PRINTER'S NO. 789
No. 740 Session of 1981
INTRODUCED BY MOEHLMANN, JACKSON, WENGER, HONAMAN, E. H. SMITH,
REBER, STUBAN, MILLER, BRANDT AND ARMSTRONG, MARCH 9, 1981
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, MARCH 9, 1981
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 17, 1913 (P.L.507, No.335), entitled
2 "An act to provide revenue for State and county purposes,
3 and, in cities coextensive with counties, for city and county
4 purposes; imposing taxes upon certain classes of personal
5 property; providing for the assessment and collection of the
6 same; providing for the duties and compensation of
7 prothonotaries and recorders in connection therewith; and
8 modifying existing legislation which provided for raising
9 revenue for State purposes," providing for an exemption from
10 taxation for certain agreements of sale.
11 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
12 hereby enacts as follows:
13 Section 1. Section 1, act of June 17, 1913 (P.L.507,
14 No.335), referred to as the Intangible Personal Property Tax
15 Law, amended July 25, 1963 (P.L.294, No.157), is amended to
16 read:
17 Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That all personal property of
18 the classes hereinafter enumerated, owned, held or possessed by
19 any resident, which, as used in this section, shall mean any
20 person, persons, copartnership, or unincorporated association or
21 company, resident, located, or liable to taxation within this
1 Commonwealth, or by any joint-stock company or association,
2 limited partnership, bank or corporation whatsoever, formed,
3 erected or incorporated by, under, or in pursuance of any law of
4 this Commonwealth or of the United States, or of any other state
5 or government, and liable to taxation within this Commonwealth,
6 whether such personal property be owned, held, or possessed by
7 such resident in his, her, their, or its own right, or as active
8 trustee, agent, attorney-in-fact, or in any other capacity, or
9 by any resident as trustee, agent or attorney-in-fact, jointly
10 with one or more trustees, agents or attorney-in-fact, domiciled
11 in another state, where such personal property is held and
12 managed in this Commonwealth, except as executor or
13 administrator of the estate of a non-resident decedent, and
14 except as trustee for a resident or non-resident religious,
15 charitable or educational organization, no part of the net
16 earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private
17 stockholder or individual for the use, benefit, or advantage of
18 any other person, copartnership, unincorporated association,
19 company, joint-stock company or association, limited
20 partnership, bank, or corporation and the equitable interest in
21 any such personal property of the classes hereinafter
22 enumerated, owned, held or possessed by any resident, where the
23 legal title to such personal property is vested in a trustee,
24 agent, or attorney-in-fact, domiciled in another state, or where
25 the legal title to such personal property is vested in more than
26 one trustee, agent or attorney-in-fact, one or more of whom are
27 domiciled in another state, and one or more of whom are
28 domiciled within this Commonwealth, and such personal property
29 is held and managed in another state, and where such resident is
30 entitled to receive all or any part of the income therefrom--is
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1 hereby made taxable annually for county purposes, and, in cities
2 coextensive with counties, for city and county purposes, at the
3 rate of four mills of each dollar of the value thereof, and no
4 failure to assess or return the same shall discharge such owner
5 or holder thereof, from liability therefor, that is to say,--
6 All mortgages; all moneys owing by solvent debtors, whether
7 by promissory note, or penal or single bill, bond, or judgment;
8 all articles of agreement and accounts bearing interest; all
9 public loans whatsoever, except those issued by this
10 Commonwealth or the United States, and except the public loans
11 and obligations of any county, city, borough, town, township,
12 school district, and incorporated district of this Commonwealth,
13 and except the bonds and obligations of bodies corporate and
14 politic of this Commonwealth, known as municipal authorities;
15 all loans issued by any corporation, association, company, or
16 limited partnership, created or formed under the laws of this
17 Commonwealth or of the United States, or of any other state or
18 government, including car-trust securities and loans secured by
19 bonds or any other form of certificate or evidence of
20 indebtedness, whether the interest be included in the principal
21 of the obligation or payable by the terms thereof, except such
22 loans as are made taxable for State purposes by section
23 seventeen of the act, approved the twenty-second day of June,
24 one thousand nine hundred thirty-five (Pamphlet Laws 414), as
25 reenacted and amended; all shares of stock in any bank,
26 corporation, association, company, or limited partnership,
27 created or formed under the laws of this Commonwealth or of the
28 United States, or of any other state or government, except
29 shares of stock in any bank, bank and trust company, national
30 banking association, savings institution, corporation, or
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1 limited partnership liable to a tax on its shares or a gross
2 premiums tax, or liable to or relieved from the capital stock or
3 franchise tax for State purposes under the laws of this
4 Commonwealth; and all moneys loaned or invested in other states,
5 territories, the District of Columbia, or foreign countries; all
6 other moneyed capital owing to individual citizens of the State:
7 Provided, That this section shall not apply to bank notes, or
8 notes discounted or negotiated by any bank or banking
9 institution, savings institution, or trust company, nor to
10 loans, shares of stock, or other securities, held by bankers or
11 brokers solely for trading purposes; nor to accounts or debit
12 balances owing by customers of bankers or brokers in the usual
13 courses of business; nor to interest bearing accounts in any
14 bank or banking institution, savings institution, employes'
15 thrift or savings association, whether operated by employes or
16 the employer, or trust company; nor to personal property held in
17 the commercial department and owned in its own right by a
18 banking institution, savings institution, or trust company, in
19 liquidation by a receiver, trustee, or other fiduciary, nor to
20 personal property formerly held by a banking institution in its
21 own right, but assigned by it to one or more trustees for
22 liquidation and payment to the creditors and stockholders of
23 such banking institutions, it being the intent and purpose of
24 this proviso that no tax be assessed or collected for the years
25 one thousand nine hundred and thirty-five, one thousand nine
26 hundred and thirty-six, one thousand nine hundred and thirty-
27 seven, one thousand nine hundred and thirty-eight, one thousand
28 nine hundred and thirty-nine, one thousand nine hundred and
29 forty, and thereafter upon the personal property enumerated
30 herein, nor shall this act apply to the proceeds of any life
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1 insurance policy held in whole or in part by the insurer, nor
2 the principal value of annuities nor to any personal property
3 held in any trust, forming part of a stock, bonus, pension or
4 profit sharing plan of an employer for the exclusive benefit of
5 his employes, or their beneficiaries, which trust under the
6 latest ruling of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue is
7 exempted from Federal income tax, nor to any personal property
8 held under the provisions of a plan established by or for an
9 individual or individuals for retirement purposes if such plan
10 meets the requirements for exemption from Federal income tax of
11 income earned on investments held under its provisions: And
12 provided further, That the provisions of this act shall not
13 apply to building and loan associations, or to shares of stock
14 issued by building and loan associations, or to savings
15 institutions having no capital stock; and, if at any time,
16 either now or hereafter, any persons, individuals, or bodies
17 corporate have agreed or shall hereafter agree to issue his,
18 their, or its securities, bonds or other evidences of
19 indebtedness, clear of and free from the said four mills tax
20 herein provided for, or any part thereof, or have agreed or
21 shall hereafter agree to pay the same, nothing herein contained
22 shall be so construed as to relieve or exempt him, it, or them
23 from paying the said four mills tax on any of the said such
24 securities, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness, as may be
25 held, owned by, or owing to the said savings institution having
26 no capital stock: And provided further, That the provisions of
27 this act shall not apply to fire companies, firemen's relief
28 associations, life, casualty or fire insurance corporations
29 having no capital stock, secret and beneficial societies, labor
30 unions and labor union relief associations, and all beneficial
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1 organizations paying sick or death benefits, or either or both,
2 from funds received from voluntary contributions or assessments
3 upon members of such associations, societies, or unions: And
4 provided further, That corporations, limited partnerships, and
5 joint-stock associations, liable to tax on their shares or the
6 aforesaid capital stock or franchise tax for State purposes,
7 shall not be required to make any report or pay any further tax,
8 under this section, on the mortgages, bonds, and other
9 securities owned by them in their own right; but corporations,
10 limited partnerships, and joint-stock associations, holding such
11 securities as trustees, executors, administrators, guardians, or
12 in any other manner, except as mere custodian for the real
13 owner, and except as executor or administrator of the estate of
14 a nonresident decedent, and except as trustee for a resident or
15 nonresident religious, charitable or educational organization,
16 no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of
17 any private stockholder or individual, shall return and pay the
18 tax imposed by this section upon all securities so held by them
19 as in the case of individuals: And provided further, That none
20 of the classes of property made taxable by this section for
21 county purposes, and, in cities coextensive with counties, for
22 city and county purposes, shall be taxed or taxable for any
23 other local purpose, under the laws of this Commonwealth: And
24 provided further, That the provisions of this section shall not
25 apply to personal property, of the class hereinabove enumerated,
26 received or acquired with proceeds of money or property received
27 from any person or persons, copartnership, or unincorporated
28 association or company, nonresident in or not located within
29 this Commonwealth, or from any joint-stock company or
30 association, limited partnership, bank or corporation formed,
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1 erected, or incorporated by, under or in pursuance of, any law
2 of the United States, or of any state or government other than
3 this Commonwealth, by any person or persons, copartnership,
4 unincorporated association, company, joint-stock company or
5 association, limited partnership, bank, or corporation as active
6 trustee, agent, attorney-in-fact, or in any other capacity, for
7 the use, benefit, or advantage of any person or persons,
8 copartnership, or unincorporated association or company,
9 nonresident in or not located within this Commonwealth, or for
10 the use, benefit or advantage of any joint-stock company or
11 association, limited partnership, bank or corporation formed,
12 erected, or incorporated by, under, or in pursuance of any law
13 of the United States, or of any state or government other than
14 this Commonwealth; nor shall the provisions of this section
15 apply to personal property held for the use, benefit or
16 advantage of any resident who shall have in each of the ten
17 preceding calendar years given or contributed all of his net
18 income to any corporation organized or operated exclusively for
19 religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational
20 purposes: And provided further, That the provisions of this
21 section shall not apply to articles of agreement bearing
22 interest if such agreement is for the sale of a single family
23 residential dwelling and if the person who owns, holds or
24 possesses such agreement claims no other exemption pursuant to
25 this proviso for any other such articles of agreement.
26 The value of the equitable interest in any personal property
27 made subject to tax by this section shall be measured by
28 ascertaining the value of the personal property in which such
29 resident has the sole equitable interest, or in case of divided
30 equitable interests in the same personal property, then by
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1 ascertaining such part of the value of the whole of such
2 personal property as represents the equitable interest of such
3 resident therein.
4 For the purposes of this act, the value of any taxable shares
5 of stock issued by any regulated investment company as defined
6 under the provisions of the Federal Internal Revenue Code of
7 1948, shall be that part of the current value of such shares, to
8 be determined by multiplying said current value by a fraction,
9 the numerator of which shall be the total value of so much of
10 the personal property owned by the regulated investment company
11 as would be taxable by this act if owned by a resident of
12 Pennsylvania and the denominator of which shall be the total
13 value of all of the personal property owned by the regulated
14 investment company.
15 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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