PA Rent/Property Tax Rebate Preparation Offer - Scam?

Pennsylvania legislators have again extended the annual filing deadline from June 30 to December 31, 2011 for the Pennsylvania Rent and Property Tax Rebate program. To be eligible for this rebate you must meet certain guidelines. If you are disabled and between the ages of 18 and 64, aged 65 or older or widowed and unmarried and age 50 and over and fall within income guidelines you could be eligible for a rebate of up to $600. These rebates apply for rent or property taxes paid in 2010. Applications are available online at revenue.state.pa and locally at the Area Agency on Aging, Senior Centers and Representative Martin Causer or Matt Gabler’s office.  Many eligible Pennsylvanians complete and submit the applications in the spring when they have their federal and state income tax returns completed and their refunds arrive after July 1.

However, some people may not be aware they are eligible for this program for a number of reasons. Perhaps they meet the age requirement but their income in prior years exceeded the limit. People who were first deemed disabled in 2010 or were ages 50 to 64 and became widowed, or turned 65 are all candidates for first-time program eligibility.

So why am I writing about this in late August? A recent email from my IRS contact in Pittsburgh with an attachment soliciting business has got me all riled up. This past spring as I helped people with their taxes through the IRS VITA program I saw several copies of the same letter that local folks had received. Several things about the letter really irk me because it is very misleading and borders on being a scam.

The name of the alleged company – Senior Advisory Center and the Harrisburg address can be misleading people into thinking that while it also says it’s a non-government agency – if you miss the “non” you could easily believe this is official communication from Harrisburg, particularly with its official looking Reference #. It indicates a maximum rebate of $975 but fails to indicate this is only for residents in select cities in the state. While the deadline to file with the state is December 31, in order to expedite the form this company wants your information by September 15, creating a needless sense of urgency. While they ask you to send $39 and a simple 3 question form – it’s unclear how they will go about collecting all the information they need from you to accurately prepare your rebate form. And worst of all – preparation of this form is not that difficult if you do it yourself or if you would like someone else to do it there is no charge using the IRS VITA sites or stopping by Representative Martin Causer or Matt Gabler’s office and asking his staff to assist you.

My two main messages- you or someone you know may now be eligible for the Pennsylvania Rent/Property Tax Rebate program so please alert them to the qualifying information. Share with others there is no need to pay $39 for a service that is available locally for free.