RESOURCES
We hope Tax the Rich PHL will serve as a resource hub for community members and grassroots organizations fighting to Tax The Rich.
Check out our Fact Sheets and Revenue for a Just Recovery Plan to learn more!
Philly Wealth Tax
Double The Gross Receipts Tax
Fight For PILOTs
Fully End The Tax Abatement
Philly Public Bank
Philly Wealth Tax
What is the Philly Wealth Tax (aka the Personal Property Tax)
● This is a tax on the value of intangible assets such as stocks and bonds held by individuals and businesses. The tax is distinguishable from the School District unearned income tax, which taxes the income from intangible assets, rather than the book value of those assets.
Key Facts:
● This tax was in effect most of the 20th century and cities are explicitly authorized to enact it under state law;
● The tax falls almost exclusively on the rich, banks and other corporations, since they are the ones who hold the kinds of assets that are subject to the tax, and because retirement accounts will be excluded;
● The rate of the tax is capped at the very low rate of 0.4%, or $4 of every $1,000 of assets.
“Time to Reinstate the Philadelphia Intangible Wealth Tax” – policy brief from the PA Budget and Policy Center (3/28/22)
Double The Gross Receipts Tax
What is the Gross Receipts Tax
● The gross receipts tax is one half of the City’s major business tax, the Business Income and Receipts Tax. It is a tax on all receipts earned by a business from sales of goods or services in the City of Philadelphia, whatever the origin of the items sold, and without reduction for the business’ costs in supplying those items.
Key Facts:
● This tax has been cut by more than half since 1995, and is now levied at the tiny rate of .001415, or $1.42 on every thousand dollars of business receipts;
● This is one of the few city taxes that reach businesses that are located outside the City;
● Businesses with receipts less than $100,000 are exempt from the tax, meaning that it falls exclusively on out of city businesses as well as a few thousand taxpayers residing in the City.
Fight For PILOTs
What are PILOTs?
● PILOTs are voluntary, permanent financial commitments by mega, tax-exempt institutions (E.g., hospitals, colleges and Universities, and other non-profits) to pay a set percentage of what they would otherwise owe in property taxes each year.
● PILOTs can be seen as acknowledgments from wealthy non-profits that they are essentially being subsidized each year by the city of Philadelphia through the act of tax exemptions, and that they must contribute their fair share as a matter of economic and racial justice. The financial losses from tax exempt organizations in the city are significant and these large nonprofits rely heavily on Philadelphia’s public services, infrastructure, cultural environment, and labor pool in order to operate.
Fully End The Tax Abatement
What is the Tax Abatement Program?
● The city of Philadelphia offers a 10-year tax abatement for building developers and owners, making them exempt from paying property taxes on new construction or renovations, taking money from our schools and city services, while also fueling displacement of longtime Black, Brown and poor Philadelphians by fueling new luxury housing development.
● The abatement attracts more affluent people to move into newly constructed homes while paying only a fraction of the property taxes they would normally pay, resulting in assessment increases and tax hikes for long-term residents.
● The tax abatement program encourages “growth,” but only for those who are at or near the top of the income scale. For the rest of the city and students in Philadelphia schools, this public policy decision exacerbates the issues of poverty, gentrification, and neglect. The abatement lets wealthy real estate developers and corporations off the hook for paying their fair share of taxes.
Philly Public Bank
What is a Public Bank
● A public bank is an entity created by a state or local government to hold and invest funds owned by that jurisdiction. It is governed by a Board that, as provided in Bill 210005, would be composed mainly of community representatives and advocates for progressive causes.
Key Facts:
● Would take City funds now under Wall Street control and invest them locally;
● Would enable City to fight redlining with a new tool targeted to provide credit in neighborhoods, and for projects, historically locked out of financial services;
● Could refinance City debt, sharply reducing the City’s $400 million/year debt service burden, and $300 million School District debt.
To illustrate our progressive revenue proposals and the way that the wealthy and corporations have profited during the pandemic and dodged taxes, check out our visualization below!
In the top half, you can see how much revenue our proposals will generate by clicking on the dropdowns on the left side and selecting ‘Yes’. Watch that revenue add up under the ‘Total Raised’ box and then flow to our public services on the right and fund our communities! For more information see our Sources document.
In the bottom half, you can explore how some of our unfriendly neighborhood corporations have dodged taxes in the map on the left. Mouse over the circles (sized by their wealth) to find out some egregious facts, and use the dropdown to the right to see what tax avoidance strategies they use. Next to the map is a list of our region’s billionaires where you can see how much wealthier they have become during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Note for Underfunding: Many of our underfunding numbers are based on recent budget cuts and are not meant to encompass the decades of disinvestment in public services that have happened in Philadelphia (and elsewhere). A real accounting of the underfunding of our city’s public services would have much larger numbers.
Note on Revenues: The estimates below are based on the best data we could find available, and are likely to be undercounted, especially for taxes that require the city to be aggressive in enforcing them. Philadelphia’s city government needs to be transparent and release detailed data about how it is levying taxes on business and wealth in order for the public to know that those with the most are paying their fair share.
For more information see our Sources document.