Philadelphia’s Tax Abatement In a Nutshell
September 2, 2007
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Philadelphia’s Tax Abatement Program
Much of what follows is a summary from Phila.gov’s page on the Philadelphia Tax Abatement Program…
The Board of Revision of Taxes (BRT) offers a 10 Year Real Estate Tax Abatement for Philadelphia developers and owners of Real Estate in Philadelphia who follow the following guidelines. Tax Abatement For New Construction of Philadelphia Properties Zoned Residential
- Application for Tax Abatement must be made to the BRT within 60 days from the issuance of the building permit by Philadelphia Licenses and Inspections (L&I) department.
- The Construction has to be a Philadelphia Condo, Single House, Duplex, Triplex, Townhouse, Rowhouse, Apartment Building, or a co-op.
- The Tax Abatement starts the in the month after the transfer of the Real Estate to the new owner. The Abatement is based on the assessed valuation.
TAX ABATEMENT FOR IMPROVEMENTS PHILADELPHIA RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES THAT ALREADY EXIST:
- Owner must apply for Tax Abatement by December 31st of the year when the permit to build is issued.
- In order to qualify, the property contain one or more dwelling units that have been deemed unfit for human habitation by L&I or the Department of Health. Tax Abatements are also possible for Philadelphia properties that have been ordered to be vacated, demolished or condemned.
- The Tax Abatement for existing properties is also limited to the assessed value of the Cost of Improvement
You can find the following resources related to obtaining a Tax Abatement in Philadelphia on the BRT Website.
Instructions for the Filing of An Exemption of Real Estate Tax Due To Improvements
Here’s the application for a Philadelphia Tax Abatement, courtesy of the BRT:
http://brtweb.phila.gov/brt.apps/FileViewer.aspx?category=Abatements&fname=Improvements.pdf
The Board of Revision of Taxes is located in Philadelphia at 34 South 11th Street on the 8th Floor. The website for the BRT is http://brtweb.phila.gov.If you’d like to learn more about the collection of taxes in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Revenue Department’s Website ishttp://www.phila.gov/revenueHere are a few other links that contain information related to the Philadelphia Tax Abatement Program:
- Article by Carl S. Primavera and Adam Laver of Klehr, Harrison, Harvey, Branzburg & Ellers LLP “Current Issues, Trends In Philadelphia Real Estate Developement
- Philadelphia Tax Abatement Analysis By the “Building Industry Association”
- “Reforming Philadelphia’s Residential Tax Abatement”, posted by David Gest on the Planetizen Site
- Phillyblog.com Tax Abatement Thread– See what Philadlephian’s are saying about the tax abatement.
