Dibert Appointed Chief of PA Inheritance Tax Division

On March 24, 2008, J. Paul Dibert was appointed "Chief" of the Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Division, which collects & administers the PA Inheritance Tax.

Paul succeeds his friend and long-time co-worker, John Murphy, who retired on June 15, 2007, but then, tragically, passed away on December 12, 2007. See: PA EE&F Law Blog posting "PA Inh Tax Div Chief Murphy Retired" (12/04/07). Paul had served as a de facto chief for nine months, since John's retirement.

This news was first noted by Gene Gillin, Esq., of Philadelphia, in an email message sent on the evening of March 25th. The news was further disseminated fifteen minutes later by Bob Wolf, Esq., of Pittsburgh, as a broadcast email message to his P&T Hot Tip recipients:

J. Paul Dibert was appointed yesterday as Chief of the Inheritance Tax Division of the Department of Revenue.

Many or even most of you may know Paul, I would think, as he has been a frequent and long term lecturer for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute every year for virtually as long as I can remember. He has also been available to many of us as practitioners when we have had questions about the Inheritance Tax, and in my experience he has always been candid, fair and helpful.

It is great to see a really good and highly competent person be recognized in government. He is a good example of what an administrator of a taxing authority ought to be like, in my opinion.

Congratulations to him and good news I believe for all of us Pennsylvanians and practitioners.

Indeed, for the past many years, Paul Dibert has served as the "educational arm" of the PA Inheritance Tax Division, through his frequent lectures to attorneys, accountants, other professional advisors, registers of wills, and the public.

One of the continuing legal education providers utilizing his expertise, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, provided a brief biography (which now must be updated) for Paul:

Mr. Dibert is the Business and Trust Valuation Manager of the Inheritance Tax Division of the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, Bureau of Individual Taxes.

He received his B.S. degree in business administration from Michigan Technological University.

After eight years in private industry, Mr. Dibert joined the Department of Revenue as a supervisor in the Altoona District Office. He transferred to the Inheritance Tax Division in 1985, where he is a manager.

Mr. Dibert is on the faculty of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and has participated in presentations at least annually for the last twenty-one years. Also, he has participated in presentations sponsored by the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Accountants for the last thirteen years.

Mr. Dibert is a member of the Department of Revenue annual statewide Fall Tax Presentation staff. He presents seminars to various estate planning councils and county bar associations across the Commonwealth.

Most recently, on February 28, 2008, Paul participated in PBI's four-hour seminar "How to Prepare the Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Return", which is available now for online replay.

With this posting recognizing his appointment, I probably embarrass Paul. In response to my congratulatory email message to him when I learned the news, he responded: "I am not one who cares for the publicity. I just am doing my job."

That characteristic response is exactly why Paul is the right person to be Chief.