Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Holocaust Reparations Tax Exemption topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee hears bill to exempt Holocaust reparations from state income tax
Summary
House Bill 416 would exempt reparations received by Holocaust survivors (and in some cases heirs) from Pennsylvania personal income tax; committee heard survivor-family testimony and members signaled support to move the bill in a future meeting.
The House Finance Committee heard testimony in favor of House Bill 416, which would exempt restitution or reparations paid by the German government to Holocaust survivors and, in some cases, their heirs, from Pennsylvania personal income tax.
Representative Ben Waxman, sponsor of the bill, told the committee Pennsylvania is currently one of four states that tax these kinds of reparations and that the proposed amendment to the tax code would match federal treatment and most other states. “This legislation . . . is a way for us to honor survivors, recognize the lasting impact of the Holocaust and ensure that survivors can keep the full measure of their recompense,” Waxman said.
Rachel Howe, a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors who testified remotely, described the practical and emotional difficulty of survivors’ claims processes and urged the committee not to tax relatively small payments. She recounted that her grandmother received a payment in the 1960s roughly totaling $20,000 in installments and said, “Taxing this relatively small amount feels cruel and punitive.” Howe said obtaining reparations required extensive paperwork and that taxing the payments would take meaningful support away from survivors and their families.
Committee members asked staff to obtain a clearer count of how many Pennsylvania residents currently receive reparations. Waxman and committee staff said there are roughly 1,500 Holocaust survivors living in Pennsylvania as of 2023, but they did not provide a verified count of current reparations recipients; staff said they would seek a revenue office estimate and return that figure to the committee.
Several members expressed support for the measure during the hearing; the chair indicated his intention to bring the bill up at the committee’s next meeting (with the usual 24-hour amendment deadline). No committee vote was recorded during the hearing.
Ending: Sponsor and supporters urged timely committee action to exempt reparations payments from state income tax; committee staff will request revenue office estimates on the number and value of current payments before the bill returns for consideration.
