{
  "id": 17591133,
  "title": "Big Apple vs Pearl of the Orient? How higher taxes in New York may open door for Hong Kong",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/01/big-apple-vs-pearl-of-the-orient-how-higher-taxes-in-new-york-may",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-11-01T12:00:12.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "SCMP Business",
    "slug": "scmp-business",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/business/money/wealth/article/3372833/big-apple-vs-pearl-orient-how-higher-taxes-new-york-may-open-door-hong-kong"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, has pushed for higher taxes on the wealthy in an attempt to make the city more affordable. One of his major accomplishments includes a surcharge on high-end second homes, which came into effect on July 1, 2023. The annual levy applies to non-primary residences worth $5 million or more, with graduated rates ranging from 0.8 to 1.3 percent of a property's value. The mayor has also proposed increasing the city's income tax rate by 2 percentage points for residents earning over $1 million annually and raising the top corporate tax rate from 7.25 percent to 11.5 percent.\n\nCritics, including Citadel founder Ken Griffin, argue that Mamdani's approach to taxing the wealthy amounts to \"socialism in action\" and warns of potential business relocation. Griffin criticized Mamdani's actions, stating they brought back traumatic memories from his time in Chicago. Other Wall Street figures, such as JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, have expressed concern that higher taxes on the rich could undermine New York's position as a business hub, urging the city to compete with other global cities like Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Nashville.\n\nMeanwhile, halfway across the globe, Hong Kong is implementing fresh tax breaks and incentives to attract high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and solidify its position as a premier global wealth management center. The Asian financial hub is set to host the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit, providing a high-profile platform to make its case. Analysts and overseas scholars believe that New York's tax push has given Hong Kong a timely opportunity to attract wealthy families reassessing their locations and the capital they control.\n\nWhile New York collects more tax per resident than any other US state, with state and local governments taking in more than $12,000 per resident in 2024, New York City residents also face the highest combined top income tax rate at approximately 14.8 percent. This, combined with high living costs and uneven public services, threatens New York's ability to attract and retain high-income residents. As a result, some financial industry executives and analysts argue that the proposed tax measures could push affluent residents to lower-tax jurisdictions, taking capital with them.",
  "summary": "On November 4 last year, Zohran Mamdani won the New York mayoral election on a promise to make the city more affordable, with expanded social programmes funded in part by raising taxes on the city’s wealthiest residents and most profitable corporations. Nearly a year since his upset victory, he has secured one major piece of that agenda: a surcharge on high-end second homes. He also continues to…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}