CEA Legal | Real Estate – Corporate – Blockchain & Crypto

Real Estate

The pied-à-terre tax: what owners should know now

New York’s first pied-à-terre tax took effect July 1, 2026. It is an annual surcharge on New York City homes worth more than $5 million that are not the owner’s primary residence. Exemptions cover homes used as the primary residence of an owner, or of an owner’s parent or child, and units rented to a full-time city resident.

The rollout has been contested. In September, a Staten Island court ordered the city to redo its process for identifying who owes the tax. The city appealed and is moving ahead in the meantime, and separate lawsuits challenge whether the tax is constitutional. The surcharge is expected to appear on January property tax bills.

If you own a high-value home in the city, or are thinking of buying one:

Check your status.

• If you received a notice and believe the property is your primary residence, you can still challenge the city’s determination with the Tax Commission by March 1 (Class Two) or March 15 (Class One).
• Keep residence records. Tax returns, voter registration and similar records are what establish a primary residence.
• Factor it into purchases. Buyers of second homes, and co-op boards reviewing them, should account for the surcharge.

Corporate

Raising capital? Clean up before the term sheet.

Most problems investors find in diligence are cheap to fix early and expensive to fix late. Four things to check now:

83(b) elections.

• If founders received restricted stock, the election must reach the IRS within 30 days of the grant. There is no extension.
• IP assignments. Every founder, employee and contractor who built the product should have signed an assignment to the company.
• Cap table. SAFEs, notes, option grants and any informal equity promises belong in one reconciled record.
• Form D. After a Regulation D raise, the federal notice is due within 15 days of the first sale. New York and other states may require their own filings.

Blockchain & Crypto

From guidance to rulemaking

In March, the SEC and CFTC signed a memorandum of understanding on coordinated oversight, and the SEC issued Release No. 33-11412 sorting crypto assets into five categories. Congress was expected to make that framework permanent, but on September 15 the Senate declined, 49–50, to take up the CLARITY Act. The agencies are now moving ahead through formal rulemaking on securities offerings, market structure and stablecoins. That brings more specific rules, but also more room for court challenges now that judges no longer defer to agency interpretations.

Author:

• Michele Cea, Esq., Founding Member & Managing Attorney, CEA LEGAL P.C.
• Email: info@cealegal.com, Phone: (212) 618 1644

Compliments of CEA Legal P.C. – a member of the EACCNY.