From The Times-Tribune, July 18

Tax’s effects could prove far-reaching

BY JAMES HAGGERTY STAFF WRITER

Get ready to hand over a little more cash for photocopies of county records.

The state is planning to collect sales tax on copies of deeds, marriage licenses, court filings and other public documents after determining a company spent thousands of dollars on copies in Montgomery County without paying any taxes.

Most people will feel little effect, possibly paying a few cents more per page. But employees of county row offices say collecting the tax would force them to acquire new software, advertise and establish new fees and monitor taxable and tax-exempt transactions.

“It’s just unbelievable,” said Lackawanna County Recorder of Deeds Evie Rafalko McNulty. “They are using this office and every other office to nickel and dime people.”

Copies in the recorder of deeds office cost 35 cents. Mrs. McNulty said customers pay about $60,000 annually.

The issue surfaced after the state audited a Montgomery County title search company and found it paid no taxes on thousands of dollars worth of copies of government material, said Steve Kniley, a Department of Revenue spokesman.

“The bottom line is, these are taxable transactions and we can’t as a department pretend they are not,” he said. “The fact that it wasn’t being collected doesn’t mean it wasn’t taxable.”

Luzerne County Recorder of Deeds Mary Dysleski wondered about the practicality of collecting the tax. The office charges 25 cents per page for copies and customers pay close to $100,000 annually for copies.

“I don’t know what you do with the copying machines,” Mr. Dysleski said. “They take quarters and nickels and dimes, but they don’t take pennies.” No estimate is available as how much revenue the state is losing by not collecting the taxes, Mr. Kniley said.

Fairness requires collection of the tax, Mr. Kniley added. The state constitution says “every taxable transaction has to be treated the same,” he said.

But the concept of charging taxpayers an extra fee for copies for records owned by the public bothers some public officials.

“Anything we record in this office is the documents of the people,” said Helen Sepulveda, chief deputy in the Montgomery County recorder of deeds office in Norristown.

Exceptions might be made for small individual transactions, such as a homeowner seeking a copy of a deed, Mr. Kniley said, adding, “We’re trying to find a way to address that issue.”

He said the main intent is to collect taxes from law firms, title search companies and large-volume buyers of copies, microfilm and databases.

That prospect doesn’t sit well with Dave Durcovic, a Lake Ariel resident who does title searches in Lackawanna County. He said he pays about $10,000 a year already for copies of deeds, mortgages, maps, liens and other real estate documents.

“It causes more book work and more problems,” Mr. Durkovic said. “Basically, the customer ends up getting it in the end.”