philadelphia business taxes

philadelphia business taxes

Rental Property Investor · Mountain View, CA · Member since 2017 · 83 posts · 59 votes

My LLC is setup in Philadelphia (PA LLC). Philadelphia has its own set of business taxes, but my LLC is setup as a sole proprietary, therefore acting as a passthrough to myself for state and federal taxes on the profits. My questions are in regard to these Philadelphia business taxes:

  • Do I need to file and pay the taxes on the business first in Philadelphia, and then also pay regular state/federal taxes on top of that or is there some sort of exemption since my LLC is acting as a passthrough?
  • Are the taxes calculated before or after the "passthrough" taxes have been subtracted from the profits (I'm guessing before)?
  • It seems that the business taxes are directly associated with the specific rentals in Philly. Are the taxes applied only to the costs associated with the rental, or does it take into account general business accounting, where I would only be taxed on the net income of the business rather than just for the specific properties?
  • Would this change regardless of where the business is setup (i.e. I imagine that any LLC operating in Philly would still have to pay this)?
  • Is there an optimal setup here that would minimize the dual taxation between out of state and in state?
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Kevin MoyerBusiness Member
Property Manager · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2019 · 269 posts · 301 votes
6y

@Ross Yeagerollowing this thread. Hopefully a local accountant chimes in, because it seems like you will need a Philadelphian to answer.

Knowing Philly they are going to get their piece of the pie on top of your federal requirements...

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  • Kevin MoyerBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2019 · 269 posts · 301 votes
    6y

    @Ross Yeagerollowing this thread. Hopefully a local accountant chimes in, because it seems like you will need a Philadelphian to answer.

    Knowing Philly they are going to get their piece of the pie on top of your federal requirements...

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  • Rental Property Investor · Mountain View, CA · Member since 2017 · 83 posts · 59 votes
    6y

    @Kevin Moyer yeah that’s my thought too. So I’ll be paying federal tax, Philadelphia tax, and California tax. Awesome. Makes it almost not worth it!

  • Rental Property Investor · King of Prussia, PA · Member since 2019 · 17 posts · 8 votes
    6y

    @Ross Yeager also look into the city wage tax for Philadelphia. In my experience if you are making money in Philadelphia regardless of where you live, the city will hit you up every witch way they can. I've known people in the past who do not live in the city but work in the city and they get hit with City wage tax. Even their accountants missed the wage tax.

  • Property Manager · Phialdelphia, PA · Member since 2017 · 509 posts · 627 votes
    6y

    @Ross Yeager

    Every for-profit organization making money in Philadelphia must pay taxes. Here is the link to official city source: 

    https://www.phila.gov/services/payments-assistance-taxes/business-taxes/business-income-receipts-tax-birt/

  • Joseph ODonovanPro Member
    Property Manager · Ridley, PA · Member since 2017 · 427 posts · 449 votes
    6y

    @Ross Yeager I strongly recommend you reach out to a local CPA.

  • Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
    6y

    Philadelphia has two separate tax returns that you will have to file; their acronyms are BIRT and NPT. I think you will find reference to both in the link that @Yuriy Skripnichenko posted above.

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