[Adopted 2-2-1981 by Ord. No. 81-1; amended
in its entirety 11-13-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-16]
This article shall be known and may be cited
as the "Local Services Tax Ordinance."
As used in this article, unless the context
indicates clearly a different meaning, the following words shall have
the meanings set forth below:
Salaries, wages, commissions, tips, bonuses, fees, gross
receipts or any other income.
Any person, partnership, limited partnership, unincorporated
association, institution, trust, corporation, governmental agency
or any other body engaged in business or situated in the Township
employing one or more employees engaged in any occupation, other than
household employees.
The Secretary-Manager of the Township of Marple or his designated
representative.
Includes any livelihood, job, trade, profession, business
or enterprise of any kind, including services, household or other,
for which any compensation is received.
The tax imposed by this article.
Any natural person liable for the tax levied by this article.
The Township of Marple.
For general revenue purposes, a tax under the
Act of December 31, 1965, P.L. 1257,[1] as amended, known as the "Local Tax Enabling Act," is
hereby levied upon the privilege of engaging in an occupation within
the Township from the effective date hereof, for the calendar year
2008 and thereafter in each following calendar year. Each natural
person who exercises such privilege for any length of time shall pay
tax in the amount of $52 in accordance with the provisions of this
article; provided, however, that the tax hereby levied shall not be
imposed upon any natural person whose total compensation during the
tax year is less than $12,000 or less.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 6901
et seq.
A.
Every employer shall, within 30 days after the effective
date of this article or within 30 days after first becoming an employer,
register with the Local Services Tax Collector the employer's name,
address and such other information as the Local Services Tax Collector
may require.
B.
Each employer within the Township of Marple is hereby
charged with the duty of collecting and paying over to the collector,
quarterly, from each employee engaged in his or her services said
tax of $52 per year upon each individual employed by said employer
who performs services on behalf of said employer within the geographical
limits of the Township of Marple, of who is engaged in an occupation
as hereinafter defined, for the benefit of said employer or in the
service of said employer within the geographical limits of the Township
of Marple. Each employee subject to the local services tax shall be
assessed a pro rata share of the tax for each payroll period in which
the person is engaging in an occupation. The pro rata share of the
taxes assessed on the person for a payroll period shall be determined
by dividing the combined rate of the local services tax levied for
the calendar year by the number of payroll periods established by
the employer for the calendar year. For purposes of determining the
pro rata share, the employer shall round down the amount of the tax
collected each payroll period to the nearest 100th of a dollar. Collection of the local services tax shall be made
on a payroll-period basis for each payroll period in which the person
is engaging in an occupation.
C.
Any employer who discontinues business or ceases operation
before December 31 of any tax year shall, within 15 days after discontinuing
business or ceasing operation, file and return hereinabove required
and pay the tax to the Local Services Tax Collector.
D.
The failure of any employer to deduct the tax shall
not relieve the employee from the duty to file a return and pay the
tax. Any employer who fails to deduct the tax as required by this
section, or who fails to pay such tax to the Local Services Collector,
shall be liable for such tax in full, as though the tax had originally
been levied against such employer.
E.
As to employees who present official receipts evidencing
prior payment of the tax either directly or by collection through
other employers, the employer shall not deduct the tax but shall maintain
adequate records concerning such employees.
Every taxpayer who is self-employed or whose tax for any other reason is not collected under § 274-75 of this article shall file a return on a form prescribed by the local services tax collector and shall pay the tax to the local services tax collector. The tax shall be paid on a quarterly basis.
Both resident and nonresident taxpayers shall,
by virtue of engaging in an occupation within the Township, be subject
to the tax and the provisions of this article.
A.
Any taxpayer
who reasonably expects to receive earned income and/or net profits
from all sources within the Township less than $12,000 in a calendar
year may file an exemption certificate with the employer and the Township.
The exemption certificate shall have attached to it a copy of all
of the employee's last pay stubs or W-2 forms from employment within
the Township for the year prior to the fiscal year for which the employee
is requesting to be exempted from the local services tax. Upon receipt
of the exemption certificate and until otherwise instructed by the
Township levying the tax or except as required by this section, the
employer shall not withhold the tax from the person during the calendar
year or the remainder of the calendar year for which the exemption
certificate applies. The employer shall ensure that the exemption
certificate forms are readily available to employees at all times
and shall furnish each new employee with a form at the time of hiring.
B.
With respect
to a person who claimed an exemption for a given calendar year from
the local services tax, upon notification to an employer by the person
or by the Township that the person has received earned income and/or
net profits from all sources within the Township equal to or in excess
of $12,000 in that calendar year or that the person is otherwise ineligible
for tax exemption for that calendar year, or upon an employer's payment
to the person of earned income within the Township in an amount equal
to or in excess of $12,000 in that calendar year, an employer shall
withhold the local services tax from the person.
C.
If a person
who claimed an exemption for a given calendar year from the local
services tax becomes subject to the tax for the calendar year, the
employer shall withhold the tax for the remainder of that calendar
year. The employer shall withhold from the person, from the first
payroll period after receipt of the notification, a lump sum equal
to the amount of the tax that was not withheld from the person due
to the exemption claimed by the person under this subsection, plus
the payroll amount due for that first payroll period. The amount of
tax withheld per payroll period for the remaining payroll periods
in that calendar year shall be the same amount withheld for other
employees. In the event the employment of the person subject to withholding
of the tax under this section is subsequently severed in that calendar
year, the person shall be liable for any outstanding balance of the
tax due and the Township may pursue collection.
D.
The following
persons are exempt from payment of the tax:
[Added 10-10-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-9[1]]
(1)
Any
person who has served in any war or armed conflict in which the United
States was engaged and is honorably discharged or released under honorable
circumstances from active service if, as a result of military service,
theperson is blind, paraplegic or a double or quadruple amputee or
has a service-connected disability declaured by the United States
Veterans Administration or its successor to be a total, one-hundred-percent
permanent disability.
(2)
Any
person who serves as a member of a reserve component of the armed
forces and is called to active duty at any time during the taxable
year. For purposes of this subsection, "reserve component of the armed
forces" shall mean the United States Army Reserve, United States Navy
Reserve, United States Marine Corps Reserve, United States Coast Guard
Reserve, United States Air Force Reserve, the Pennsylvania Army National
Guard or the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided that it would
be applicable to eligible taxes as of 1-1-2011.
The Local Services Tax Collector, on behalf
of the Township, shall collect and receive the taxes, interest, fines
and penalties imposed by this article and shall maintain records showing
the amounts received and the dates such amounts were received. The
Local Services Tax Collector shall prescribe and issue all forms necessary
for the administration of the tax and may adopt and enforce regulations
relating to any matter pertaining to the administration of this article,
including but not limited to requirements for collection through employers,
requirements for deductions, requirements for evidence and records
and provisions for the examination and correction of returns. The
Local Services Tax Collector and agents designated by him may examine
the records of any employer or supposed employer or of any taxpayer
or supposed taxpayer in order to ascertain the tax due or verify the
accuracy of any return. Every employer or supposed employer and every
taxpayer or supposed taxpayer shall give the Local Services Tax Collector
and any agent designated by him all means, facilities and opportunity
for the examinations hereby authorized.
The Local Services Tax Collector shall collect,
by suit or otherwise, all taxes, interest, costs, fines and penalties
due under this article and unpaid. If, for any reason, any tax is
not paid when due, interest at the rate of 6% per year on the amount
of unpaid tax and an additional penalty of 1/2 of 1% of the amount
of unpaid tax, for each month or fraction of month during which the
tax remains unpaid, shall be added and collected. Whenever suit is
brought for the recovery of unpaid tax, the taxpayer shall, in addition,
be liable for the costs of collection as well as for interest and
penalties. The Local Services Tax Collector may accept payment under
protest of the tax claimed by the Township in any case where any person
disputes the Township's claim for the tax. If a court of competent
jurisdiction thereafter decides that there has been overpayment to
the Local Services Tax Collector, the Local Services Tax Collector
shall refund the amount of the overpayment to the person who paid
under protest.
[Amended 6-12-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-10]
Whoever makes any false or untrue statement
on any record required by this article or who refuses inspection of
his books, records or accounts in his custody and control, setting
forth the number of employees subject to this tax who are in his employment,
or whoever fails or refuses to file any return by this article or
who fails to collect or withhold or, having collected and withheld,
fails to pay the tax due, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable
by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution, and
in default of payment of such fine and costs by imprisonment for not
more than 30 days. It is further provided that the action to enforce
the fine and penalty herein provided may be instituted against any
person in charge of the business of any employer who violates the
requirements set forth above.
The tax shall not apply to any subject of tax
or person not within the taxing power of the Township under the Constitution
of the United States and the laws and Constitution of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania. If a final decision of a court of competent jurisdiction
holds any provision of this article or the application of any provision
to any circumstances to be illegal or unconstitutional, the other
provisions of this article or the application of such provision to
other circumstances shall remain in full force and effect. The intention
of the Board of Commissioners is that the provisions of this article
shall be severable and that this article would have been adopted if
any such illegal or unconstitutional provisions had not been included.
This article shall become effective 30 days
after its enactment and shall remain in full force and effect thereafter,
from year to year, on a calendar-year basis, without annual reenactment.
