Pa. Gov. Wants Sales Tax on Trucking, Warehousing

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell (D) has proposed that the state extend the sales tax to services including trucking and warehousing, a move industry leaders said imperils a business sector the state actively recruited and developed.

“It’s going to undo 10 years of hard work by a lot of companies,” said Chris Kane, vice president of sales and marketing for Kane Is Able Inc., a Scranton trucking, logistics and warehouse firm.

If Pennsylvania taxes services, warehouse and distribution firms will move to neighboring states, said Kane and Paul Delp, president of Landsdale Warehouse Co. and Logistics Services, Inc., in Landsdale.

“I think our customers would go to New Jersey, not all of them, but I think the ones that can easily move,” Delp said.

Rendell wants the state to lower its 6% sales tax to 4% but extend the tax to 74 service areas that heretofore have been exempted such as trucking, warehousing, legal and accounting services, parking lots and funeral services.

By Michele Fuetsch
Staff Reporter