Editing Pennsylvania (section)

===Taxation===
Pennsylvania had the 15th-highest state and local tax burden in the nation as of 2012, according to the [[Tax Foundation]].<ref name="Tax Foundation">{{cite web |title=Pennsylvania Tax Rates & Rankings {{!}} PA State Taxes |url=https://taxfoundation.org/state/pennsylvania/ |website=Tax Foundation |access-date=September 28, 2020}}</ref> Residents paid a total of $83.7 billion in state and local taxes with a per capita average of $4,589 annually. Residents share 76% of the total tax burden. Many state politicians have tried to increase the share of taxes paid by out-of-state sources. Suggested revenue sources include taxing natural gas drilling as Pennsylvania is the only state without such a tax on gas drilling.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.philly.com/2011-07-03/news/29733315_1_shale-tax-extraction-tax-drilling-tax |title=Shale tax comes up dry for 3d year  |date=July 3, 2011 |access-date=September 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081641/http://articles.philly.com/2011-07-03/news/29733315_1_shale-tax-extraction-tax-drilling-tax |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Additional revenue prospects include trying to place tolls on interstate highways; specifically [[Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania|Interstate 80]], which is used heavily by out of state commuters with high maintenance costs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/4527 |title=Gov Rendell says all of Pennsylvania's transit agencies will get I-80 toll $s |publisher=TOLLROADSnews |date=January 6, 2010 |access-date=September 19, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405231239/http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/4527 |archive-date=April 5, 2012 }}</ref>

[[Sales tax]]es provide 39% of Pennsylvania's state revenue; [[State income tax|personal income taxes]] 34%; motor vehicle taxes about 12%, and taxes on [[Cigarette tax#Taxation|cigarettes]] and alcoholic beverages 5%.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.revenue.pa.gov:443/Pages/default.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515021138/http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/revenue/CWP/view.asp?Q=261929&A=208 |url-status=dead |title=PA Department of Revenue Homepage |archive-date=May 15, 2008|website=Pennsylvania Department of Revenue}}</ref> The personal income tax is a flat 3.07%. An individual's taxable income is based on the following eight types of income: compensation (salary); interest; dividends; net profits from the operation of a business, profession or farm; net gains or income from the dispositions of property; net gains or income from rents, royalties, patents and copyrights; income derived through estates or trusts; and gambling and [[lottery]] winnings (other than [[Pennsylvania Lottery]] winnings).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/personal_income_tax/11409 |title=Personal Income Tax |publisher=Portal.state.pa.us |access-date=July 31, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091125171618/http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/personal_income_tax/11409 |archive-date=November 25, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Counties, municipalities, and [[school district]]s levy taxes on real estate. In addition, some local bodies assess a [[income tax|wage tax]] on personal income. Generally, the total wage tax rate is capped at 1% of income but some municipalities with [[home rule]] charters may charge more than 1%. Thirty-two of Pennsylvania's sixty-seven counties levy a [[property tax|personal property tax]] on stocks, bonds, and similar holdings. With the exception of the city of [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, municipalities and school districts are allowed to enact a local earned income tax within the purview of Act 32. Residents of these municipalities and school districts are required to file a local income tax return in addition to federal and state returns. This local return is filed with the local income tax collector, a private collection agency appointed by a particular county to collect the local earned income and local services tax (the latter a flat fee deducted from salaried employees working within a particular municipality or school district).<ref>{{cite web |title=Local Income Tax Information |url=http://dced.pa.gov/local-government/local-income-tax-information/ |website=PA Department of Community & Economic Development |access-date=November 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201022801/http://dced.pa.gov/local-government/local-income-tax-information/#.WD8AMuYrJEY |archive-date=December 1, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Philadelphia]] has its own local income taxation system. Philadelphia-based employers are required to withhold the Philadelphia wage tax from the salaries of their employees. Residents of Philadelphia working for an employer are not required to file a local return as long as their Philadelphia wage tax is fully withheld by their employer. If their employer does not withhold the Philadelphia wage tax, residents are required to register with the Revenue Department and file an Earnings Tax return. Residents of Philadelphia with self-employment income are required to file a Net Profits Tax (NPT) return, while those with business income from Philadelphia sources are required to obtain a Commercial Activity License (CAL) and pay the Business Income and Receipts Tax (BIRT) and the NPT. Residents with unearned income except interest from checking and savings accounts are required to file and pay the School Income-tax (SIT).<ref>{{cite web |title=Department of Revenue |url=https://beta.phila.gov/departments/department-of-revenue/ |website=City of Philadelphia |access-date=November 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201014425/https://beta.phila.gov/departments/department-of-revenue/ |archive-date=December 1, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The complexity of Pennsylvania's local tax filing system has been criticized by experts, who note that the outsourcing of collections to private entities is akin to [[tax farming]] and that many new residents are caught off guard and end up facing failure to file penalties even if they did not owe any tax. Attempts to transfer local income tax collections to the state level by having a separate local section on the state income tax return, currently the method used to collect local income taxes in [[New York (state)|New York]], [[Maryland]], [[Indiana]], and [[Iowa]], have been unsuccessful.<ref>{{cite web|title=Taking a Closer Look at Government: Pennsylvania's Local Taxation "System"|url=http://issuespa.org/content/taking-closer-look-government-pennsylvanias-local-taxation-system |website=issuespa.org|access-date=November 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201015143/http://issuespa.org/content/taking-closer-look-government-pennsylvanias-local-taxation-system |archive-date=December 1, 2016|url-status=usurped}}</ref>