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Charities In Pennsylvania Must Be Pure To Avoid Local Property Taxes

The Pennsylvania legislature had passed a statute to broaden and clarify the definition of “purely public charity”, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that its definition is based on the Pennsylvania constitution and cannot be overridden by the legislature.  There is a movement for a constitutional amendment which requires positive votes in two consecutive sessions of the legislature and then a statewide vote.  The second approval may come up in 2015.  Last month the auditor general issued a report to give a feel for the stakes in the controversy.  A sample of 10 out of the 67 counties in Pennsylvania showed over $1.5 billion in property taxes not paid by organizations with charitable status.

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Over and over again courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging one’s affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everybody does so, rich or poor; and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands: taxes are enforced exactions, not voluntary contributions. To demand more in the name of morals is mere cant.