Two days ago crestfallen commie mayor Zohran Mamdani abandoned his desperate plan to aggressively hike property taxes (even more) on New Yorkers following unprecedented pushback (but not before earning the former capitalist mecca a credit rating downgrade warning from most rating agencies). However, since communists who are not redistributing wealth (eventually under the barrel of a gun) are useless communists, it only took Mamdani administration 48 hours before pitching his latest idea how to take: according to Bloomberg, New York lawmakers are planning a new tax on New York City homes purchased in cash for at least $1 million. The lawmakers are also considering expanding the tax to all-cash purchases over $1 million in New York, including those in the suburbs and upstate.
The New York City levy alone is expected to raise $160 million to help fill the city’s budget hole. The proposed tax would be levied at 1% of the purchase price and would be paid by the buyer, according to the people.
A spokesperson for Governor Kathy Hochul said she “announced a general agreement with the State Legislature on many of the major elements of the FY 2027 Budget. The final budget bills will provide additional details.”
All-cash transactions have risen in New York as soaring mortgage costs have deterred financing, and instead buyers opt to be hit with capital gains taxes and liquidated other securities to fund real estate purchases. They are also an attractive option for sellers in New York City’s ultra-competitive real estate market as it’s faster than dealing with the lengthy mortgage approval process, and less likely to fall through.
Such purchases made up more than 60% of the nearly 18,000 transactions in New York City in the first six months of 2025, according to data compiled by the Center for New York City Neighborhoods. The report found that in Manhattan, nine out of 10 purchases over $3 million were done in all-cash transactions between January and June of 2025.
New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said the tax would be included in the final budget as “part of the plan to help close the city’s deficit.” State Senator James Skoufis, who sits on the chamber’s finance committee, also said in an interview the new levy was discussed.
Mamdani unveiled his $124.7 billion budget plan for the fiscal year that starts on July 1 that includes more assistance from Albany. He is also counting on funds from a proposed tax on second homes worth more than $5 million that state and city lawmakers are still figuring out how to implement. Hochul said the state will send $4 billion in new aid to the city to help close the budget hole.
“New Yorkers are already the most heavily taxed residents in the country, and the city’s budget issues will not be solved by more taxes,” said James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York. He said that the new proposal would further burden home buyers and sellers in the city and threaten existing revenue.
There are other problems with the proposal: New Yorkers already pay a 1% mansion tax, rising to 3.9%, on homes over $1 million whether paying with cash or financing. On top of that, even the wealthiest cash buyers aren't usually just wiring cash from their bank accounts to buy homes. They sell assets (i.e. stocks) to generate the cash. This liquidation is subject to heavy capital gains taxes already that go to both the federal government and also the state of NY. This tax is usually far ins excess of any 1% "cash" tax this idiotic Mamdani administration is proposing.
As some social media commentators were quick to point out correctly, "There are bad policy ideas, and then there are those that make absolutely zero sense. This is the latter."