The City of Philadelphia has published new instructions for non-resident Wage Tax refunds. The new guidelines apply to tax years 2023 and beyond. We’ve outlined the details below. 

Salaries, wages, commissions, and other compensation earned in Philadelphia are subject to the City‘s Wage Tax. Philadelphia residents, regardless of where they work, and non-residents who work in the city must pay this tax. 

The Wage Tax should be withheld by your employer and remitted to the City on your behalf. If your employer doesn’t collect and pay this tax for you, you must file and pay the Earnings Tax. In certain cases, some taxpayers can petition the City for a refund, but you must submit the appropriate form along with other documents.

New instructions for non–resident petitioners 

If you live outside of Philadelphia and had Philadelphia Wage Tax deducted from your paycheck for days you were required by your employer to work remotely, you can claim a refund from the City for those days. Please follow the newly released guidelines when requesting refunds for 2023:

• Employer Certification Letter – the new instructions include an employer certification template that must be transferred to your employer’s letterhead, signed by your employer and submitted along with your refund petition. Make sure to submit the employer certificate without alterations to the template. This template replaces our previous requirement for an employer letter. The Department of Revenue will reject any requests that include an employer certification with changes to the template. Also, keep in mind that refund petitions are legal documents that require both employer and employee signatures. We cannot process a partially signed or unsigned requests.
   
• Dates and Locations worksheet – if your employer requires you to work remotely or travel, you must provide us with a complete list of dates and places where you worked. This helps us verify the dates and locations your employer required you to work outside Philadelphia. We recommend using the Dates and Locations worksheet included with the guidelines to capture all the details required to process your petition (see pages 3 – 8). Submit this worksheet with your refund request.

• Your W-2 – make sure to submit your W-2, showing local wages paid, with your requests. We cannot calculate your refund without this document. Your W-2 helps us verify your Social Security Number, your employer’s Federal Identification Number, your compensation, and the tax you pay to Philadelphia.

Request your refund online 

Go to tax-services.phila.gov to request your refund electronically. This is the fastest way to receive your Wage Tax refund. You do not need a username or password. The site is also available on mobile devices, and fully accessible in Spanish. You can upload digital copies or photos of your documentation to the site. 

More importantly, filing online makes it easy to track your refund status using the “Where’s my refund,” tracking service. Filing on paper will delay this functionality. If you submit a paper application, please allow 30 days before looking for the status of your refund on “Where’s my refund?”