Jun. 28, 2019
HARRISBURG – To provide relief to taxpayers, the House of Representatives today approved Rep. Carl Walker Metzgar’s (R-Bedford/Somerset)
House Bill 262, which eliminates the inheritance tax for children under the age of 21 and includes other tax exemptions, as part of the 2019-20 state budget.
“When tax revenues are up, then I think the government should give the taxpayers their money back. I am glad that my tax repeal bill is going to that,” Metzgar said.
Metzgar’s House Bill 262 eliminates the inheritance tax on transfers of property from a parent to a child age 21 or younger upon the death of a parent. The representative says that he plans this to be the first step on his path to eliminate the inheritance tax altogether.
Metzgar’s bill was amended to do even more to help Pennsylvanians:
The bill removes the “taproom tax” on small breweries, which was announced under the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue’s recent state tax bulletin. It indicated that breweries that sell beer directly to consumers in their tasting rooms and retail storefronts would be required to issue the 6% state sales tax at the point of sale. A standard formula to apply the 6% tax at 25% of the retail value was incorporated into Metzgar’s bill eliminating the unjust “taproom tax” that was poised to go into effect on July 1.
The bill was also amended to include a provision to exempt volunteer fire departments from collecting and remitting sales tax when selling food and beverages for fundraising efforts. At a time when volunteer fire department budgets have dipped dangerously low, this provision will enable them to raise funds without worrying about the burden of collecting and remitting sales tax.
In continuing to help Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry grow and thrive, the bill also exempts the sales tax for building materials and supplies used for the construction or repair of an agricultural animal housing facility. The bill also creates an exclusion of the Realty Transfer Tax of real estate subject to an agricultural conservation easement established under the Agricultural Area Security Law to a qualified beginning farmer.
Representative Carl Walker Metzgar
69th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Greg Gross
717.260.6374
ggross@pahousegop.com
RepMetzgar.com