Shapiro Proposes Gas Tax Refund, Cutting Cell Phone Taxes

PENNSYLVANIA — State attorney general and presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro on Thursday laid out a three-point plan to reduce taxes and costs to state residents. One of the plan's anchors is a proposal to provide motorists a gas tax refund of $250 per personal passenger vehicle for as many as four vehicles per household.

Shapiro also wants to eliminate taxes on gross receipts and sales taxes on cell phone service, and expand the property tax and rent rebate program used by many senior citizens, as well as widowed and disabled people.

“Pennsylvanians are being crushed under a mountain of rising prices – the cost of everything from food to gas keeps going up, and I know it’s weighing on folks all across the commonwealth," Shapiro said in a statement. "They’re being forced to stretch their paychecks further, and that’s why we need to take real action to cut taxes, protect consumers, and put money back in Pennsylvanians’ pockets.”

Regarding specific elements of the proposals, all of which would need approval by the state Legislature:

• Shapiro would use unspent American Rescue Plan money to pay for the gas tax refund, but said road and bridge repairs and the Pennsylvania State Police would be fully funded.

• Shapiro contends people could save as much as 11 percent on their monthly cell phone bill if the tax was eliminated. He noted that Pennsylvania's taxes on cell phone service are the nation's 7th highest.

• The property and rent rebate program currently is available only to renters who make below $15,000 and homeowners making below $35,000, and it provides a maximum standard rebate of $650. Shapiro wants to raise the income threshold to $30,000 for renters and $50,000 for homeowners so that 275,000 more Pennsylvanians are eligible to apply.

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