In the near future, I will re-introduce legislation (SB 132 last session) amending the Tax Reform Code to exempt individuals over the age of 65 from having to file a Personal Income Tax return when they qualify for full tax forgiveness.

Under current law and regulation, every individual having taxable income for the taxable year must file a return unless an individual’s tax liability is less than $1, which equates to $33 in taxable income.

Pennsylvania also has a law which provides up to 100% tax forgiveness for low-income citizens. Many seniors who have taxable income over $33 are still required to file a state tax return even though they have no final tax payment since they qualify for 100% tax forgiveness.

This legislation would enable seniors aged 65 or older to forgo the requirement of filing a tax return if they are eligible to receive 100% tax forgiveness. 

Many seniors live on a fixed, limited income and there is no reason why we should require them to incur unnecessary expenses associated with the preparation and filing of a state tax return when they qualify for full tax forgiveness.
 
This bill will help to lift the burden of filing excessive paperwork for our seniors.

Our goal should be to make life a little simpler for our Senior Citizens, not harder or overly burdensome!  
 
Please join me as co-sponsor and help the lives of our Senior population be just a little bit easier!!

If you have any questions regarding this bill, please contact Donald Beishl in my office at dbeishl@pasen.gov
 

Statutes/Laws affected:
Printer's No. 0203: P.L.6, No.2