New York, New York — if you can make it here . . . we don’t want you.
Gov. Kathy Hochul used Tax Day to announce a new fee targeting wealthy people who still linger in the city after moving their primary residences to other states.
The tax, called pied-à-terre (or “foot on the ground”) is designed to hit people who still maintain high-value properties in the city. It is a remarkably moronic effort to ensure that wealthy people cut all ties with the city.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a socialist who supports the “decommodification” of private property, is seeking major tax increases, including a 10% property tax, to fund his pledges for free buses, city-run stores and other policies.
The new measure, which would raise an estimated $500 million for the state, would add a fee to existing taxes for owners of high-value properties worth more than $5 million.
The pied-à-terre tax is just one of the tax increases being pushed in blue states from Washington and Virginia to get every last cent from wealthy residents before they flee.
Or even if they do flee. California and other states are pursuing retroactive wealth taxes and so-called “Teddy Bear laws” that refuse to recognize changes of residency.
New York has used its regulations to declare that people who fled to other states are still residents subject to taxation because of the location of their sentimental attachments in New York (like a Teddy bear) from pets to children.
In my new book, “Rage and the Republic,” I discuss these taxes and how they are the final stage of economic atrophy for states like New York.
Politicians like Hochul cannot muster the courage to face bloated budgets, excessive union pension contracts, and runaway spending. The Democrats find it too difficult to create a state that draws investment and residents like so many red states.
Instead, they corner the remaining wealthy people who still maintain contacts with the state like a canned hunt.
Much of this legislation is fueled by the lie that “the rich don’t pay their taxes.”
As Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said, calling for an unconstitutional law this week on X, “It’s time to make the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share. It’s time to pass a wealth tax.”
Socialist Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders also made the same claim. In a Guardian op-ed, Sanders cited shocking figures claiming that Elon Musk pays a tax rate of only 3.3% while Jeff Bezos pays less than 1%.
The claim comes from the dubious source ProPublica, which performs a sleight of hand in coming up with the claim. In reality, the publication shows that Jeff Bezos paid $973 million in taxes on income of $4.22 billion. That is a 23% tax burden, not less than 1%. Musk paid 30% with a $455 million tax bill.
The top 1% of taxpayers in this country paid roughly 40% of all taxes. The top 5% pays over 40% of taxes.
The Democrats are committed to economic factionalism as a strategy for the midterm elections. It will come at a great cost to states like New York.
Hochul and Mamdani can hunt down the remaining wealthy taxpayers lingering in their state. In the end, it will not generate nearly as much revenue as it will cost as residents and businesses look elsewhere for positive living and business environments.
It is unlikely that many wealthy individuals will stick around to experience what Mayor Mamdani calls “the warmth of collectivism.” Instead, it will be average New Yorkers who are burned by his “eat the rich” policies.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
