For Immediate Release
April 21, 2006

Pennsylvania’s Voluntary Use Tax Compliance Program Continues with Enforcement Phase 

Self-audit use tax returns are mailed to Taxpayers.  

In 2005, the Pennsylvania DOR initiated a proactive campaign to increase business Taxpayers’ awareness of reporting and paying use tax on taxable purchases of tangible personal property or services when sales tax has not been charged, or on purchases from out-of-state companies not registered to collect and remit Pennsylvania sales tax.  The goal of the program was to encourage voluntary compliance.  The Department began an outreach and education program, consisting of meetings with various professional and business associations to discuss the program’s plans and how to effectively communicate the voluntary compliance message to the business community.

The DOR has now moved on to the enforcement phase of the program, while the education and outreach phase continues.  In January 2006, self-audit Use Tax Returns were mailed to PA businesses, permitting them to audit their books for 2006, as well as the previous three (3) years, to determine any use tax liabilities.  If a return is postmarked by the due date on the correspondence received from the DOR, penalties will be waived. 

If a business files and pays the use tax after the designated due date, the penalty is 5% of the unpaid tax for each month or fraction thereof from the original filing date of the return.  The maximum penalty is 25% of the unpaid tax.  Interest is due on the unpaid tax.

If you would like additional information on this topic or have any questions, please contact the taxdesk@thesaltgroup.com

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