The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania affirmed a decision by the Board of Finance and Revenue that found American Electric Power Service Corporation (“Taxpayer”) was subject to Pennsylvania’s gross receipts tax as a wholesale seller of electricity. The Taxpayer presented two substantive arguments, both of which the Court found unconvincing. Taxpayer asserted that it was not subject to the gross receipts tax because it was not a “public utility.” Alternatively, Taxpayer asserted that its sales of electricity were exempt sales for resale because Taxpayer did not provide electricity to end-user customers. The Court found that the Taxpayer was subject to the gross receipts tax because the tax applied to all sales of electric energy, regardless of whether the Taxpayer was subject to the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. Additionally, the Court found that Taxpayer’s sales did not qualify as sales for resale because the customer to which Taxpayer sold electricity did not fall into one of the statute’s listed entities eligible for the resale exemption. See American Electric Power Service Corporation v. Commonwealth of Penn., Pa. Commw. Ct., Dkt. No. 861 F.R. 2013, (Mar. 15, 2018).
