December 16, 2013
Reiss on “Sexy Tax Breaks” for Luxury Housing
MainStreet.com quoted me in Luxury Real Estate with Sexy Tax Breaks. The story reads in part,
Buying a high end property doesn’t always cost a fortune for the wealthy especially if there are tax breaks attached.
Property tax deductions and even exemptions exist for buyers of luxury properties under special incentives, such as New York City’s J-51 and 421a program.
“A J-51 unit in a luxury building will likely sell for more than a comparable condo without a tax break, because monthly expenses are lower due to reduced property taxes. It’s a deal but not dollar for dollar, and that’s true everywhere you look for tax breaks in luxury properties,” said David Reiss, professor of real estate law at Brooklyn Law School.Benefits include no tax by reducing the assessed value of the property to the pre-renovated price and secondly by capping property taxes.
“These benefits phase out typically over a 14 year period for market rate properties,” Reiss told MainStreet.
Most J-51 buildings in the borough of Manhattan are above 110 Street due to state restrictions.
For example, for interested buyers there’s a two-bedroom J-51 condominum on West 140th Street available for $620,000 advertised on condo-living-west.com.
“The tax reduction will be priced into the cost of the home,” said Reiss.
A back end strategy would be to buy and sell early rather than buy early and sell late to make a profit after purchase.
“Because the closer you are to the 14 year phase out when you sell, the less of a benefit the tax break is to the owners’ sale price,” Reiss said.
The 421a program is another tax break available for new construction not rehabilitation or conversion of existing buildings in Manhattan.
For example, an owner in a $90 million duplex penthouse in Midtown Manhattan would normally pay $230,000 in taxes without an abatement and $20,000 in taxes under an abatement program.
About 150,000 units in New York City receive partial tax exemptions under 421a.
The downside is that taxes gradually go up as the abatement is phased out.
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