In PA Dep’t of Rev. v. Wagman, the Commonwealth Court reviewed the Office of Open Records order granting a news reporter access to certain tax records under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law. The reporter requested the Department of Revenue records of cumulative totals of taxes generated by businesses within a certain business district in Allentown. The request was not for the specific amounts of taxes paid by individual people or businesses in that area, but rather for totals broken down by type of tax (e.g., personal income tax, gross receipts tax, cigarette tax, sales tax, etc.). The Commonwealth Court affirmed the ruling and ordered disclosure to the reporter. Even though only a few individuals or businesses paid some categories of taxes, the Court held that that did not make them privileged under any relevant statute or rule.
