Harrisburg, PA Local Taxes & Fees: Parking Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Rate as printed in the code
- 20% of the consideration per parking transaction
- Annual lot license
- $1 per space, renewed on or before January 1
- Bond
- $1,000 per 10 parking spaces, never less than $1,000
- Returns
- Quarterly, by the 30th of April, July, October, January
- Late filing or payment
- Additional 50% of the tax, plus 1% interest per month
- Mass transit dedication
- Minimum of 33% of revenue, after bond requirements
Summary
In the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Codified Ordinances impose a general-revenue tax on each parking transaction at a nonresidential parking place. The code prints the rate as 20% of the consideration, applied from year to year on a calendar-year basis, and makes the lot operator responsible for collecting the tax and paying it over to the City.
A. A tax for general revenue purposes is hereby imposed upon each parking transaction by a patron of a nonresidential parking place at the rate of 20% of the consideration for each such transaction, effective as of January 1, 2011, and thereafter from year to year on a calendar-year basis. No operator shall conduct such transactions without complying with all of the provisions of this chapter and without collecting the tax imposed here and paying it over to the City. ... B. To the extent possible after fulfilling all bond requirements, a minimum of 33% of revenues received by the City as a result of the twenty-percent parking transaction tax is dedicated to supporting mass transit.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 5-703 of the Harrisburg Codified Ordinances, adopted by City Council in Ord. No. 20-1985, taxes the act of parking, not the lot owner. Section 5-703.2 imposes the tax on each transaction, which § 5-703.1 defines as the parking or storing of a motor vehicle at a nonresidential parking lot for a consideration. Consideration covers any compensation paid to the operator, whether or not separately stated, but it does not include the tax itself. The section also dedicates a minimum of 33% of the revenue to mass transit, to the extent possible after bond requirements are met.
Three categories of parking fall outside the definition of a nonresidential parking lot: space leased to occupants of a residence for use only with that residence, hotel, apartment hotel, tourist court or trailer park parking provided to guests or tenants for no additional consideration, and accessory parking the owner provides for the owner, tenants, employees and business visitors. The definition of operator is broad. It reaches governmental bodies, municipal corporations, public authorities and nonprofit corporations that run a pay lot.
Operators must hold an annual license from the Tax Enforcement Administrator at $1 per space (§ 5-703.3), renewed on or before January 1 each year, displayed conspicuously at the lot, and not transferable between operators or lots. An operator of a lot of 40 spaces or less who holds a business privilege/mercantile license gets the parking license at no additional charge. Each lot also needs a bond filed with the Business Administrator or designee, set at $1,000 per 10 parking spaces and never less than $1,000 (§ 5-703.4). Returns are due quarterly, by the 30th day of April, July, October and January, with the tax paid at filing (§ 5-703.6). Section 5-703.9 requires a sign at each entrance showing the operator's name, lot address, license number and rates, with either the words "tax included" or a schedule showing fee, tax and total.
Violations & Fines
An operator who neglects, refuses or fails to file a return or make a payment owes an additional 50% of the tax as a penalty, and unpaid tax bears interest at 1% per month or fraction thereof (§ 5-703.10). Under § 5-717.99, a civil penalty of not more than $500 per day applies, and summary conviction before a Magisterial District Judge carries a fine of not more than $600 or up to 90 days in jail, or both. If an operator fails to pay over the tax, the Business Administrator can collect it directly from the patron and charge the cost to the operator (§ 5-703.8).
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
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