For your convenience, tax forms are available online at: www.cumberlandtax.org.
The most common problem with the downloading of forms from the website is using your browser’s tool bar (File – Save As) instead of the Adobe toolbar to download the forms. If you use the Adobe toolbar (image of floppy diskette) the download should work fine. If it does not work, please try the following:
Yes. For your convenience we have online filing and payment available for the current year and some prior years. Please see the online filing link on our web page.
A PIN (personal identification number) is required for online filing. If you did not receive a PIN number with your tax return, please contact the tax office at (717) 590-7997. Once your identity has been verified, a unique PIN number will be assigned to you.
There are no age limits for the filing of local income tax within the Cumberland County Tax Bureau’s jurisdiction. If an individual earned income or net profits, they are required to file and pay the tax.
If you are not a PA resident but work in the Cumberland County Tax Bureau’s jurisdiction, you must file with the tax bureau using the non-resident rate of your work location.
If you are a resident of another U.S. State, we will need a copy of your resident state filing, a copy of your PA non-resident filing, and the address of your work location.
If you are a resident of another country, we will need a copy of your visa covering the full year, the address of your work location, and if you applied for a green card, form I-485. If you applied, please provide the date of the application.
The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) website has a search feature for all of Pennsylvania’s jurisdictions. You may find your municipality on the DCED website and click on the tab Find your Municipality.
If you are still unable to locate your municipality, please contact our office at 717-590-7997 for additional assistance.
If an individual makes a permanent move from one municipality to another during the tax year, then that individual would be considered to have been domiciled in two municipalities during the year. This individual would be responsible to file a return and report the earnings while a resident of Municipality 1 to Municipality 1 and also file a return and report the earnings while a resident of Municipality 2 to Municipality 2.
Earnings need to be prorated based on move and work dates for each municipality, for each earned income, net profit/loss and taxable 1099. For your convenience, a move worksheet can be found on the back of the Bureau issued tax form 531.
Generally speaking, the amount of local income to be reported will be the same as the amount to be reported to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (normally the highest wage amount on the W-2 form).
Using the Federal Wage from Box 1 will usually result in your local tax form being incorrect, especially if you have an IRA, 401k or other deferred compensation plan.
The local definition of “taxable compensation” is the same as the PA Department of Revenue’s definition of compensation, with the exception of Clergy Housing Allowances.
Because every employer completes form W-2 a little differently, we cannot give you specific information on completing the tax form without seeing the actual W-2 form.
9. How do I calculate part year residency for time I resided in Cumberland County taxing jurisdiction?
To calculate your prorated portion of wages, earned income tax withheld and unreimbursed business expenses please use the following formula.
Total W2 income divided (/) by number of months you worked for that employer times (x) length of time you lived in Cumberland County Tax Bureau jurisdiction.
Example: Wages $12,000.00/worked 7 months x 4 months living in Cumberland County = Taxable wages $6,857.00.
Example: Earned income tax withheld $192/worked 7 months x 4 months living in Cumberland County = Earned Income tax withheld credit $109.00.
Example: Expenses $1,000 / worked 7 months x 4 months living in Cumberland County=Unreimbursed Expenses Credit $571.00.
For Tax Year 2012 through 2015: All active duty military pay earned within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is taxable at the local level.
For Tax Year 2016 and present: All active duty military pay is exempt from local tax.
Documentation in the form of orders, LES, years of service and rank may be requested to support your claim of active duty status.
The PA UE form can be found at the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue website, www.revenue.pa.gov.
The Cumberland County Tax Bureau will allow the offsetting of one spouse’s balance due by the transfer of his/her spouse’s current year overpayment, provided that both spouses are filed on the same form.
Please note: If the first spouse’s requested overpayment amount is reduced or denied, the second spouse’s tax liability will be affected by the reduction/denial of credit and a balance of tax due may result. Interest and penalties will be assessed on tax not received on or before the April 15th due date of the Cumberland County Tax Bureau Annual Earned Income Tax Return.
NOTE: If the ‘transfer to spouse’ box is not checked, the transfer will NOT be processed.
It is recommended that an effort is made to pay the tax due in full prior to April 15th. Any amount outstanding after that date will accrue penalties and interest until paid in full. Payments can be made by cash, check or credit card. A third party processor is used for all credit card transactions (www.OfficialPayments.com). Transactions processed through www.OfficialPayments.com are subject to a convenience fee equal to 3% of the payment total. There is a $1.00 minimum convenience fee that will remain with the third party.
To be approved for a 4 month payment plan, you must first show that your current year’s taxes are paid up to date either through employer withholding (as documented on your pay stub) or by direct payment of your tax liability, as calculated based on your most current pay stub. Taxes paid after April 15th, even if paid through an installment plan, will accrue penalties and interest until paid full.
If you find that your employer is not withholding the local income tax, you should start making estimated quarterly payments during the current tax year so that the same situation does not repeat itself when you file next year’s local tax return.
Please mail all forms to:
Cumberland County Tax Bureau
21 Waterford Drive
Suite 201
Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
(Please be sure to use our full address, including Suite number.)
Indicate whether there is a PAYMENT DUE, REFUND DUE or NO PAYMENT/REFUND DUE on the envelope.
No. Your extension with the Internal Revenue Service or the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue does not automatically grant you an extension for time to file with the tax bureau. You must complete the extension request form found on our website under forms and remit any tax payment due to the bureau. You can also file your extension request through our online filing system found on our web page.
An extension DOES NOT grant an extended time to pay a balance due and DOES NOT waive penalty and interest. It only extends time to file your local tax return until October 15th.
You can call our office and request copies of filings. The cost for copies of a current or next prior year document is $7.50. All other years are $15.00.
Please allow a 2 week turnaround time for all requested documents.
You will need to provide a photo ID at the time of document pickup. Someone else may pick up your copies if they have a copy of your photo ID (with your signature), a signed letter stating what years are to be picked up and who is granted permission to pick up the copies. The person picking up copies must also present their photo ID.
If your employer over withheld your LST, you will need to complete the LST refund form located under Individual Forms on our website and remit all required documentation.
Refunds are not processed until your employer submits W2s or detail to the tax bureau.
Under certain circumstances, an exemption from LST may be granted. Complete the Exemption Application located under Individual Forms and select the reason for the exemption. You will need to remit a copy to the employer and retain a copy for your records. The tax bureau does not need a copy of this form.
If you are self-employed or your employer does not withhold your local earned income tax and you anticipate annual taxable income of $12,000 or greater, you are required to file quarterly estimated payments for Earned Income Tax (EIT) and Local Services Tax (LST).
Quarterly estimated payments are due April 15th/July 15th /Oct 15th / Jan 15th the following year.
For your convenience we have added a quarterly payment feature to our online filing system. Please see the link on our web page. Vouchers are also available on our website.
Please mail all forms to:
Cumberland County Tax Bureau
21 Waterford Drive
Suite 201
Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
(Please be sure to use our full address, including Suite number.)
Yes, you will need to register with CCTB if your business is located in our jurisdiction. However, if you have multiple locations outside our jurisdiction, you can file with us by filing a Notice of Intent to File Combined Returns which allows an employer to file all EIT (% withholding) for their employees working in PA (except those living and/or working in Philadelphia) to one tax collector. This form can be found on our webpage under Tax Forms. In addition to this form, you will be required to file monthly payment and tax detail online. We will be happy to provide any assistance we can with this online filing feature.
Please complete an Employer Registration form located on our website. You can email, fax or mail your Registration Form to us. Once it is received, you will receive a Verification Letter with your account number within 24 – 48 hours.
Note: Please be sure to fill in the full physical work location address on this form.
Yes, please complete the Business Information Correction Form located on our website and email, fax or mail to us.
Please mail all forms to:
Cumberland County Tax Bureau
21 Waterford Drive
Suite 201
Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
(Please be sure to use our full address, including Suite number.)
Online filing and payment is available for current and some prior years. Employers with 20 or more employees are required to file online.
Please refer to the online filing link on our website at www.cumberlandtax.org.
A Certificate of Residency helps you and the tax bureau to identify the precise school district and municipality that a taxpayer lives in. This information helps to ensure that the taxes withheld from an employee are directed to the proper locations. A certificate should be completed every year by each employee of your organization and kept with their personnel files. This document may be requested by the tax officer to aid in determining the employee’s residence.
Do not mail this form to the tax bureau.
If an employee lives out of state, use the resident PSD Code of 880000.
P. O. Boxes are not acceptable. Act 32 mandates a full physical address. Most full physical addresses are located on an employee’s Driver’s License or Identification Card.
Act 32 (and the Residency Certification Form) does not apply. Act 48 of 1994 indicates that every employer, who has a place of business within the Commonwealth but outside of Philadelphia, shall withhold the Philadelphia resident Earned Income Tax from their employees (who are Philadelphia residents) and remit the withholdings directly to Philadelphia.
Current Philadelphia withholding rules apply.
The LST Exemption Form notifies the employer that LST should not be withheld from an employee that is working in a municipality with a combined LST rate exceeding $10.00. The form should be completed by the employee and is given to the employer for placement in the employee’s file. Do not mail this form to the tax bureau.
As the employer, you are responsible for ensuring that all of the required documentation to support the exemption is attached to the form.
Reasons for exemption include multiple employers, annual gross wages under $12,000.00, active duty military status and military disability. Details pertaining to these exemption reasons can be found on the form.
They are due on or before the last day of February. Employers reporting Earned Income Tax withholdings must send in copies of W2’s with their Annual Reconciliation (W2R) unless their Annual Reconciliation is filed online.
A spreadsheet which includes your account number, name of your business along with the employee’s full name, full SSN and total LST tax withheld for the entire year for each employee. We need this spreadsheet to compare to the quarterly detail/payments received throughout the year.
Box 14 – Of the local taxes collected, report only LST withheld in this box.
Box 19 – Only EIT withheld is reported in this box.
Box 20 – Act 18 of 2018 has made some changes to this requirement. According to PICPA, the box should contain the employee resident PSD code and the collector code (in our case 21 if the tax was sent to the CCTB). Example: Hampden Township resident working in York would be 210401 67 or 21040167.
Act 18 of 2018 states that for employers that file all of their EIT with one collector, by Notice of Intent, those employers need to have the work PSD code and the collector code for where the tax was remitted.
Questions, please call us at 717.590.7997.
Go to NewPA.com and search “Act 32”.