Marty Golden’s bill would repeal the state mansion tax

On the heels of passing a state budget that excludes Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed city mansion tax, state Sen. Marty Golden wants to do away with the state mansion tax altogether.

The Brooklyn lawmaker, a Democrat who caucuses with Republicans, introduced a bill to repeal the state’s existing 1 percent tax on sales of residential property above $1 million. By doing so, he estimated purchases could save $380 million in tax payments, Politico reported.

“The State’s ‘mansion’ tax was imposed in 1988,” Golden wrote in a sponsor’s memo. “Since then, the average price of a home in most parts of the State has at least doubled.” He said the mansion tax has become a “burden on the middle class, who are already struggling to come up with the cash to purchase a moderate sized, constructed and furnished family home.”

The mayor — who’s unsuccessfully pushed for a mansion tax before — now wants a 2.5 percent tax on purchases above $2 million. City Hall estimated the tax would impact 4,500 residential real estate deals, generating $336 million in revenue in 2018.

The $153.1 billion state budget, passed by the legislature on April 9, renewed the millionaires’ tax on residents who earn more than $1 million, but did not include de Blasio’s proposed mansion tax. [Politico] – E.B. Solomont