PA DCED Report Guides Local Officials on Earned Income Tax Consolidation

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Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development

Jan 05, 2010, 11:00 ET

HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- School districts and municipalities throughout Pennsylvania have a new resource to guide them through the consolidation of the earned income tax collection system, which is slated to be completed by January 2012.

The Department of Community and Economic Development's 250-page "Earned Income Tax Consolidation Best Practices Report," is available at www.newpa.com, keyword: "best practices."

Compiled by DCED's Governor's Center for Local Government Services, the report evaluated current methods to find the most cost-effective and efficient way to consolidate the EIT collection system. It also includes templates and samples of letters, requests for proposals, and forms that will be needed to carry out the consolidation.

Act 32 of 2008 assigned DCED a number of responsibilities related to the consolidation, including studying the current EIT system to identify best practices - especially in inter-municipal collection systems - that can be used as a model for others.

The new law, which Governor Edward G. Rendell signed in July 2008, will reduce from 560 to 69 the number of local earned income tax collectors. The consolidated system is expected to annually capture an estimated $237 million in tax revenue that the current, fragmented system does not.

For more information on Act 32 and other DCED programs that spur intergovernmental cooperation, visit www.newpa.com.

Media contact: Jamie Yates, 717-783-1132

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development