Tag Archives: eTIDES

why small business owners in pa might take up day drinking

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Sigh….it feels like everything is so darn difficult when dealing with Harrisburg. Today was the day that I contemplated taking up day drinking.

The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue used to have small biz owners use eTIDES. But then a few months ago, they announced they were migrating us to the shiny new better than ever myPATH.

Well getting on myPATH which is supposedly so simple is seriously enough to take up day drinking.

I have been trying to get everything set up for well…weeks. Kept getting error messages.

Getting error messages asking you to confirm correct information again and again and again is MADDENING.

Today I was at the end of my rope, when finally after like 4 1/2 hours of bloody god damn error messages, I was allowed into Harrisburg Valhalla. Then fool that I was, I tried migrate eTIDES to myPATH.

Error error danger Will Robinson! Abort abort! Does not compute! System tells me on myPATH that I don’t have access to eTIDES. But hey I go to eTIDES and log on no problem.

Cursing at my computer I go back to myPATH of hell. The eTIDES stuff I was told I didn’t have access to apparently transferred? But maybe not all of it?

Meanwhile at different points of time I tried to call the PA Department of Revenue. Every single time I get this auto message that essentially all of their lines are busy and the call disconnects. Yeah GREAAAAATTTT service. They want us to pay our taxes, file our taxes, but it’s a freaking maze to try to get things to work right and try to get someone on the damn phone.

And let’s talk about eTIDES. It worked fine. It was basic but did what it was supposed to do. I am terrified of myPATH.

Compounding this general feeling of taxpayer helplessness is for years I used GoDaddy Bookkeeping. Which self destructed and pushed all of their users to QuickBooks. I went to GoDaddy Bookkeeping because I hated QuickBooks a few years ago. Now I am stuck in that loop of hell as well.

I am a rule follower. Not a rule breaker. But if you are just trying to do the right thing like your government not at work, and they tell you how nifty marvy something new is going to be, only it’s not? IT PRETTY MUCH SUCKS?

Any oh the press release on November 30th:

New Online Tax System Launches For Business Taxpayers In PA

11/30/2022

Harrisburg, PA — Starting today, business taxpayers will have a new and improved online system to handle their registration, filing and payment obligations for Pennsylvania taxes. With myPATH now available to these customers, this system will be a one-stop shop for all Pennsylvania taxpayers.

“This move to a new system is about contributing to Governor’s Wolf’s goal of improving online services and providing our customers with new tools that will make their lives easier,” Revenue Secretary Dan Hassell said. “This system is already used to process personal income tax returns and payments, as well as rebates on property taxes and rent for older residents and Pennsylvanians with disabilities. It has been very well received by the public, so we are looking forward to expanding this resource for more people in the business community.”

Among the new taxes that can be managed on myPATH are employer withholding tax, sales tax, and corporation taxes. Revenue from these taxes make up a substantial portion of the annual revenue that is collected and deposited into the commonwealth’s General Fund to pay for government operations and services for people in Pennsylvania.

That’s one of the driving reasons the Department of Revenue has been working to launch a new system for the customers who collect and remit these taxes. myPATH is user friendly and designed to work on any device — a computer, mobile phone, or tablet — so that customers can access their accounts from just about anywhere. It is built on software that has been implemented with great success in many other states and countries throughout the world. 

e-TIDES to myPATH Transition

As part of this transition, the Department of Revenue is asking business taxpayers to register for a new account on myPATH. You can find information on what you’ll need for this process by visiting How to Enroll for myPATH.

Once customers are logged in with their new username and password, they will have the option to migrate their existing access from e-TIDES, the previous online system for business taxpayers, to myPATH.

Customers will then have the option to enter their existing e-TIDES username and password (e-Signature account credentials) to access their prior account information that was available in the old system. This should be a seamless process that the Department of Revenue is encouraging business taxpayers to complete as soon as possible.

New System for Registering a Business for PA Taxes

myPATH is also taking the place of the prior Pennsylvania Online Business Entity Registration (PA-100), which was an online platform that businesses used to register for state taxes. Starting today, this registration process will now be done through myPATH’s Pennsylvania Online Business Tax Registration.

Taxpayer Assistance

The department encourages taxpayers to refer to several self-service options available through the department’s website, revenue.pa.gov. These include:

Customers can also contact the department by phone at 717-425-2495, ext. 72841 (PATH1). Agents in the department’s call center will be working overtime and will be available from 8 a.m. to 6:45 p.m., Monday through Friday, beginning today, November 30.

Department of Revenue Tax Modernization Project

The launch of myPATH and the transition of all the state taxes the Department of Revenue administers into this system is part of an ongoing tax system modernization project. This project has remained on time and on budget since its launch in 2018. Meanwhile, as part of this project the department has decommissioned several prior tax systems that were costly and working on outdated technology. 

“Governor Wolf set a priority early in his tenure of improving customer service and providing a ‘Government that Works’ for the people of Pennsylvania,” Hassell said. “Our work with myPATH is us doing our part to help the Governor achieve this goal. This system will be a great benefit for our customers for years to come.”      

Media Contact: Jeffrey Johnson, ra-press@pa.gov

Now maybe it will get better, but right now it sucks is an understatement. And you can’t get anyone on the phone. The taxman is the biggest boogeyman in anyone’s adult life and it’s the whole trying to be a good soldier of it all. Oh but they have cute little instructional videos on YouTube.

I think I am giving up for the day. My husband told me for everyone’s sanity I should walk away from the computer.

If you need to contact these fine folks in Harrisburg, try to contact the Department of Revenue at (717)-425-2495, ext. 72841(PATH1). Agents at the department are supposed to be available to assist Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 6:45 p.m. (if you can get to a real person.)

They say the only life certainties are death and taxes, but truly…I am feeling like the old guy in front of the old time general store lamenting why we need new fangled modern conveniences. I just do not understand new and improved websites when they do not feel new and improved. Hello abacus?

Sign me frustrated and not a computer Luddite.