Title
Authorizing the Committee on Commerce & Economic Development to hold hearings regarding the potential implications of instituting a City Use & Occupancy Tax to reduce the Business Income & Receipts Tax rate.
Body
WHEREAS, The citizens of Philadelphia experience persistent poverty and significant inequality, with 26 percent living in poverty, and twice the national number - 12 percent - being in deep poverty, even as the Philadelphia metropolitan area is the 19th wealthiest region in the country; and
WHEREAS, The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a uniformity clause, which prohibits both the state and municipalities, including the City of Philadelphia, from progressive or other non-uniform taxation of the same class of subjects, such as real estate; and
WHEREAS, Despite repeated cuts over the last two decades to the Net Profits Tax, Wage & Income Tax, and Business Income & Receipts Tax ("BIRT"), Philadelphia tax revenue remains more heavily weighted toward these business taxes and away from real estate taxes than other major cities, like New York City, Boston, and Chicago; and
WHEREAS, Several expert panels have recommended that a shift from our mobile tax base, reliant on jobs and businesses that can relocate outside of the City, toward taxing the immovable base, specifically real estate, would generate long-term business investment and job creation in Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, Current reform proposals seek to amend the uniformity clause to allow Philadelphia the ability to have various tax rates on real estate; and
WHEREAS, While the effort to amend the state constitution is ongoing, ultimately requiring passage of legislation in two consecutive sessions of the General Assembly followed by an affirmative vote from the people of Pennsylvania on the resulting ballot question, the City should consider other ways of shifting its tax base from movable to immovable classes of subjects; and
WHEREAS, The City already c...
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