Tax Law

Recent Posts

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Upholds DOR’s “benefits-received” Standard for Sourcing of Service Receipts
Posted on 28 Jul 2020 by Eversheds Sutherland LLP

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court issued its much-anticipated decision on July 24 in Synthes USA HQ Inc. v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Court upheld the Department of Revenue’s position that under the State’s pre-2014 costs-of-performance... Read More

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Throws a Wild Card for Worker Classification
Posted on 16 Jun 2020 by Eversheds Sutherland LLP

On April 22, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an opinion that could have a material impact on the unemployment insurance obligations of businesses that engage independent contractors in the state. In A Special Touch v. Pennsylvania Dep’t... Read More

Pennsylvania Attorney General Criticized For Not Representing Department of Revenue
Posted on 12 Jun 2020 by Eversheds Sutherland LLP

Oral argument was held June 11 in the highly unusual case of Synthes USA HQ Inc. v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Attorney General faced skeptical questioning from the Commonwealth Court, with one judge suggesting that the Attorney General was... Read More

Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania Holds that Receipts Sufficiently Describe Coupon’s Application to Taxable Items
Posted on 21 May 2020 by Eversheds Sutherland LLP

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania reversed the Board of Finance and Revenue’s (Board) order, in part, and determined that when a retailer’s receipt separately states the coupon presented and sufficiently identifies the item to which the coupon, a... Read More

Regulation De-construction: Pennsylvania Court Holds Statutory Amendment Superseded Regulation
Posted on 22 Oct 2019 by Eversheds Sutherland LLP

On October 16, 2019, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court held that a bank was required to pay sales tax on its purchases of computer hardware, canned computer software, and related services because a statutory amendment superseded the bank’s relied-upon... Read More

Pennsylvania Freight Broker May Deduct Passed-Through Delivery Fees from Local Gross Receipts
Posted on 17 Sep 2019 by Eversheds Sutherland LLP

The court held that the taxpayer, a freight broker, could deduct freight and delivery charges, which it received from its customers and remitted to third-party delivery providers, from gross receipts before calculating a city’s business privilege tax... Read More

Pennsylvania Rules Satellite Television Provider Must Source Receipts, Property Based on Subscriber Location
Posted on 12 Oct 2018 by Eversheds Sutherland LLP

The Pennsylvania Board of Finance and Revenue recently published a decision regarding the sourcing of receipts and property of a satellite television provider.  The Board held that the taxpayer’s receipts from sales of satellite television services were... Read More

Pennsylvania Court Finds Wholesaler of Electricity Subject to Gross Receipts Tax
Posted on 18 Apr 2018 by Eversheds Sutherland LLP

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... Read More

What Happens When You Don't Have Money
Posted on 17 Dec 2010 by David Brunori

A recent study finds that the poor condition of Pennsylvania's roads cost the state over $8.2 billion a year. The roads and bridges in the Commonwealth are in terrible condition which increases the cost of vehicle maintenance, gas, lost time in traffic... Read More