Lawsuit challenges Rhode Island’s ‘Taylor Swift Tax’

Christopher Allen

08/20/2026

A LAWSUIT HAS BEEN FILED IN R.I. SUPERIOR COURT on behalf of more than 40 Rhode Island homeowners challenging the constitutionality of the state’s new tax on high-value second homes. Pictured is a 11,579-square-foot home at 626 Bellevue Ave. in Newport, which sold for $30 million in 2021, is now assessed at $21.6 million and subject to an additional $103,200 annual payment to the state under the tax. /COURTESY GUSTAVE WHITE SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY

NEWPORT – Providence-based law firm Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP has filed a lawsuit in R.I. Superior Court on behalf of more than 40 Rhode Island homeowners challenging the constitutionality of the state’s new tax on high-value second homes. Dubbed the “Taylor Swift Tax,” the law, which took effect July 1, imposes an additional $5

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