Rhode Island has approved a controversial bill, dubbed the ‘Taylor Swift Tax’, on million-dollar second homes people use for summer breaks.
The tax will target the second homes of all the residents in the state who don’t use their home full time.
The Rhode Island House of Representatives has already greenlit a proposed $13.9 billion state budget that includes the sweeping new real estate tax.
This means the pop star will face her own six-figure tax on her $17 million Watch Hill estate if the bill goes into law. The measure passed by a 66 to 9 vote on June 18 and now moves to the state Senate.
Swift has famously owned the mansion in the upmarket beach town since 2013 and spends July 4th there every year.
Under the guise of helping Rhode Island’s affordability crisis, those who have ‘non-primary residences valued over $1 million’ will be taxed under the proposal.
Overall, homeowners would face an annual surcharge of $2.50 per $500 of assessed value above the first $1 million — meaning a $3 million second home would see a $10,000 yearly fee.
Swift and her beachfront estate neighbors would likely get taxed $100,000 and up based on the size of their mansions.
Rhode Island has approved a controversial ‘Taylor Swift Tax’ on million-dollar second homes people use for summer vacations
Swift was just 23 years old when set her sights on the Watch Hill estate which used to belong to one of the richest women in the US
The budget also proposes a 63 percent hike in the real estate conveyance tax, which sellers pay upon transferring property.
The state says revenue from both tax hikes would go toward affordable housing projects, including the construction of low-income units and expansion of housing tax credits.
But Watch Hill realtor Larry Burns warns there will be economic backlash.
Burns specializes in coastal and luxury properties, and says the impact of the tax will trickle down to longtime residents who are not wealthy, and to local economies.
He said the state has not been specific about how exactly the money is going to be spent — and the tax will unfairly penalize those who own inherited or family properties. Watch Hill famously passes homes on for generations.
‘Rhode Island economy for the most part is driven by tourism, especially in all in New England especially coastal state like Rhode Island,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘And it’s really going to discourage people from buying second homes here because of the added expense.’
Burns warns that neighboring states like Massachusetts, Maine, or Connecticut could become more attractive to buyers and Rhode Island will take a massive hit.
‘You squeeze them here they’re going to go somewhere else,’ he warned.
The budget also proposes a 63 percent hike in the real estate conveyance tax, which sellers pay upon transferring property
Taylor pictured with Selena Gomez and the Haim sisters at a previous 4th July party at her home in Rhode Island
Burns warns that neighboring states like Massachusetts, Maine, or Connecticut could become more attractive to buyers and Rhode Island will take a massive hit (Pictured: Swift’s mansion in Watch Hill)
Watch Hill realtor Larry Burns warns there could be economic backlash if owners are taxed
He continued: ‘There’s people like Taylor Swift — people will look at her and think, “Well, she has so much money she’ll never even notice an increase like this.”
‘But it’s not like the residents here have inexhaustible resources.
‘$100,000 here might be college education for the year for a kid, or two kids.’
Burns added the tax could force many to part with cherished family homes.
‘There’s a lot of older folks or multigenerational properties where the siblings have inherited the property, and if you keep adding expenses people end up selling because they can’t keep up with the cost,’ he said.
Part-time residents are also crucial to the local economy, Burns said.
‘They spend an enormous amount of money in those six to eight weeks that they’re here,’ Burns said.
‘And they don’t impose a lot of demand on municipal resources like schools, police, or the hospital.’
Swift was just 23 years old when set her sights on the Watch Hill estate which used to belong to one of the richest women in the US
Taylor had Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes over for a summer break at her Watch Hill estate in 2024
Swift outside her Watch Hill home, where she often spends July 4th with friends
A man fishes at the Watch Hill Lighthouse
Local businesses are bracing for the fallout.
‘I hear from people in the construction business, landscaping, any kind of service work, restaurants — everybody’s going to be really negatively affected if this goes into effect,’ Burns said.
‘You’re creating a welfare state at that point for service workers.’
Burns stressed that tourism and the summer season is what gives the state its money.
‘They’re worried about funding low income housing, but the problem is you’ve got to give people jobs before you worry about the housing,’ he said.
‘If your economy runs on tourism and you do this to it, you’re really negatively impacting those people’s ability to earn a living.’
Whether the tax becomes law remains uncertain, but it now awaits Senate approval and the Governor Dan McKee’s signature.
Burns says it could go either way.
‘I don’t know if they’re posturing for political reasons, but this is really killing the goose that lays the golden egg,’ he said.
If the tax does pass, the tax would take effect in July 2026.
