California Lawmakers Propose Los Angeles Mansion Tax Reductions

California lawmakers are considering legislation to reduce the city of Los Angeles' 'mansion tax' rates on newly built apartment buildings, aiming to counteract concerns that the tax is discouraging developers and hindering the city's housing production. Since its implementation in April 2023, the tax applies to properties sold for $5 million or more, including multi-family housing and commercial buildings, with revenues funding housing affordability programs. Economic studies, including one from UCLA, suggest the tax has contributed to a significant decline in housing development activity. Separately, in Canada, new federal rules introduced an 'anti-flipping tax' effective January 2023 to discourage property flipping and speculation, aiming to improve housing affordability by taxing short-term residential property sales as business income rather than capital gains. In Palm Beach County, Florida, property tax assessments have generally risen, but some taxpayers are seeing decreases this year, with the DeSantis administration pushing for legislative changes to property tax structures to address affordability concerns. These developments reflect ongoing policy efforts across North America to balance real estate market dynamics with housing affordability and tax revenue needs.