The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue has extended its Voluntary Compliance Program (“Program”) for any business that has inventory or stores property in Pennsylvania but is not registered to collect and pay Pennsylvania taxes. The Program, which runs through June 8, 2021, offers a limited lookback period and penalty relief when the business becomes compliant. Taxpayers that choose to participate in the Program will not be liable for taxes owed prior to January 1, 2019. Taxpayers…

The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue adjusted the Common Level Ratio (“CLR”) for Delaware County to reflect Delaware County’s countywide reassessment base change effective January 1, 2021.  Accordingly, for documents accepted between 7/1/2020 to 12/31/2020 the applicable Delaware County CLR is 2.00.  For documents accepted between 1/1/2021 to 6/30/2021 the applicable Delaware County CLR is 1.00.  See Pa. Bull. Doc. No. 21-339, Vol. 51, No. 10, 03/06/2021. Please contact one of our state and local tax…

On March 3, 2021, the Commonwealth Court in Mandler and Nuclear Imaging Systems, Inc. v. Commw., No. 483 F.R. 2014, overruled taxpayers’ exceptions to the Court’s decision affirming the denial of the taxpayers’ petition for refund of employer withholding taxes paid to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue (the “Department”) in satisfaction of $180,000 in liens.  As part of a prior bankruptcy proceeding, a third-party purchaser had received approval to buy equipment from the taxpayers and…

The deadline for filing a real estate tax assessment appeal for the 2021 tax year is fast approaching in Allegheny County.  The deadline is March 31, 2021.  Property owners of hotels, restaurants, bars or any property type that has been affected by the government restrictions due to COVID 19 should be taking a close look at their assessed values for 2021 and possibly filing assessment appeals for the 2021 tax year.   Allegheny County is the…

On November 9, 2020, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue issued guidance relating to telecommuting and related tax implications.  If an employee is working from home temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department does not consider that as a change to the sourcing of the employee’s compensation.  For non-residents who were working in Pennsylvania before the pandemic, their compensation would remain Pennsylvania-sourced income for all tax purposes, including PA-40 reporting, employer withholding and 3-factor business…

The Pennsylvania State Tax Equalization Board (“STEB”) has released the Common Level Ratio (“CLR”) real estate valuation factors for 2019.  The common level ratio is the ratio of assessed value to market value used to value properties in a particular county for property tax purposes, and is used for purposes of appealing property tax assessments effective for tax year 2021.  Click here 2019 STEB Ratios (A7555681) to see the 2019 CLR list.  To determine if…

The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue has announced additional relief from tax enforcement and collection activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  A complete list of newly announced relief for taxpayers is available at https://www.revenue.pa.gov/Pages/Relief-For-Taxpayers.aspx.  Some of the highlights are summarized below. Pause Payments for Existing Payment Plans Taxpayers with existing installment payment agreements may request that payments be suspended without canceling the agreement by emailing a request to RA-RV-CEC-DPP@pa.gov. The department will not default…