LLC and Trust Owners: The Pied-a-Terre Tax Look-Through Rule

Facts checked October 9, 2026.

When an LLC, corporation, partnership or trust owns a New York City apartment, the pied-a-terre surcharge looks through the entity to the people behind it, and the exemption applies only if one of those people lives in the unit as a primary residence. The Department of Finance deadline to file for that exemption is October 13, 2026, and the paperwork for an entity is longer than for an individual owner.

I run the surcharge math on every second-home purchase I price, and holding a unit in an LLC does not change that math. It changes the paperwork. A company cannot have a primary residence, so the statute asks a different question: do the individuals behind the company live there? If you own through an entity, read this page before you rely on the notice, the roll, or an accountant's memory of how you set it up.

The rule for entities

Under Tax Law Article 30-C, a property held by an LLC, corporation or partnership is exempt when it is the primary residence of individuals who collectively hold a majority interest in the entity (more than half of the ownership). There is a condition attached: the entity must hold the full fee interest in the property, or all the shares for a co-op apartment. An entity that owns only part of the property does not qualify through this path.

A trust has its own test. A property is exempt when it is the primary residence of the sole beneficiary of the trust. The sources I used name the sole-beneficiary case and no other trust structure, so if your trust has several beneficiaries, a trustee who lives there, or a settlor who does, your attorney needs to read the statute against your trust document. I would not guess.

What the Department of Finance wants on file

For an entity or trust, the Department of Finance asks for the primary-residence documents for the person who lives there (the most recent federal or state tax return, or a driver's license or DMV ID), and then adds the ownership papers:

• For a partnership, the partnership agreement.
• For a trust, the trust agreement or a trustee affidavit.
• For an LLC, the operating agreement, or for a corporation, the articles of incorporation.
• In every entity case, the Majority Interest Affidavit.

The mismatch to watch is simple. If the operating agreement shows three equal members and only one lives in the unit, that is one third, not a majority. Residency is measured as of January 5, according to attorney commentary reported by Inman, so ask your attorney who held what interest, and who lived where, on that date.

Four questions to answer before you file

If the answers do not line up, you have options other than waiting for the bill: change who lives there, lease the unit on a qualifying lease, or sell. The sell or lease comparison sets those paths side by side, and my piece on the primary residence rider covers the lease route. Moving the title into or out of an entity is a legal and tax decision for your attorney, not something to do in the weeks before a deadline.

NYC Condos $1M and Up

Manhattan and Brooklyn condos in the price range the surcharge reaches

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$3,350,000

400 5TH Avenue #46AB

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2 bd 3 ba 1,637 sf

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Condo · 2010 RLS #RLS20119844

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$1,195,000

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1 bd 1 ba 885 sf

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Condo · 2007 RLS #RLS20095693

Listing information provided courtesy of the Real Estate Board of New York's Residential Listing Service (RLS). Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Sale listings verified. ©2026 REBNY. RLS data displayed by Keller Williams NYC.

A note on the notice itself

The September 29 court ruling ordered the notices cancelled and the city appealed, so the notice status is unsettled; see what the appeal means for a notice holder. That does not change an entity's task. File with the right papers, keep the confirmation, and let your attorney or CPA review the Majority Interest Affidavit before you sign it, since it is a sworn statement. The pied-a-terre tax hub has the rates and the building-by-building roll.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm your own filing with a New York real estate attorney or your CPA. Entity and trust questions turn on the specific documents, and this page is not a substitute for reading them with counsel.

Sources

Facts on this page were checked against these sources on October 9, 2026.

• NY Tax Law Article 30-C, sections 1350 to 1356, the entity and trust exemptions
• NYC Department of Finance, non-primary residence surcharge, the documents required for entities and trusts, and the October 13 deadline
• Inman, September 29, 2026, attorney commentary on the January 5 residency date