Who needs to
file an Earned Income Tax (EIT) Return with Centre Tax Agency?
Any full- or part-year
Resident of the Centre County Tax Collection District who has earnings (or a
loss) from self-employment or as an employee is required to file an EIT return.
The return is required whether a refund is due, a balance is due, or if no
payment or refund is due and can be filed via this online eFiling module or by
way of a paper form submitted to the Centre Tax Agency.
Residents who
have no earned income or net profits are not required to file an annual return.
Social Security payments, regular
distributions from retirement plans, interest, etc. are not considered earned
income. If one or more of these serve as the individual’s only income, then
that person is not required to file an EIT return.
Who cannot
file with Centre Tax Agency?
Centre County
residents who resided in the Townships of Taylor, Curtin, Liberty, and Rush,
along with residents of Philipsburg Borough, cannot file their local Earned
Income and Net Profits Tax Return with Centre Tax Agency. While these municipalities are located wholly
in Centre County, their respective school districts are split between multiple
counties. Therefore, per Pennsylvania Act 32 of 2008, and for local Earned
Income Tax purposes only, residents of these municipalities must file their
returns with the Tax Collection Districts specified below:
- Taylor
Township – Blair County Tax Collection District
- Curtin &
Liberty Townships – Clinton County Tax Collection District
- Rush Township
& Philipsburg Borough – Clearfield County Tax Collection District
What advantage
is there to filing online?
A major
advantage of filing online is that the eFiling system handles all the
mathematical calculations for the return once the taxpayer enters the required
information. Another advantage is that the eFiling system accepts a wide
variety of payment methods if the return shows a balance due, including payment
by credit card (an option that is not available when filing a paper return).
Is a User
Account required in order to use the eFiling module?
Individual
taxpayers are welcome to establish user accounts for the eFiling module, but it
is not required for filing the annual EIT return. Those who do not have or do
not want an account may still file electronically on the eFiling module by
using their Social Security Number (SSN) to access the system.
That said,
taxpayers who wish to make quarterly estimated tax payments on the eFiling
system must register for a user account.
Is there a
benefit to establishing a User Account?
A user account
gives the taxpayer the ability to leave a return in progress and come back to
it at a later time without losing information that has already been entered.
Furthermore, the taxpayer will have the ability to reprint a return for 90 days
from the date of submission. Finally, the user account will retain certain
basic information from year to year, which makes filing easier in subsequent
years.
How do I eFile
my return?
Follow the
steps on the eFiling home page to log in either with your user account or your
SSN. The program will prompt you to enter the information needed to calculate
your local tax return. The basic steps are as follows:
- Taxpayer
Interview (identifies taxpayer and his/her spouse)
- Residency
Interview (establishes all of the physical addresses where you and/or your
spouse resided during the tax year as well as a mailing address, if different)
- Income and
Adjustments
- Upload
required documentation
- Review tax
return summary
- Make refund
and/or payment choices, if applicable
- Electronically
sign the tax return
- Print and/or
save the tax return (note the Tax Return ID number for your records)
How do I eFile
with my spouse?
For local tax
purposes, spouses are permitted to file on the same return, but each
individual’s income and tax liability are treated separately.
If neither
taxpayer has a user account, then either one of you can log in with the “New
User/File with SSN” option, select the tax form you wish to use, and then
answer Yes to the question, “Would you like to file a combined return?” that
appears at the top of the Taxpayer page. Enter the spouse’s SSN and basic
information and proceed with the combined return. When it is time to sign the
return, each individual’s SSN should be entered.
If only one
person has a user account, that individual should log in with the correct user
name and password, make the tax form selection, and add the other person as the
spouse by answering Yes to the question, “Would you like to file a combined
return?” Enter the spouse’s SSN and basic information and proceed with the
combined return. When it is time to sign the return, the taxpayer with a user account
will use his/her password, while the spouse will use his/her SSN.
If both people
have user accounts it is important that each person has set up their account
preferences to authorize the other spouse to file on their behalf. Once this
has happened, either taxpayer can log in and file the combined return by
answering Yes to the question, “Would you like to file a combined return?”
Whoever is logged in will add the SSN and basic information for the spouse.
When it is time to sign the return, each taxpayer will be required to enter
his/her unique password.
What
information is required for eFiling a return?
Gather the
following items before starting the online interview process:
- Compensation
and Net Income/Loss Documents including any W-2 forms, 1099’s, PA state net
profit schedules, etc. that reflect earned income for the tax year for which
you are filing
- Unreimbursed
Business Expenses schedule (PA Schedule UE)
- If you have
moved during the tax year, your addresses, move dates, and dates of employment
for each position you held during the tax year. (see “What if I moved during
the tax year?” for more details)
- Documentation
supporting any credits towards your tax liability (i.e. total amount quarterly
estimated payments, Schedule G for claiming out of state credits, Philadelphia
Tax Credit documentation, etc.)
- Proof of
non-residency, if filing as a non-resident (For an international student, this
would be a current F1 or J1 visa and/or current I-20 or DS-2019. For others,
this could be a current driver’s license, out-of-state-tuition paid receipt, or
a copy of a current state tax return from your legal domicile.)
- Bank account
info and/or credit card for paying any balance due or requesting a direct
deposit of a refund.
What if I
moved during the tax year?
Per
Pennsylvania Act 32 of 2008, a taxpayer’s income, business expenses, and
employer withholdings and/or quarterly estimated payments must be prorated
based on the individual’s time of residence in each municipality during the tax
year. The proration is calculated based on the average monthly income
multiplied by the number of months at each residence. The eFiling system will
do all these calculations, but it is essential that the taxpayer add each
address and the dates of residence during the Residency Interview portion of
the eFiling system. In addition, when entering the various income sources (W-2
forms, net profit schedules, etc.) it is important to indicate the dates of
employment/dates the income was earned.
Taxpayers who
moved during the tax year must use the Long Form for eFiling the annual
return.
Applicable
Penalty, Interest and Fees (Other Charges)
Penalty and
interest charges will be assessed on any tax due that is paid after the due
date. Penalty is calculated at 1% per month, and interest is calculated at a
daily rate set by the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Additional collection
costs may be incurred if the unpaid tax remains outstanding.
If additional
time is required to file the annual tax return, the taxpayer must submit an
extension prior to the due date. This extension is only for filing the tax
return and is not an extension of time to pay the tax due. Penalty and interest
charges will accrue based on the original due date.
What happens
after I file?
Once the
return is submitted, the information provided will be compared to tax office
records. If the filing agrees with information readily available to the tax
office and there is no outstanding tax due, the return will be marked complete
and any refund due (if applicable) will be issued. If, however, the filing does
not agree with the information already on file with the tax office, the return
will be marked incomplete and a letter will be sent to the taxpayer requesting clarification
or supporting documentation related to the information provided on the tax
return.
What if I am
asked by the tax office to provide additional information and fail to do so?
Taxpayers have
30 days to respond to an information request from the tax office. The return will
be considered incomplete until a response is received.
When will I
receive my refund?
Generally
refunds are issued within 75 days from the date the return was filed. If the
tax office requests more information about the return from the taxpayer, any
refund that may be due will be delayed until after the request for information
is satisfied.
A note about
rounding
You may enter all numbers in dollars and cents.
Since the system has been designed to comply with Pennsylvania Act 32 of 2008,
all numbers will be rounded off to whole dollars.
What has been
done to protect my confidential information?
The tax agency has consulted with security and
industry professionals to ensure that steps have been taken to safely guard
your personal information and to retain it in a format that protects it from
outside sources. The electronic filing system is also protected by 128-bit
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption, the industry standard for online banking
and trading.
Disclaimer on
Site Use
This site requires a current browser with
Javascript and cookies enabled to access our eFiling properly. The site
supports Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer 10 or
later, and Microsoft Edge. Other browsers and browsers without Javascript and
cookies enabled will see graphical errors or may be denied access completely.
The reporting functions on the site require a PDF Reader.
The use of this system, as with all Internet
usage, may pose a risk of damage to user computer systems because of the
presence of computer viruses, software and hardware incompatibility or defects,
and other factors associated with the use of the Internet. Users of this system
assume all risks associated with its use, including the risk that damage may
occur to user computer systems, software or data stored on or contained in user
computer systems. The State College Borough, doing business as Centre Tax
Agency, will not be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, special,
incidental, consequential, or other damages based upon any use of this payment
system or use of any Web site to which this site is linked.
The State College Borough doing business as
Centre Tax Agency disclaims all responsibility and liability for any damages,
including loss of use, loss of profits, business interruption, procurement of
substitute goods or services, and loss of revenues caused by any failure of
performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in
operation or transmission of information or data, communication line failure,
computer virus, theft, destruction, unauthorized access or alteration
regardless of whether for negligence, breach of contract, or any other cause of
action.
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