The Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg.

Capitol Roundup: Revenue Department extends call center hours to assist late tax filers

WILKES-BARRE — With the deadline to file 2021 Pennsylvania personal income tax returns a month away, the Department of Revenue is extending its customer service hours for taxpayers to get help by phone.

This will help taxpayers get the assistance they need prior to the April 18, 2022, deadline to file 2021 personal income tax returns, said Revenue Secretary Dan Hassell.

“Pennsylvanians who are sitting down to file their tax returns may have questions or concerns, so we are encouraging our customers to reach out directly to one of our personal income tax experts for assistance,” Hassell said. “We also have a number of other customer resource options on our website, www.revenue.pa.gov, that can help our taxpayers answer their questions and get their returns filed on time.”

Taxpayer service and assistance

Beginning today, personal income tax assistance will be available between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, by calling 717-787-8201. This number will connect customers with the Department of Revenue’s Customer Experience Center.

Personal income tax assistance is also available through the department’s Online Customer Service Center. The Online Customer Service Center contains answers to hundreds of common income tax questions and allows taxpayers to securely submit a question to the department through a process that is similar to sending an email.

The Department of Revenue’s district offices are also open to provide customer service. Taxpayers are encouraged to call ahead to schedule an appointment and bring their Social Security cards and a photo ID with them to facilitate tax filing assistance. District offices are open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Taxpayers can check the status of their refunds online by selecting the Where’s My Income Tax Refund? link on the department’s homepage, or by calling 1-888-PATAXES. Taxpayers will be prompted to provide their Social Security number and requested refund amount to obtain the current status.

Use myPATH to file your state tax return

The Department of Revenue is encouraging taxpayers to electronically file their Pennsylvania personal income tax returns with the department’s state-only filing system available at mypath.pa.gov. myPATH is a free, user-friendly option that allows most taxpayers to seamlessly file the Pennsylvania Income Tax Return (PA-40) and make income tax payments, as well as offering other services.

As a reminder, all taxpayers who received more than $33 in total gross taxable income in calendar year 2021 must file a Pennsylvania personal income tax return by midnight, Monday, April 18, 2022. The deadline is extended this year due to Emancipation Day, a holiday in Washington, D.C., observed on Friday, April 15, which pushes the federal and state filing deadlines to April 18.

Note: Taxpayers do not need to create a username or password to perform many functions in myPATH. That includes filing a PA-40 or making a payment, responding to department requests for information, and checking the status of a refund.

Toomey urges IRS to address concerns, delays

U.S. Senators Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, and colleagues this week led a bipartisan and bicameral group of 100 colleagues in a letter that reiterates ongoing concerns and urges the IRS to provide much needed relief as the agency struggles to address customer service and processing issues.

Toomey said the IRS’s lack of action is causing unnecessary confusion, as the current tax filing season is underway.

“We remain concerned that the IRS does not have a comprehensive plan to remedy the numerous problems affecting taxpayers, despite the fact that this filing season is already well underway,” wrote the lawmakers to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig. “For example, there is continued confusion about which notices may be unilaterally suspended by the IRS, beyond the notices the IRS has already suspended, among other issues.”

In the letter, the lawmakers requested the IRS to specifically address which notices are statutorily required to be issued within a specific time, and why there are still certain notices that have not yet been suspended.

Toomey said the letter is supported by the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA), Padgett Business Services, National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA), National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP), National Society of Accountants (NSA), National Conference of CPA Practitioners (NCCPAP), National Association of Black Accountants, Inc. (NABA), Latino Tax Pro, Diverse Organization of Firms Advocacy Committee , National Society of Black Certified Public Accountants (NSBCPA), Prosperity Now, and National Society of Tax Professionals (NSTP).

Financial security solutions offered for seniors, people with disabilities

U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman Bob Casey, D-Scranton, and Ranking Member Tim Scott, R-SC, this week held a hearing entitled — “Unbanked and Credit Invisible: Building Financial Inclusion for America’s Under served Populations” — which examined the challenges faced by older adults and people with disabilities who do not have bank accounts and have little to no credit history, and therefore lack options to build wealth and access financial products and services.

Chairman Casey highlighted his bipartisan ABLE Age Adjustment Act, which would provide 6 million additional Americans the opportunity to open an ABLE account and save for the future by extending access to people who acquired their disability before age 46. The current threshold is age 26.

Casey and Scott also released a financial literacy booklet titled — “Building Financial Literacy: Information and Resources for People with Disabilities” — which provides specific strategies for people with disabilities to set up bank accounts, build credit, manage disability benefits and address debt.

“Millions of older adults and people with disabilities remain stranded on the sidelines of our Nation’s financial system. We have a responsibility to right this wrong,” Casey said. “We have to help all Americans find opportunities to save and build wealth, which is why my bipartisan ABLE Age Adjustment Act would allow millions more people build wealth and enjoy financial security without worrying about losing their vital federal benefits. I urge my colleagues to support passage of this bill and allow millions of Americans to become full participants in our financial system and save for their futures.”

Casey’s ABLE Act, signed into law in 2014, makes it possible for people who acquired their disability before turning 26 to save money without risking loss of their federal disability benefits.

Wolf Administration calls for pay equity

The Pennsylvania Commission for Women, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, and other stakeholders this week highlighted the importance of Equal Pay Day and the importance of eliminating the gender wage gap.

“Our commission has been addressing the gender wage gap and the impact it has on women in Pennsylvania for years, said Commission Executive Director Moriah Hathaway. “Women make up 51% of Pennsylvania’s population and are vital to Pennsylvania’s economy but are not compensated adequately. Due to the gender wage gap, each woman in Pennsylvania will lose an average of about $460,000 over the course of her lifetime. Our goal is to help hardworking women across Pennsylvania and enable them to better support their families. We can do this through passing equal pay legislation and raising the minimum wage.”

,Equal Pay Day marked how far into the year women must work in order to be paid what men were paid in the previous calendar year. On average, women who work full-time are paid just 83 cents per every dollar men are paid and nearly two-thirds of people making the minimum wage are women.

Gov. Tom Wolf has called for a minimum wage increase every year that he has been in office, and once again, he is calling for the General Assembly to raise the wage for working Pennsylvanians.

The governor is calling for an immediate increase to $12 an hour on July 1, 2022, with annual increases until the wage reaches $15 an hour. Further increases would be tied to inflation to ensure that working Pennsylvanians never go without a cost of living increase for 13 years again.

A $15 minimum wage would impact an estimated 1.5 million workers, or 25 percent of all Pennsylvania workers, either directly or indirectly. Of the nearly 1 million workers who would directly benefit from an increase to $15, 62.2% are women. This means a raise for 618,400 women, or 20.9% of all women working in the commonwealth.

For many women of color, the gender wage gap is wider than it is for white women, compounded by the racial wage gap. Per the American Association of University Women, on average, Asian American and Pacific Islander women are paid 75 cents for every dollar paid to white men. Black women earn 58 cents for every dollar paid to white men. Latina women earn 49 cents for every dollar paid to white men.