Is Your Place Legally a "Second Home"?

The phrase in the statute is not "second home" — it is non-primary residence. That single definition decides who pays New York's new surcharge, and it turns on one question: is this home somebody's primary residence for more than half the year? Not whose name is on the deed, not where you're registered to vote in some general sense, not how much you love the place. Somebody — you, an immediate family member, or a 12-month tenant — either lives there most of the year, or the home is taxable. Here is how that test lands on the situations we hear about every week.

The situations, one by one

Your situation	Does the surcharge apply?
Snowbird — winters in Florida, summers in the city	Depends on the split. More than half the year in the NYC home as your primary residence → exempt. Five months here, seven in Boca → the NYC home is a non-primary residence, and it's taxable if it's over the value threshold. The test is where you primarily live, and "about half" is not more than half.
Commuter place — you live in NJ/CT/Long Island, keep an apartment near the office	Taxable if over the threshold. A weekday crash pad is the textbook non-primary residence, however many nights you use it.
Your kid lives there while at school/work	Exempt — if your child genuinely occupies it more than half the year as their primary residence. Children are "immediate family" under the law, along with spouses, siblings, parents, grandparents and grandchildren. Keep proof of their occupancy.
Inherited your parent's apartment, still deciding what to do	The estate deciding slowly doesn't create an exemption. If nobody lives there more than half the year, it's a non-primary residence — the clock doesn't pause for probate. See our inherited-apartment guide.
Apartment is rented to a tenant	Exempt — if it's a bona fide arm's-length lease of at least 12 months to a person (not a company) who makes it their primary residence. Airbnb, seasonal, and corporate arrangements don't qualify.
Owned through an LLC or trust	The entity changes nothing by itself. The law looks through LLCs, partnerships, corporations and trusts to the people behind them — through every tier. What matters is still whether a qualifying person primarily lives there.
Empty and listed for sale or rent	Taxable. Availability is not occupancy — a listing is not a lease, and an empty home over the threshold owes the surcharge while it waits.

Then comes the value test

Being a non-primary residence only matters if the home also clears a value threshold — and the value that counts is the city's own number, not yours. For condos and co-ops the test uses the DOF market value — the "Market Value" line on the January Notice of Property Value — with a $1,000,000 threshold. For 1–3-family houses the threshold is $5,000,000 of market value. DOF's number for a condo is usually well below what the unit would sell for (it's an income-derived figure), which cuts both ways: plenty of $1.5M-purchase apartments test under the line, and co-op shareholders — valued by DOF's fractional-share method — are sometimes surprised on the high side. Never guess this number; we look it up free.

And the clock matters this month

The surcharge took effect July 1, 2026. The Department of Finance began mailing notices to owners it classifies as non-primary in late July, with all notices due by August 30. If you believe you're wrongly classified, you have 30 days from your notice to prove primary residence, and the exemption-application deadline is September 18, 2026 (all property types). The full what-to-do sequence is on the notice page.

Questions owners ask

What counts as a second home under NYC's new tax?

The law taxes 'non-primary residences': homes where neither the owner, an immediate family member (spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent, grandchild), nor a 12-month arm's-length tenant lives more than half the year as their primary residence. A weekday commuter apartment, a snowbird's NYC home occupied under half the year, an empty inherited apartment, and a home listed but not leased all count — regardless of LLC or trust ownership, which the statute looks through.

Do snowbirds pay the NYC pied-à-terre / second home tax?

It depends on the annual split. A snowbird who keeps the NYC home as their primary residence more than half the year owes nothing. One who spends the majority of the year elsewhere — e.g., seven months in Florida — has a non-primary NYC residence, which owes the surcharge if its DOF market value is over $1M (condo/co-op) or $5M (1–3-family house).

Is an empty apartment subject to the NYC second home tax?

Yes, if it's over the value threshold. The exemption requires actual occupancy (owner or immediate family more than half the year) or an executed 12-month arm's-length lease — an empty unit that is merely listed for sale or rent remains taxable.

Disclaimer. Educational information from Conquest, a licensed New York real estate brokerage — not legal, tax, or accounting advice. Deadlines and figures reflect DOF's published rules and roll as of the date above. Residency has consequences beyond this surcharge — talk to your CPA before changing where you "live."