Bucks Writs - Spring 2017 - 5

Judge Friedman Receives Jewish Law Day Award
On April 6, 2017, at the 35th Annual Jewish Law Day program in Philadelphia, the Judge Norma
Shapiro Award was presented to the Hon. Rochelle S. ("Shelly") Friedman. Bucks County's
own Commonwealth Court Judge is well deserving of this recognition. The Bucks County Bar
Association offers its heartfelt congratulations. 

written, or probating a will. (See PBA Talking Points-"Sales
Tax on Legal Services," www.pabar.org.)

Pennsylvania, like many other public entities, is facing a
significant challenge in finding revenue to fund all of the
many projects and programs it oversees and for which
it is responsible. Unfortunately, taxing legal services is
an inadequate and unwise source from which to shore
up deficiencies in a short-sighted attempt to appease a
weary and burdened taxpayer population. The responsibility for the flawed system rests with those who
created it, and who now run away from the opportunity
to craft any really effective and long-term solution.
A proposed tax on legal services is ineffective politics
and bad policy. 

My Southeastern Pennsylvania counterparts have also
eloquently added their voices to the cause. Montgomery Bar
Association President Eric Smith has noted that "the costs of
implementing and reporting the tax carried by lawyers and
law firms will ultimately be passed on to clients as either a
service fee or a higher hourly rate..." and that the tax will
"discourage the retention of counsel, causing more pro se
litigation, and thereby burdening the Court system"(April
6, 2017 letter from Eric Smith to SB 76 primary sponsor,
Senator David Argall). Smith also pointed out a significant
flaw in the legislation, noting that only three areas of legal
service are exempt from the tax: "business to business,"
domestic relations matters, and criminal defense matters.

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None of the states surrounding Pennsylvania tax legal
services, a key element noted by Philadelphia Bar
Association Chancellor Deborah Gross in an April 4 communication to her membership. The PBA also noted that in
1987, Florida enacted a sales tax on services, including legal
services, which proved so unpopular that it was repealed
in less than a year. The PBA further notes that "[I]f Pennsylvania enacts a sales tax on legal services, it will be the only
state in the nation with such a tax" (PBA Talking Points).

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Many will scoff at the idea of lawyers "suffering" due to
the imposition of a legal services tax. However, small and
solo practitioners will be burdened with administrative
responsibilities for monitoring and collecting taxes on
fees, especially since many small and solo office practices
engage in services not exempt from the tax (i.e., Estates and
Probate, Workers' Compensation, etc.). Other professions
currently not included in the legislative scheme should not
assume that they will be perpetually immune from a tax
on their services. Experience has shown that once a tax is
implemented, new demands for increased revenue result in
expanding the tax base (i.e., finding more services to tax),
and increasing the taxation rates.

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nkanter@pinestreetlegal.com
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pinestreetlegal.com | nkanter@pinestreetlegal.com
5

PINE STREET

SPRING 2017
ISSUE: 1705
ORG/PUB: Bucks Writs

http://www.pabar.org http://www.pinestreetlegal.com

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