Updated October 1, 2026
On August 26, 2026 the city told a Richmond County court it was moving the pied-a-terre response deadline from September 18 to October 6, 2026. Of roughly 17,000 owners who received a July 22 notice, about 11,000 had already applied for an exemption and 2,900 had been approved. If you have not filed, the surcharge lands on the January 1, 2027 property tax bill.
The surcharge itself was enacted on May 27, 2026 in the state budget and lives in the Tax Law as Article 30-C, sections 1350 through 1356. It applies to city fiscal years starting July 1, 2026 and sunsets June 30, 2031 unless Albany renews it. I run this math for buyers weighing a second home in the city, and the number that surprises people is never the rate. It is the valuation the rate is measured against.
Update, October 1: a judge ordered the notices cancelled, and the city appealed
On September 29 a Staten Island judge ordered the city to cancel the notices it mailed and restart the rollout. The city appealed that night, which invokes an automatic stay, and the Department of Finance page still lists October 6 as the deadline. Press reports said it was unclear how the ruling affects that date. Until the Department of Finance says otherwise in writing, treat October 6 as live.
The threshold is the city's valuation, not the sale price
In Phase 1, running July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2028, coverage is measured against the Department of Finance valuation printed on your property tax bill. One-to-three-family houses are covered above a $5,000,000 valuation. Condo and co-op units are covered above a $1,000,000 valuation. The gap is not a drafting error: the city values apartments on a rental-income method that runs well below sale prices, and the Department of Finance says a condo or co-op it values at $1,000,000 is generally comparable to a single-family home valued at $5,000,000 or more. Read the valuation off the bill before deciding whether your unit is in scope.
The rates, applied to the full value
Nothing here is marginal. Once a property crosses a tier, the rate hits the entire valuation.
| Property type |
Department of Finance valuation |
Annual rate |
| House (1-3 family) | $5M to $15M | 0.8% |
| House (1-3 family) | $15M to $25M | 1.05% |
| House (1-3 family) | Above $25M | 1.3% |
| Condo or co-op | $1M to $3M | 4.0% |
| Condo or co-op | $3M to $5M | 5.25% |
| Condo or co-op | Above $5M | 6.5% |
Phase 1 schedule, July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2028.
Two worked examples. A condo at exactly $1,000,000 of city valuation pays 4% of the full amount, about $40,000 a year. A non-primary house valued at $20,000,000 pays 1.05% of the full $20,000,000, or $210,000 a year. From July 1, 2028, Phase 2 is written to move condos and co-ops onto the same $5,000,000 threshold and the same house schedule under a new assessed-value system the Department of Finance has not finalized, so treat those numbers as scheduled rather than settled.
Who is exempt
A property is out of the surcharge when it is the primary residence of any one of these:
- The owner.
- A tenant or subtenant.
- An immediate family member: spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent, or grandchild.
- The individuals who collectively hold a majority interest in an owning LLC, corporation, or partnership, which applies only when the entity holds the full fee interest, or all the shares for a co-op unit.
- The sole beneficiary of a trust.
NYC Condos $1M and Up
Manhattan and Brooklyn condos in the price range the surcharge reaches
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Listing information provided courtesy of the Real Estate Board of New York's Residential Listing Service (RLS).
Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Sale listings verified.
©2026 REBNY. RLS data displayed by Keller Williams NYC.
How to respond before October 6
The original deadlines were August 21 for houses and condos and August 24 for co-ops. On August 1 the city consolidated both into one date, September 18, 2026. On August 26 it moved that date again, to October 6, 2026, for every owner who received a notice. The filing is electronic at nyc.gov/npsurcharge, using the PIN printed on your notice.
Proof the city accepts
A state or federal income tax return showing the address as your permanent home, other primary-residence tax credits or exemptions on the property, and supporting documents such as a driver's license, voter registration, utility bills, or a bona fide long-term lease when a tenant is the one living there.
Why you may hold a notice even if you live there
The Department of Finance says it mailed letters to owners of properties that may be subject to the surcharge, including owners whose records did not let it confirm a primary residence. Its own example: a co-op or condo that receives the co-op or condo abatement but has no sufficient tax filing on record. A letter does not mean you owe the surcharge. Neither does a listing on the July 24 supplemental roll, which the department says includes many properties that will never get a notice. If the home is your primary residence, you still have to respond by the deadline on your letter, with proof.
What happens after you file
The Department of Finance reviews the application and sends a determination letter and email. If it denies the exemption, you can appeal to the NYC Tax Commission. If you also dispute the city's valuation of the unit, the Tax Commission can take up the valuation and the primary-residence question together. Once you ask it to rule on residency, the Department of Finance stops considering your submission and defers to the Commission's decision. Press reports from September 29 put the city's approvals at about 4,700 proofs of residency as of September 16, up from 2,900 in late August. For a PIN, or if the filing page will not load, call 311.
There is a lawsuit. File anyway.
O'Brien v. City of New York was filed on August 7, 2026 in Richmond County Supreme Court by three homeowners. It challenges the rollout, not the tax: the claim is that the Department of Finance pushed the burden of proof onto roughly 960,000 owners through a July 24 supplemental roll that published owner names and addresses, which is where the privacy objection comes from. Even a win would force the city to redo its notices rather than strike the surcharge.
That win came on September 29. Justice Wayne Ozzi ruled that the city's process violated the homeowners' due process rights and ordered it to cancel the mailed notices, replace its roll of nearly 1 million properties with a list of only those actually subject to the surcharge, and send new notices after an individualized initial determination. The ruling does not decide whether the tax is legal. The city appealed the same night and said it would continue implementing the surcharge under the stay. The homeowners' lawyer said the city has told the court it will not invoice the tax before November 15 or collect it before January 1. Two further lawsuits filed that week challenge the tax itself on constitutional grounds, one of them paid for by the Real Estate Board of New York. A filed exemption application costs you nothing and protects you whichever way the appeal goes, so file and let the litigation play out.
What this changes for buyers and sellers
The city projects roughly $500 million a year from roughly 10,000 properties. For a buyer who will not occupy the home, the surcharge is a fixed annual carrying cost that belongs in the budget next to common charges and property tax, and it stacks on top of the one-time mansion tax due at closing. For a seller of a covered unit, every future non-resident buyer has to underwrite the same annual number before bidding, which is a pricing input rather than a talking point. Run your purchase price through the NYC mansion tax calculator for the closing-day figure, read the mansion tax guide for the bracket math, and see the pied-a-terre buying guide for which buildings allow a second home, what a co-op board asks a part-time buyer for, and how the financing differs. The buying and selling above $1M FAQ covers the rest of the cost stack. If you already own a covered unit and are weighing what to do about it, the sell or lease calculator prices keeping it, leasing it to a qualifying tenant, and selling it, side by side.
Got a notice and not sure it is right?
Send me the address and I will walk you through the valuation on the bill, which exemption path fits, and what the surcharge does to a purchase or a sale price.
Ask Milton
This is planning context, not legal or tax advice. Confirm your own filing with a New York real estate attorney or your CPA before the October 6, 2026 deadline.
Sources
Primary sources for the figures on this page, verified October 1, 2026.
- NYC Department of Finance, non-primary residence surcharge, the filing rules and the October 6 deadline
- NBC New York, August 26, 2026, the extension to October 6 and the 17,000 notice, 11,000 applied, 2,900 approved figures
- Inman, September 29, 2026, the court ruling, the city's appeal and stay, and the two new lawsuits
- The Hill, September 29, 2026, the ruling's due process holding and the cancelled notices
- New York Tax Law Article 30-C, sections 1350 to 1356, the statute, its rates and thresholds, and the 2031 sunset
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