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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2025 - 2026
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 9, 2024 02:07 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Keith J. Greiner |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Repealing the Intangible Personal Property Tax Act (Act 335 of 1913) |
| Please join me in co-sponsoring legislation to repeal the Intangible Personal Property Tax Act (Act 335 of 1913). That law authorizes counties and cities of the first class to levy a tax of up to 4 mills on certain classes of intangible personal property. The tax applies to certain income-generating assets: mortgages and other interest-bearing obligations and accounts; public loans, except those of the United States, the Commonwealth, or its political subdivisions; corporate loans not subject to the corporate loans tax; and shares of stock other than those subject to the capital stock or bank shares taxes. After the General Assembly made levying this tax optional in 1978, the number of taxing authorities levying it gradually dwindled to zero in 1998. This trend culminated as litigation over the constitutionality of similar taxes in other states, including North Carolina, worked through the courts. In cases decided in 1998 and 2000, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that the provision of Act 335 that exempts stock held in Pennsylvania corporations violates the uniformity clause. However, the remainder of the statute survived the legal challenges and remains on the books. This legislation would complete the move away from counties and cities of the first class in Pennsylvania relying on this tax by repealing Act 335 of 1913. Further, this legislation would prohibit any other local government from instituting a similar tax on intangible personal property. Repealing obsolete tax laws simplifies our statutes and reduces taxpayers’ confusion about the business climate in this Commonwealth. I look forward to working with you on this important legislation. |