Reading, PA Local Taxes & Fees: Business Tax Classification (2026)
Key Facts
- General rate
- 1.5 mills (per $1,000 receipts)
- Wholesale dealer rate
- 1 mill on wholesale receipts
- Administered by
- Finance Director
- Tax year
- January 1 - December 31
- Enacted
- Ord. No. 52-1975, as amended
Summary
Reading taxes gross receipts of every business at 1.5 mills, but drops to 1 mill for wholesale dealers and vendors on their wholesale sales.
The rate of the tax on each dollar volume of gross annual receipts of every person engaged in occupations or business in the City shall be 1 1/2 mills; 1 1/2 mills shall mean $1.50 per $1,000 volume of gross annual receipts, except that the rate of the tax on each dollar volume of gross annual receipts by wholesale dealers or wholesale vendors engaged in business in the City shall be one mill. All nonwholesale businesses of such wholesale dealers or wholesale vendors shall be taxed at the general rate of 1 1/2 mills. [Amended 1-22-2007 by Ord. No. 10-2007]
B. Computation of volume of business.
(1) Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby imposed who has commenced his business prior to the full calendar year prior to the tax year shall compute his annual estimated gross volume of business upon the actual gross amount of business transacted by him during the immediately preceding calendar year.
(2) Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby imposed who has commenced or who commences his business before the beginning of the tax year but after the beginning of the full calendar year prior to the tax year, shall compute his estimated annual gross volume of business for the tax year upon the gross volume of business transacted by him during prior calendar year, taking the monthly average during such period and multiplying the same by 12. In the event that he shall be in business fewer than 90 days in the prior
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-8: Current through August 10, 2026).
Full Breakdown
Under the Business Privilege Tax Ordinance, Reading levies an annual tax on the privilege of doing business in the city, based on gross annual receipts. The general rate is 1.5 mills ($1.50 per $1,000 of gross receipts). Wholesale dealers and wholesale vendors, defined as those who sell only to other dealers or vendors, get a lower 1-mill rate on their wholesale receipts, but any nonwholesale business they also run is taxed at the standard 1.5-mill rate. Wage earners, nonprofits, government agencies, and PUC-regulated utilities are exempt.
Violations & Fines
Violators face a fine up to $300 per offense plus up to 30 days imprisonment under the related Realty Transfer Tax enforcement provisions of Chapter 549; the Finance Director administers assessment and collection of the Business Privilege Tax itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Reading tax wholesale and retail businesses at the same rate?
Who is exempt from Reading's Business Privilege Tax?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Reading
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