The NYC Non-Primary Residence Surcharge, Explained: Who Pays, Who Is Exempt, and the October 6 Deadline
Who pays, who is exempt, the October 6 deadline, and how a response to the Department of Finance is actually filed.
Update, September 30, 2026: On September 29, 2026, Justice Wayne M. Ozzi of the State Supreme Court in Richmond County granted the homeowners’ petition in O’Brien v. City of New York. The court directed the Department of Finance to take the current supplemental roll off its website (it may post a limited roll of the properties actually subject to the surcharge), declared the mailed notices arbitrary and capricious and a violation of the recipients’ due process rights, and ordered every previously mailed notice cancelled. Any new notice must follow an individualized determination and disclose the records the Department relied on, and the court eliminated the exemption process because it shifted the burden of proof to owners. The ruling does not strike down the surcharge itself. The City filed a notice of appeal the same day, and a city official told CNN and The Hill that the appeal invoked a stay, which puts the ruling on hold while the City continues implementing the surcharge. As of September 30, 2026, the Department of Finance’s surcharge page still lists October 6, 2026 as the deadline to submit an exemption application and does not mention the ruling. Until the Department or a court says otherwise, an owner who received a notice should still plan to respond by October 6. The ruling and the appeal are on our pied-à-terre tax lawsuit page.
Update, August 25, 2026: the Department of Finance has extended the exemption application deadline a second time, from September 18 to October 6, 2026. The appeal window under 19 RCNY 62-06(b)(1) is the same filing and the same date. The City’s sworn court papers state that the emergency rule lets the Commissioner extend the deadline for good cause and that DOF extended it for any property owner that has not yet submitted such documentation until October 6, 2026 (O’Brien v. City of New York, NYSCEF Doc. 29, paragraphs 39 and 40, sworn August 25, 2026).
Update, August 18, 2026: the court order of August 10 was stayed the same evening, and on August 13 the Appellate Division kept the stay in place while the City appeals. The rollout is running, the roll is still posted, applications are being decided, and the deadline in force at the time did not move. See where the case stands.
The surcharge reaches condominium and cooperative units the Department of Finance values at $1 million or more, and one- to three-family homes valued at $5 million or more, when the city does not have a qualifying primary resident on record for the property. It applies for fiscal year 2027, and the first surcharge lands with the property tax bill of January 1, 2027.
Three names, one surcharge: the letter from the Department of Finance says non-primary residence property surcharge, New Yorkers say pied-a-terre tax, and law firms writing to their clients have shortened that to the PAT tax. Whichever name brought you here, this page is about the same charge. What a pied-à-terre is in the first place, and what makes an apartment one in the city’s eyes, is covered in what is a pied-à-terre.
Received a surcharge notice? Check your property in MGNY’s app using the address or BBL. The free lookup shows public DOF records and available surcharge estimates; sign in for review and document steps. MGNY reviews ownership and residency evidence and helps prepare surcharge exemption applications and appeals where appropriate.
Who has to pay the surcharge?
Where does the law live? In Part HH of Chapter 59 of the Laws of 2026, adopted May 28, 2026, which added Tax Law Article 30-C and Chapter 32 of Title 11 of the Administrative Code; in the Department of Finance’s rule, 19 RCNY Chapter 62, proposed June 9, heard July 9, published with 35 comments on the rules portal and effective July 14, 2026; and in the emergency amendment effective August 3, 2026 that rewrote this year’s filing window, an emergency rule the Charter holds to 60 days with one further 60 days while a permanent rule is prepared.
| Property | DOF market value | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Condos and co-ops (Class 2) | $1M to $3M | 4.00% |
| $3M to $5M | 5.25% | |
| $5M and above | 6.50% | |
| One- to three-family homes (Class 1) | $5M to $15M | 0.80% |
| $15M to $25M | 1.05% | |
| $25M and above | 1.30% |
The rate applies to the entire market value once the threshold is crossed, not only to the portion above it. Note that DOF market value is not a sale price; for Class 2 units it runs well below what the apartment would trade for.
Which properties are exempt?
A property is exempt when any one of five people uses it as a primary residence:
- The owner of the property
- A tenant or subtenant
- One or more individuals who collectively hold a majority interest in the LLC, corporation, or partnership that owns the property
- An immediate family member of the owner or majority interest holder
- The sole beneficiary of a trust
Two units in one building is a different question from two buildings, and the answer turns on what the property is. In a one-, two- or three-family house, proof for one dwelling unit excludes the whole property. In a cooperative, proof for one unit excludes only that unit. A condominium unit is its own covered property under Administrative Code 11-3201, so proof for one unit does nothing for a second unit down the hall. And a primary residence elsewhere in New York City does not shield a second city unit at all: commenters asked for that exemption and the Department of Finance answered that “This reading is not supported by the text of the law,” adding that “An individual cannot have multiple primary residences.”
The exemption is not automatic. Somebody has to tell the Department of Finance which relationship applies, with documents, through the city’s response portal.
Two questions come up again and again. The first is from commuters: does paying New York City income tax as a statutory resident settle whether the apartment is a primary residence for the surcharge? It does not, and nothing official reconciles the two tests. The New York State Bar Association’s Tax Section, in a July 8, 2026 report, which is a bar report rather than a ruling, worked two fact patterns. For an owner domiciled elsewhere who actually occupies the New York City unit for more than 183 days, the report said “it would seem, as a general matter, that the covered property can qualify as the owner’s primary residence where the owner is a statutory resident.” For a New Jersey commuter who spends 60 days at the unit and the rest of the 183 elsewhere in the city, it said “The surcharge could still apply if the Department determines that the New York City property does not qualify as the primary residence of the commuter.” The Tax Section asked for the point to be settled in the final rule, and the adopted rule does not mention statutory residency. The second is from people who live in the apartment and got a letter anyway. The Department of Finance’s own answer: “You may have received a letter because our records did not allow us to confirm that the property is being used as a primary residence. For example, if your co-op or condo receives the co-op or condo abatement, but we did not have a sufficient tax filing on record, you may have received the letter.” Its follow-through is the instruction: “Receiving a letter does not necessarily mean that you will owe the surcharge. If the property is used as a primary residence, submit an exemption application by the deadline listed in your letter.”
When is the deadline to respond?
The notices mailed July 22, 2026 printed August 21 for homes and condos and August 24 for cooperative units. Those dates have been superseded twice: on August 1, 2026 the Mayor and the Finance Commissioner extended the deadline to a single date for everyone who received a notice, and the Department of Finance extended it again to October 6, 2026. A September 29, 2026 court ruling ordered the mailed notices cancelled, but the City appealed and says the ruling is on hold, and the Department of Finance still lists October 6, 2026.
What happens if the notice is ignored?
The surcharge is added to the January 1, 2027 bill. After a determination there are two appeal tracks: a review with the Department of Finance, and the Tax Commission, where Class 2 owners file Form TC107 by March 1, 2027 or within 30 days of a final determination, whichever is later. Responding before October 6 is simpler than either. How a regular property tax appeal works, deadlines and forms included, is covered separately.
How is a response actually filed?
Every notice carries a unique security code that ties the response to the property on the portal at nyc.gov/npsurcharge. The filing itself is document work: each of the five exemption paths has its own set of acceptable proof under the city’s rule, and the documents have to agree with one another. Tax returns, DMV identification, leases, and trust papers each carry different weight depending on the path. Before assembling any of it, pied-a-terre.mgnyconsulting.com/check shows the Department of Finance value for a property and what the surcharge would cost each year, without an account. The portal’s guides at pied-a-terre.mgnyconsulting.com cover what the tax is, the five exemption criteria and the October 6 deadline.
What does it cost to ask MGNY?
Nothing. A real person answers at (212) 343-1111, right away, and the consultation is free. You engage us only if you want the response handled for you. MGNY has worked NYC property tax since 2008, with nearly $300M in tax savings secured for owners, 900+ developments with tax abatements secured and $30B+ represented in appeals.
Received a notice? Talk it through before October 6.
Call (212) 343-1111. A real person answers right away, the consultation is free, and you engage us only if you want the response handled for you.
Or look first: the free instant check shows the value the Department of Finance put on your property and what the surcharge would cost each year, free and without signing in. The notice itself, what it says and what the city has on record for your property, is walked through step by step at npsurcharge.com.
The numbers behind this page, the rate ladders and a worked example, are on the NYC pied-à-terre tax page; whether your property is on the list, and what the letter means, is on the pied-à-terre tax list page.
Sources: NYC Department of Finance, nyc.gov/npsurcharge, read August 2026; Mayor’s Office release of August 1, 2026 announcing the deadline extension; the adopted rule at 19 RCNY 62.
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