[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Harrisburg
by Ord. No. 6-1972. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Ord. No. 6-1990]
[Ord. No. 6-1990]
The following words and phrases of words, when used in this
chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section,
unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
A real estate company which undergoes a change in the ownership
interest in the company, however effected, if the change:
Any deed, instrument or writing which conveys, transfers,
devises, vests, confirms, or evidences any transfer or devise of title
to real estate, but does not include wills, mortgages, deeds of trust,
or other instruments of like character given as security for a debt
and deeds of release thereof to the debtor; or land contracts whereby
the legal title does not pass to the grantee until the total consideration
specified in the contract has been paid, or any cancellation thereof,
unless the consideration is payable over a period of time exceeding
30 years; or instruments which solely grant, vest or confirm a public
utility easement. "Document" shall also include a declaration of acquisition
required to be presented for recording under Section 1102-C.5 of the
Realty Transfer Tax Act.[1]
A corporation or association which is primarily engaged in
the business of holding, selling or leasing real estate, 90% or more
of the ownership interest in which is held by 35 or fewer persons
and which:
Derives 60% or more of its annual gross receipts from the ownership
or disposition of real estate; or
Holds real estate, the value of which comprises 90% or more
of the value of its entire tangible assets holdings, exclusive of
tangible assets which are freely transferable and actively traded
on an established market.
The transaction whereby all or part of the interest of any
person in lands, tenements or hereditaments, situated wholly or partly
within the municipal limits of the City, passes to another person
by deed or other instrument of conveyance.
In the case of any bona fide sale of real estate at arm's
length for actual monetary worth, the amount of the actual consideration
therefor, paid or to be paid, including liens or other encumbrances
thereon existing before the transfer and not removed thereby, whether
or not the underlying indebtedness is assumed, and ground rents, or
a commensurate part thereof where such liens or other encumbrances
and ground rents also encumber or are charged against other real estate,
provided that where such documents shall set forth a nominal consideration,
the value thereof shall be determined from the price set forth in
or actual consideration for the contract of sale;
In the case of a gift, sale by execution upon a judgment or
upon the foreclosure of a mortgage by a judicial officer, transactions
without consideration or for consideration less than the actual monetary
worth of the real estate, a taxable lease, an occupancy agreement,
a leasehold or possessory interest, any exchange of properties, or
the real estate of an acquired company, the actual monetary worth
of the real estate determined by adjusting the assessed value of the
real estate for local real estate tax purposes for the common level
ratio of assessed values to market values of the taxing district as
established by the State Tax Equalization Board, or a commensurate
part of the assessment where the assessment includes other real estate;
The actual consideration for or actual monetary worth of any
executory agreement for the construction of buildings, structures
or other permanent improvements to real estate between the grantor
and other persons existing before the transfer and not removed thereby
or between the grantor, the agent or principal of the grantor or a
related corporation, association or partnership and the grantee existing
before or effective with the transfer.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 72 P.S. § 8102-C.5.
Commencing July 1, 1972, and continuing thereafter, the City
hereby levies, assesses, and imposes upon the transfer of real property
situated wholly or partly within the municipal boundaries of the City,
or any interest therein, a tax at the rate of 1% of the value thereof.
Said tax is hereby levied, assessed, and imposed as aforesaid, regardless
of where the instruments making the transfers are made, executed,
or delivered, or where the actual settlements on such transfers take
place. Said tax shall continue in force and effect without annual
reenactments, unless the rate thereof is subsequently changed.
[Ord. No. 6-1990]
The following transfers of real estate or any interest therein
are exempt from the provisions of this chapter:
A.
Transfers by will, mortgage or by the intestate laws of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania;
B.
A transfer by the owner of previously occupied residential premises
to a builder of new residential premises when such previously occupied
residential premises are taken in trade by such builder as part of
the consideration from the purchaser of a new previously unoccupied
single-family premises;
C.
A transfer from a nonprofit industrial development agency or authority
to a grantee of property conveyed by the grantee to that agency or
authority as security for a debt of the grantee; a transfer to a nonprofit
industrial development agency or authority; or a transfer from a nonprofit
industrial development agency or authority to a grantee purchasing
directly from it, but only if:
(1)
The grantee shall directly use such real estate for the primary
purpose of manufacturing, fabricating, compounding, processing, publishing,
research and development, transportation, energy conversion, energy
production, pollution control, warehousing, or agriculture; and
(2)
The agency or authority has the full ownership interest in the
real estate transferred;
D.
A transfer between husband and wife, or a transfer between persons
who were previously husband and wife but who have been divorced, provided
such transfer is made within three months of the date of the granting
of the final decree in divorce and the property or interest therein,
subject to such transfer, was acquired by the husband and wife, or
husband or wife, prior to the granting of the final decree in divorce;
E.
A transfer between parent and child or the spouse of such child,
or between parent and trustee for the benefit of a child or the spouse
of such child;
F.
A transfer by and between a principal and dummy party for the purpose
of placing a mortgage or ground rent upon the premises;
G.
A transfer contained in a correctional deed without consideration;
H.
A transfer to the United States, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
or to any other instrumentalities, agencies or political subdivisions
thereof by gift, dedication or deed in lieu of condemnation, or deed
of confirmation in connection with condemnation proceedings;
I.
A transfer by reconveying by the condemning body the property condemned
to the owner of record at the time of condemnation, which reconveyance
may include property line adjustments, provided the reconveyance is
made within one year of the date of condemnation;
J.
A transfer of an interest of real estate by virtue of a lease agreement,
except as provided in this chapter;
K.
The transfer for no or nominal consideration to a trustee under a
recorded trust agreement for the express purpose of holding title
in trust as security for a debt contracted at the time of conveyance
under which the trustee is not the lender and requiring the trustee
to make reconveyance to the grantor-borrower upon the repayment of
the debt.
[Ord. No. 6-1990]
In case of any land, tenements, hereditaments or interests therein,
partly within and partly without the boundaries of the City, the tax
imposed by this chapter shall be computed only on the consideration
paid for the portion lying within the boundaries of the City. Payment
of the tax imposed by this chapter shall be evidenced by the affixing
of a documentary stamp or stamps to every document. In the case of
an acquired company, said company shall, within 30 days of becoming
an acquired company, present a declaration of acquisition with the
recorder of each county in which it holds real estate for the affixation
of documentary stamps and recording. Such declaration shall set forth
the value of real estate holdings of the acquired company in such
county. A copy of the Pennsylvania realty transfer tax declaration
of acquisition may be submitted for this purpose.
The tax imposed and assessed by this chapter is due and payable
at the time of transfer and is to be paid by the grantee or purchaser
involved in any such transfer, who shall remain personally liable
for any unpaid taxes.
The tax assessed and imposed pursuant to the provisions of this
chapter, when due and unpaid, shall become a lien on the lands, tenements,
hereditaments, or any other interests therein, which are described
in a document, and shall be collected as other taxes are collected
in accordance with the provisions of the law.
[Ord. No. 6-1990]
To the extent not addressed in this chapter, the provisions
of the Realty Transfer Tax Act, as the same shall be amended from
time to time, are adopted by reference as provisions of this chapter.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 72 P.S. § 8101-C et seq.
See Chapter 5-717, Enforcement and Penalties.
