En Banc Pennsylvania Appeals Court Affirms Transfer Tax Break

An exemption from Pennsylvania’s real estate transfer tax applies when a real estate company, not just a piece of property, is passed from one trust to another, a panel of seven state appeals court members ruled Thursday.

The state asked an expanded panel to review a three-judge panel’s ruling from July that barred the Pennsylvania Department of Finance and Revenue from taxing the transfer of a real estate company between two trusts owned by spouses after the husband’s death.

The expanded panel of the eight-judge Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court rejected each of the state’s objections to the original ruling. “The panel ...