Business tax break proposed to offset Philadelphia property tax hikes

Amid recalculating property taxes citywide in Philadelphia, one councilwoman is seeking to help out some small businesses.

Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez says she doesn’t want to see small business hit too hard by the current property tax overhaul, so her bill would give them a break on their use and occupancy taxes.

“So the way it would work right now is the person will file their taxes with the current tax code but they would be able to waive the first $2,000 on the use and occupancy bill,” she said.

Quinones-Sanchez says the idea would be a big help to 10,000 of the 17,000 businesses that pay the use and occupancy tax.

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“This will represent almost the entire use and occupancy bill, so very much like we targeted relief for small businesses on the Net Profits Tax, this one will almost hold them harmless on the use and occupancy,” she said.

The bill is just one of many being considered to help people deal with re-assessing property taxes in Philadelphia.

New property assessments have been completed for residential and business properties.  Those new property values will be used to set a new tax rate as part of the next Philadelphia budget.

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