Verizon loses tax dispute in court
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania's highest court has ruled against Verizon in an 11-year-old tax dispute about whether the company owes millions over revenues from installing private phone lines, providing directory assistance and performing a variety of repairs and services.
The Supreme Court ruled 3-2 on Wednesday against the telephone provider.
The case began when Verizon filed a gross receipts tax report for 2004, telling the state it paid $74 million. The Department of Revenue increased how much it owed by $48 million before the department's board of appeals lowered the additional amount to just under $10 million.
Commonwealth Court unanimously ruled against Verizon in 2013, saying the company should pay taxes on the fees from installing phone lines and providing directory assistance. It said, however, the company did not owe the state for moving and changing lines and services and repairs of phone lines. The new high court ruling said all those costs are taxable.
The ruling did not make clear precisely how much money Verizon will have to pay, or if it would owe any back payments.
