The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (“LCB”) issues, renews and validates retail and wholesale liquor licenses. Every liquor license must be renewed biannually and validated in years that renewal is not required. In order to renew or validate a license, the appropriate renewal or validation fee must be paid to the LCB. The time to renew or validate a license depends on where the license is located. Differing counties have different renewal/validation deadlines. The upcoming renewal/validation due dates for the following counties are as follows: Allegheny, due April 2nd; Armstrong and Butler, due May 2nd; McKean and Mercer, due June 2nd; Carbon and Luzerne, due July 2nd; Monroe, due August 2nd; Philadelphia, due September 2nd; and finally Bucks and Delaware, due October 2nd.
Renewal and validation are not merely accomplished by sending in the application on time, however. It is important to note that renewal or validation will not occur unless and until all tax returns have been filed and all taxes paid to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry by the licensee. Only after those two departments provide clearance to the LCB will the LCB renew/validate. If a license has not been renewed or validated due to taxes owed the Department of Revenue or Department of Labor and Industry, the LCB will ultimately schedule a hearing to determine why the taxes have not been filed. The outcome of such a hearing can lead to a license revocation.
Additionally, the LCB will also use the renewal period as an opportunity to check a licensee’s citation status. Licensees who have more than three substantive citations in a two-year renewal period may not be renewed even if all of the licensee’s taxes are filed and paid and the licensee has submitted the proper renewal fee. Indeed, licensees with more than three substantive citations within a renewal period are usually subjected to a hearing to determine if the licensee can continue to operate.
If you are having trouble getting a liquor license renewed, contact our office to see if we can help.
— J. Ken Butera