Pennsylvania’s Department of Revenue is now accepting applications for the state’s Property Tax/Rent Rebate (PTRR) Program, which offers tax relief to low-income seniors and people age 18 and older with disabilities.
Governor Josh Shapiro and other elected officials stopped at Vintage Senior Center in East Liberty Thursday to promote the program.
Shapiro signed a bipartisan expansion of the program into law in 2023 – the first time in two decades it had been expanded. The legislation increased the maximum rebate from $650 to $1,000, raised income eligibility limits, and tied future increases in the limits to cost-of-living adjustments. Shapiro said the changes will increase the number of seniors who qualify, and ensure that current recipients continue to be eligible for the benefits.
“We heard you in urban and rural and suburban communities saying seniors need a little bit of extra help, a few more bucks in their pocket to be able to pay their rent or cover their mortgage or fix up something in their home or afford their medications or their food,” Shapiro said.
Donna Terry, a private duty caregiver, received a $1,000 rebate from the program last year and plans to apply again. She said the financial relief was a big help when she was in between clients.
“It lifted up a lot of burdens because I didn't know where the next meal would've been coming from because I wasn't really working steady,” Terry said.
She used the money to help with rent, groceries and medical bills. It even gave her enough room in her budget to visit family in Cleveland.
“It keeps me stable,” she said.
The program is paid for by funds from the Pennsylvania Lottery and state revenues from gaming.
More than 520,000 Pennsylvanians, including 100,000 first-time filers, received rebates totaling $318 million last year. According to Department of Revenue officials, that’s the most money ever distributed through the program. In Allegheny County alone, 50,000 people got relief, up from 39,000 the year before. (Nearly 20% of county residents are at least 65 years old.)
Among those eligible for the relief are people aged 65 and older, as well as widows and widowers age 50 and older, and people with disabilities age 18 and older who make up to $46,520 a year. Applications are available online or in-person.
Applications are due June 30.
