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For Immediate Release
July 7, 2000

$100 Homeowners Rebate Application Deadline Extended to August 1

Harrisburg – State Senator Mary Jo White (R-21st) today announced that the Department of Revenue has extended the deadline to apply for the $100 Homeowners Century Tax Rebate.

Homeowners will have until Tuesday, Aug. 1, to apply. The deadline had been midnight tonight.

Taxpayers who apply by August 1 will receive their rebate checks in the fall.

"I'm pleased the Department of Revenue recognized the need to extend the deadline. It is important that all Pennsylvania homeowners entitled to this refund have adequate time to apply. It is the taxpayers' money after all," said White.

In May, the General Assembly approved and Gov. Tom Ridge signed the largest tax-cut bill in history –- nearly $775 million. The law authorized $330 million of the tax cut to the Pennsylvania Homeowners Century Tax Rebate, in which homeowners would be eligible for up to a $100 rebate on their school district property taxes.

As of today, more than two million homeowners –- more than two-thirds -- have successfully applied for the rebate. More than 1.5 million applied over the telephone; more than 540,000 over the Internet; and more than 144,000 using traditional paper forms. There are no income limits. Homeowners qualify for the rebate if they:

• Owned a Pennsylvania home for which they are claiming the rebate (according to county real estate records) on July 1, 1999;
• Occupied the home as their primary residence sometime between July 1, 1999, and June 30, 2000; and
• Paid in full their fiscal year 1999-2000 or calendar year 1999 school-district property taxes.

To get a rebate, homeowners now must apply by August 1. They should receive an application with a nine-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) assigned by the Department of Revenue. If homeowners received a preprinted application with a PIN assigned by the Department of Revenue, they can use the PIN to apply over the telephone or the Internet. Touch-tone service is not necessary.

If a homeowner has not received an application and think they qualify, they should call the department’s toll-free, 24-hour, forms-ordering service and order an application for the Pennsylvania Homeowners’ $100 rebate at 1-800-362-2050.

Information on the Pennsylvania Homeowners’ $100 Century Tax Rebate is available through Senator White's district offices, as well as:

• On the Revenue Department’s website at www.revenue.state.pa.us;
• On the 24-hour, toll-free Fact and Information Line at 1-888-PATAXES
• At department district offices statewide; and
• Through the Homeowners’ Century Tax Rebate Information Center, (toll free) 1-877-255-1775, during business hours.

Senator White's district offices are:

Franklin Office - 1256 Liberty Street, Suite B, Franklin (814) 432-4345

Clarion Office - 613 Main Street, Clarion (814) 226-5343

Butler Office - 248 New Castle Road, Butler (724) 282-1234