A note about Rounding
You
may enter all numbers in dollars and cents. Since this system has been
designed to comply with PA Act 32, all numbers will be rounded off to
whole dollars.
Who can file?
Individuals
who lived in a member municipality and/or school district for part of
the tax year or the entire tax year can file their local returns
electronically. A taxpayer and his/her spouse can file a combined
return, using separate columns, or individual returns. You will not be
able to join two individual tax returns into a combined return once you
have filed. Please note that a taxpayer and his/her spouse must be
filing at the same tax rate and the same address to combine their returns.
What has been done to protect my confidential information?
The
Tax Bureau has consulted with security and industry professionals to
ensure that steps have been taken to safely gather 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.
What will I need to file?
The
Tax Bureau recommends that you gather together the following items that
will be needed during the on-line interview process.
-Compensation and Net Income/Loss Documentation (includes W2's, 1099's, Schedule(s) for income)
-Unreimbursed Employee Business Expenses
-Pay stub with year-to-date earnings for taxpayers who moved during the tax year
-If
required to file a local tax return elsewhere, you will need a
completed copy of the other municipality's local tax return (including
documentation)
Is there a fee to file electronically?
Berks Earned Income Tax Bureau is offering this electronic filing option
free of charge to taxpayers. If a taxpayer owes additional taxes for
the tax year, he/she can pay the balance due by ACH Debit by entering
your bank information, in person, by mail, or by using a credit card at
the time their return is electronically filed. The third party vendor
will charge a fee for the use of a credit card.
How do I file?
Follow
the step-by-step instructions for the filing process. The program
will prompt you to enter information needed to calculate your local tax
return. The basic steps are as follows:
- Taxpayer Interview (identifies taxpayer and his/her spouse)
- Residency Interview (sets up address history including tracking
of physical address where you resided and mailing address information)
- Income and Adjustments
- Tax Return Summary (calculate tax due and status -refund, even, or balance due)
- Sign and Print
What happens after I file?
When
you have completed this process, information gathered during the
interactive on-line interview will be compared to tax office records.
If your filing agrees with information readily available to the tax
office, an update will be made to your account signifying that you have
met your local filing requirements. It should be noted that your local
tax office does not have the same access to your tax information as made
available to the state and federal governments. The tax office
reserves the right to request additional information, including
documentation related to your income, net profits, business expenses, or
other items to verify residency issues. During the interview process
you will be prompted to retain documents that may be required by the tax
office.
What benefit is there to filing electronically?
Taxpayers
who file their tax returns electronically receive an instant
confirmation number that the return has been submitted and may receive a
quicker response time for processing their tax returns. Taxpayers with
complex tax returns may find that the electronic filing option does not
best suit their filing needs.
What if I am asked by the tax office to provide additional information and fail to do so?
Taxpayers
who have been notified that their tax returns are incomplete will be
contacted by the Tax Bureau and provided 28 days to respond. If a
response is not received in that time frame, the return will move into
an incomplete filing status which means that you have not met your tax
return filing obligation.
What years can be filed electronically?
At
this time the current software has been developed allowing for current
tax year filings. Based on the usage of this software, future filing
capabilities may be expanded to better meet our residents' filing needs.
How do I access the electronic filing program?
Once
you gather the information needed to file, proceed by entering your
Social Security Number into
the field at the top of this page, and then click the 'Sign In' button
to begin.