KYW Flashback: Wage Tax Rears Its Ugly Head In The City
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Federal employees from the Philadelphia Customs House to the U.S. Court House got an unpleasant paycheck surprise.
KYW reported 40 years ago that the city would begin collecting the dreaded wage tax from non-resident federal workers who had previously avoided the levy. That included everyone from janitors to judges.
But it had taken a 25 year court battle before Philadelphia finally won its case.
President Ford directed federal agencies to start withholding the tax. The tax had been on the books, but since the Feds didn't withhold it, many government workers just didn't pay.
In 1975 the city expected to scoop up an extra $5-million dollars.
