The New ‘Taylor Swift Tax’ Goals The Rich

Rhode Island’s wealthy seasonal homeowners, including Taylor Swift, are at the center of a heated controversy over a new tax targeting second homes valued at $1 million or more.

Dubbed the “Taylor Swift Tax” by frustrated locals, the proposal aims to slap luxury homeowners with annual fees if their properties are not used for at least six months out of the year.

The “Taylor Swift Tax,” included in the state’s proposed $14.3 billion budget, has sparked backlash from celebrities, realtors, and longtime residents alike, with some threatening to abandon their summer retreats altogether.

Among those in the crosshairs is Swift herself, who has owned a $17 million oceanfront mansion in the upscale beach town of Watch Hill since 2013. While intended to support affordable housing initiatives, critics argue the surcharge is a misguided attempt to squeeze longtime residents and seasonal visitors.

The backlash has been fierce.

Local business owner James Nicholas, whose family has run the beloved St. Clair Annex ice cream shop for four generations just down the hill from Taylor Swift’s estate told Daily Mail, “As one of the people who run small businesses that benefit from from summer residents, I’m thinking of others like landscapers, lumber yards, contractors, pool companies who are are relying on these summer visitors.”

“It’s not the golden bullet that the people think it is, that we’re just gonna text rich people and nothing’s gonna happen. There’s downstream consequences,” he continued. “There’s a stratum of society that can absorb that cost, but regular people, maybe they don’t put an addition on the house, don’t you know go to the local restaurants, or they don’t shop at the local shops as much, taxing them is short-sighted thinking.”

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy also weighed in, warning that the tax could set a dangerous precedent across the Northeast.

“We don’t like that tax,” Portnoy said in a video. “Now, I don’t have any houses in Rhode Island, but I got some pretty close. I don’t like those states getting the ideas.”

According to the proposal, second-home owners would pay an annual surcharge of $2.50 per $500 of assessed value beyond the first $1 million. For Swift’s mansion and other Watch Hill estates, that could mean six-figure annual fees.

But realtor Larry Burns pointed out that the tax won’t just hit celebrities.

“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,'” Burns said. “But $100,000 here might be a college education for a year for a kid, or two kids. Not everyone has inexhaustible resources.”

The budget also includes a 63% hike to the real estate conveyance tax, a fee paid when properties are sold, with revenue from both taxes earmarked for affordable housing projects.

Local realtor Geb Masterson echoed the concern, claiming it is “just another way to go after the wealthy when the state’s funds run dry… It’s another nail in the coffin.”

He also said many residents are threatening to take their money elsewhere, and fears that local businesses, which rely on summer tourism, will take a hit if the seasonal crowd begins to disappear.

On Wednesday, Rhode Island Governor Daniel J. McKee declined to sign or veto the bill, criticizing the tax hikes as unnecessary.

“At this moment in time, there wasn’t a need to raise taxes on anyone,” McKee said, though he didn’t completely rule out a future version of the bill.

The legislature can still revise the budget to gain McKee’s approval, but for now, the tax remains in limbo.

Swift’s Watch Hill mansion is just one piece of her sprawling real estate empire.

In 2013, the global superstar purchased the 5.25-acre Rhode Island estate for $17.75 million in an all-cash deal. The 11,000-square-foot home features seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, and more than 700 feet of private beachfront, perched atop the highest point in Watch Hill.

Beyond Rhode Island, Swift’s real estate holdings stretch coast to coast. She owns two luxury condos in Nashville’s bustling Music Row district, a historic mansion in Beverly Hills, and multiple properties in New York City’s upscale Tribeca neighborhood, including three combined units and an adjacent townhouse she reportedly converted into a private entrance.

She’s also said to have bought a mansion in Nashville’s exclusive Northumberland Estate for her parents.

Whether or not the “Taylor Swift Tax” is implemented, the controversy has already struck a nerve in Rhode Island, revealing a deep divide between progressive goals and economic reality in one of America’s most exclusive coastal enclaves.