Important Financial Takeaways from Gov. Wolf’s PA Budget Package

Last week Gov. Tom Wolf released his 2016-2017 PA Budget proposal to a join session of the Pennsylvania Legislature.

Here are some highlights of his proposal:

• An increase in the state Personal Income Tax rate from 3.07% to 3.4%, which would be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2016
• No increase in the state Sales Tax rate, but the base would be expanded effective April 1, 2016 to include basic cable, digital downloads and motion pictures
• Professional services are excluded from the Governor’s proposal
• No property tax relief measures or reforms
• No change to the Corporate Net Income tax rate
• A $32.7 billion spending package, which constitutes a $2.2 billion (7.1%) increase over the 2015-2016 budget framework

Other takeaways from the Governor’s budget address to the Legislature:

• Property tax reform is still a hot issue
• Sales tax on professional services will continue to be a hot issue for the Legislature
• Unreimbursed business expenses are this year’s hot issue for the Department of Revenue

If you have questions or concerns about how Gov. Wolf’s budget proposal could impact you or your business, contact one of our tax specialists today, and let’s start a conversation