Muscarella v. Commonwealth

DISSENTING OPINION BY

Judge BROBSON.

For decades, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue (Revenue) has allowed the personal representative of a decedent’s estate to file a claim for a property tax or rent rebate under the Senior Citizens Property Tax and Rebate Assistance Act (Act)1 so long as the decedent lived throughout the entirety of the tax year for which the property tax or rent rebate is sought.2 61 Pa.Code §§ 401.1, .43 (Estate Rebate Regulations). The Board of Finance and Revenue (Board) has applied the Estate Rebate Regulations, thereby precluding estates of decedents who died before…