Hadriana Lowenkron (Bloomberg Law): Trump Says US Weighing Attempt to Stop NYC Pied-A-Terre Tax
President Donald Trump said he would examine whether the federal government can stop New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new pied-à-terre tax, which was temporarily blocked by a state court.
Trump in a social media post on Tuesday argued that the policy was costing the city by driving away wealthy people who would otherwise pay taxes there. It’s unclear if the administration has the power to intervene in a state tax matter.
Danielle Muoio Dunn (Bloomberg Law): Trump Lacks Legal Power to Stop NYC Second Home Tax Rollout
President Donald Trump is unlikely to block the rollout of New York City’s pied-à-terre tax because the federal government is limited in its ability to intervene on state tax issues, tax attorneys said.
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“It’s going to be difficult for the federal government to find any jurisdiction to interfere with the New York City tax,” Holderness said. “The local property taxes have generally been seen as obviously the purview of the states, and the federal government has little power to change that.”
Ben Williams, who leads the property tax department at Rosenberg & Estis, also said he doesn’t see an “obvious unilateral power” for Trump to stop the tax.
“Any federal challenge would need a specific constitutional or statutory basis,” he said in an email. “Disagreement with the tax or concern about its economic consequences, standing alone, would not be enough.”
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Randy Mastro, the attorney representing the homeowners, said Wednesday he isn’t interested in President Donald Trump’s assistance with the litigation and the federal government doesn’t have standing to intervene.
“I’m not asking for the help of anyone besides the courts of New York state,” Mastro said.
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