy absentee owners should contribute more to local revenue, especially in luxury markets that have exploded in value.
For high-end buyers and sellers, the move could chill demand for second homes and push some to list sooner than planned. And for year-round residents, it’s proof that lawmakers are more than willing to balance the books by going straight for the top of the housing ladder.
If the past few years have been about identifying the problem—the widening gap between luxury buyers and everyone else—the next few will be about how far lawmakers are willing to go to close it. Once considered political third rails, targeted taxes on second homes, ultraluxury properties, and inherited real estate are now gaining traction in both liberal enclaves and fiscally conservative states looking for new revenue streams.
And then there’s the wildcard: migration. If enough deep-pocketed owners vote with their feet, states may find themselves rethinking just how hard they can squeeze without pushing wealth and the tax base it provides across their borders. The “Taylor Swift Tax” may have started as a headline-ready nickname, but it could end up being shorthand for a broader turning point in how America decides who pays for the privilege of owning a piece of it.
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“crackdowns”?
Since when is jacking up taxes a “crackdown”?
Most municipalities DESPISE housing providers. Even though they are a huge chunk of the town’s revenue AND aren’t allowed to vote in the locality’s elections unless they actually live there.
The dynamics in play already…are why Socialism is gaining steam. If Zohran Mamdani wins the NYC mayoral elections, the seismic implications will overshadow even Taylor Swift.
Looks like there might be a little problem with her beach facing slope.
Won’t it be the Taylor Kelce Tax?
He’s taking her name isn’t he?
IOW, don’t be successful because the left wants to tax you more because of your success since they’re all jealous and all.
Conservatives focus on the absurd power and spending of the Federal Government, which is correct
But the real tax burden, social engineering, and ground troops of the Left are in massive local taxes to support bloated local government
I’ve lived in both NY and CA, so have seen it up close.
This is simply evidence of inflation, the debasement of the currency. A million dollars won't buy what it used to, even five years ago.
As an added injustice, the owners don’t get to vote in the jurisdiction, even though they have to pay taxes there.
Many folks in RI have homes that they bought for $200k years ago that are worth well above $1 million now. They are hardly “ultra wealthy.”
Jealousy and Envy are horrible afflictions.
Indeed it’s like pouring gas on a fire to put it out.
As he gets older, he’ll have to change his middle name to “Notso”.
Everyone who is not poor needs to be punished.
Ridiculous!
American communists leave no stone unturned when it comes to stealing from taxpayers’ wallets...
Why is “looking for new revenue streams” never “scouring the books for cost saving opportunities”?
Looks like they just armored it with large rocks in case a rogue wave hits there.
While I get your point, the tax isn’t on homesteaders; it is on non-primary/vacation homeowners presumably out of state and non-voting.
Always easy targets. Florida perfected the tactic decades ago.
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