Bethlehem Rental Property Tax Registration

[Jason Zeiner]

I'm sure more experienced investors know about this already but I know I would have found this information useful when I closed on my first rental property in June. Hopefully someone else finds this useful too.

I found out today that in the city of Bethlehem rental properties must be registered with the tax department. Here are my notes from the conversation I had with them.

Rentals are taxed as businesses in Bethlehem, even if they are individually owned (i.e. not in an LLC).

Currently the tax is $1.50 per $1000 of income.

The tax is due by May 1st and is administered by Tri-State Financial Group.

The fee for registration is $25 per parcel, not per unit. 

The form is online at http://bethlehem-pa.gov/admin/tax.html and it is called "Business Registration/Mercantile License Application".

The direct phone number for the tax department is 6108657022.

Have I missed anything?

[Matt Spangenberg]

Yea they are looking for any extra tax they can get. I think it’s because of all the colleges and universities in Bethlehem so all the rentals around that. I have had a student housing rental over there for 10 years and I get a Business privileged tax form each year from the city. Imagine that, they give me the privilege of buying and owning a property in their city. I feel so privileged.