The Tax Credit for Reserve and National Guard Members Called to Active Duty is also referred to as the Active Duty Tax Credit. This credit excuses reserve military service members from paying Philadelphia property taxes while they are called to active duty outside of Pennsylvania.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the Active Duty Tax Credit, you must:
- Be a member of the U.S. armed forces reserve or National Guard.
- Be called to active duty outside of Pennsylvania.
- Have a principal residence that you own in Philadelphia.
Credit amounts
The Active Duty Tax Credit is set up so you will not pay taxes on your property for any days that you were on active duty.
To calculate the amount of your tax credit:
- Determine the portion of property tax you would pay to the City for a full year of living in your home. (This does not include the portion of the Real Estate Tax that is due to the School District of Philadelphia. The credit doesn’t apply to that amount.)
- Divide this amount by the number of days in the year. This number is your daily property tax rate.
- Multiply your daily property tax rate by the number of days you were on active duty.
The resulting number is the amount of tax credit you’re eligible to receive.
If you co-own your property, the credit is reduced by multiplying the amount of your fractional share of ownership of the property.
Applying for the credit
The fastest and easiest way to apply for the Active Duty Tax Credit is online at the Philadelphia Tax Center. You don’t need to create a username and password to submit an electronic application to this program. You can also download and complete the Active Duty Tax Credit application form. To be considered for this program, you must apply on or before March 31.
Your application must include:
- A certified, signed, and dated statement that says:
- The property on the application is your principal residence.
- You are the owner of the property.
- All information on the application is true and correct.
- A certified, signed, and dated statement from an official or representative of the armed forces or National Guard that includes:
- The number of active duty days served outside of Pennsylvania, according to duty records during the tax year.
- The official or representative’s phone number.
- Your name.
- Your social security number, or individual taxpayer identification number.
- Your telephone number.
- The address of the property where the credit is being requested.
- The Real Estate Tax account number for the property.
- The total Real Estate Tax amount due before any credits.
- The number of days you were on active duty outside Pennsylvania.