In new court filings, Pittsburgh-based UPMC claims the city of Pittsburgh must challenge tax-exemption of the health system's 44 subsidiaries rather than the umbrella corporation, according to a Pittsburgh Business Times report.
Pittsburgh is contesting UPMC's exemption from city payroll taxes, but in its most recent court filing, the health system says the city "does not have the authority under its own payroll tax ordinance to tax an entity with no payroll expense," according to the report.
Last fall, lawyers for UPMC argued that the corporate parent does not have any employees. Rather, UPMC's separate subsidiaries file separate forms for wage taxes. The judge said that the hearing could not continue until the issue of UPMC's employee status was addressed.
The city of Pittsburgh responded to UPMC's zero-employee claim, saying the health system purports to have tens of thousands of employees on its website and annual report, and in some tax filings.
Judge R. Stanton Wettick is presiding over a hearing on the issue this afternoon.
More Articles on UPMC and the Tax-Exempt Challenge:
Pittsburgh v. UPMC: Legal Arguments Behind the Tax-Exempt Challenge
Pittsburgh's Case Challenging UPMC Tax Exemption to Stay in State Court
UPMC: City of Pittsburgh Cannot Identify a Single Person Employed by UPMC