Berks County Tax Collection Committee v. Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development

60 A.3d 589, 2013 WL 57800, 2013 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 8
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 7, 2013
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 60 A.3d 589 (Berks County Tax Collection Committee v. Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Berks County Tax Collection Committee v. Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development, 60 A.3d 589, 2013 WL 57800, 2013 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 8 (Pa. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION BY

President Judge PELLEGRINI.

Before this Court is the Motion for Summary Relief1 filed by Berks County Tax Collection Committee, Bucks County Tax Collection Committee, Chester County Tax Collection Committee, Lancaster County Tax Collection Committee, and Montgomery County Tax Collection Committee (collectively, Committees) seeking judgment declaring: (1) that it is unlawful to apply an earned income tax (EIT) credit under Section 317 of the Local Tax Enabling Act [590]*590(LTEA),2 for the EIT paid by a non-resident to the City of Philadelphia under Section 1(a) of the statute commonly referred to as the Sterling Act3 based on income earned in Philadelphia to the EIT imposed by a school district or another political subdivision for income earned outside of Philadelphia, and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s (DCED) interpretation of Section 317 providing for such a “super credit” is incorrect;4 and (2) that the DCED should be compelled to officially sanction that Section 817 only provides a credit for the EIT paid to Philadelphia to income earned in Philadelphia and not to the EIT imposed by a school district or another political subdivision for income earned outside of Philadelphia, i.e., an “apportionment” application of the credit.

In 2008, the General Assembly enacted Act 32 which amended, restated and renumbered the sections of the LTEA. Under Sections 504(a) and 505(a), 53 P.S. §§ 6924.504(a), 6924.505(a), with the exception of Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties, Act 32 consolidated EIT collection for political subdivisions and school districts at the county level by creating tax collection districts that are roughly contiguous with county lines and created tax collection committees to oversee and govern the districts. Under Section 508(a), 53 P.S. § 6924.508(a), the DCED was empowered to prescribe standardized forms, reports, notices, returns and schedules and to promulgate regulations to carry out the LTEA’s provisions. Importantly, the only amendment in Act 32 that the General [591]*591Assembly made to the language of the relevant portion of Section 317, relating to the credit applied for the EIT paid to Philadelphia under the Sterling Act for income earned in Philadelphia, was to change the last word of the sentence from “act” to “chapter.”

The Committees have filed a petition for review seeking a declaration that the “super credit” procedure is unlawful in violation of the Pennsylvania Constitution, Act 32, and the LTEA, and that the DCED should officially sanction the “apportionment” application of a credit for the EIT paid under the Sterling Act so that the credit is not applied to income earned outside of Philadelphia. On July 12, 2012, the DCED answered, stating, inter alia, that the “DCED has not formally and publicly interpreted section 317 of the LTEA as it relates to the method of calculating the credit that may be taken by a taxpayer respecting EIT liability as a result of his payment of the City wage tax”, and that “DCED has intentionally remained silent on this legal issue because of lack of clarity in the law — ” Respondent’s Answer to Petition for Review at 2 (emphasis in original). On October 9, 2012, the parties filed a Joint Stipulation of Undisputed Facts and on October 31, 2012, the Committees filed the instant Motion for Summary Relief seeking a determination regarding whether a “super credit” for the EIT paid to Philadelphia applies as a credit to income earned by a non-resident in his or her “home” political subdivision or school district.

In their Motion for Summary Relief, the Committees argue that the application of the “super credit” violates the Uniformity Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution, Pa. Const, art. VIII, § 1,5 and the LTEA because it treats similarly-situated taxpayers differently, and that it is contrary to other credits provided in other sections of the LTEA, the Tax Reform Code of 1971, and the Taxpayer Relief Act6 that use an apportionment application of such credits. The Committees also argue that our decision in Dunmire v. Applied Business Controls, Inc., 63 Pa.Cmwlth. 479, 440 A.2d 638 (1981) where we previously considered whether a “super credit” for taxes paid in Philadelphia by a non-resident under the Sterling Act for income earned in Philadelphia may be applied to the EIT imposed by a school district or another political subdivision for income earned outside of Philadelphia, has been misinterpreted or misconstrued to hold that non-residents are entitled to a credit against income earned in their home political subdivisions and school districts under Section 317 of the LTEA for the EIT paid to Philadelphia, and, if it is controlling, it should be reversed.

In Dunmire, Dunmire and Cassell were attorneys and partners in a law firm that had its principal office in the Borough of Norristown (Norristown) with branch offices in Philadelphia and the Borough of Jenkintown (Jenkintown). Dunmire did not live in Norristown or in the Norris-town Area School District (School District), but Cassell was both a resident of the Township of East Norriton (East Nor-riton) and the School District. Norristown imposed a 1% EIT on both residents and non-residents working within the borough; the School District imposed a 1% EIT on residents living within the school district; [592]*592and East Norriton imposed a 1% EIT on all residents of the township.

Dunmire filed earned income tax returns for the years 1974 through 1978, and Cas-sell filed returns for the years 1976 through 1978, in which both attorneys claimed a credit for the EIT due under the prior Section 14 of the LTEA for their respective shares of the Philadelphia net profits tax paid by the law firm. Regarding the manner in which Dunmire and Cassell calculated the tax credit that should be applied under the LTEA, this Court noted:

As stipulated, the Petitioners’ method of computing the allowed tax credit is as follows: Petitioners’ total net earnings were multiplied by the 1% earned income tax rate to determine the gross earned income tax; from that gross earned, income tax they subtracted the amount of the Philadelphia net profits tax paid by them during the tax year to determine the net amount of earned income tax due. To avoid a double deduction, the Petitioners, in initially reporting their total net earnings, added back their share of the Philadelphia net profits tax paid during the partnership’s applicable fiscal year which would otherwise have reduced their net earnings.

Dunmire, 440 A.2d at 640 (emphasis added).

The tax collectors filed actions against both of them seeking payment of the EIT purportedly due arguing that the Philadelphia net profits tax paid should be deducted from Dunmire’s and Cassell’s tax base in determining the EIT due, while Dun-mire and Cassell argued that the Philadelphia tax paid by them should be deducted from the EIT due to the Norristown, East Norriton and the School District tax collector. In addressing that issue, this Court explained:

A tax credit is commonly accepted to mean a direct reduction against the liability for tax owed. See Somma v. Commonwealth [405 A.2d 1323 (Pa.Cmwlth.1979) ]; Hanek v.

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Bluebook (online)
60 A.3d 589, 2013 WL 57800, 2013 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 8, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/berks-county-tax-collection-committee-v-pennsylvania-department-of-pacommwct-2013.