[Adopted 12-29-1982 by Ord. No. 69]
This article shall be known and may be cited
as the "Mercantile License Tax Ordinance."
A.
COLLECTOR
GROSS VOLUME OF BUSINESS
LICENSE YEAR
PERSON
RETAIL DEALER or RETAIL VENDOR
TEMPORARY, SEASONAL OR ITINERANT BUSINESS
TOWNSHIP
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALER or WHOLESALE AND RETAIL VENDOR
WHOLESALE DEALER or WHOLESALE VENDOR
The following words and phrases, when used in this
article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them unless the context
clearly indicates a different meaning:
The Tax Collector of North Coventry Township or such other
person designated by the Tax Collector or by the Board of Supervisors
of North Coventry Township to collect this tax hereby imposed.
Includes both cash and credit transactions and trade-in transactions
as provided by law.
The twelve-month period beginning the first day of January
1983, and each calendar year thereafter.
Any individual, partnership, limited partnership, association
or corporation (except such as are wholly exempt from taxation under
the Act of Assembly No. 511, as amended).
Any person who is a dealer in or a vendor of goods, wares
and merchandise who is not a wholesale dealer or vendor, or a wholesale
and retail dealer or vendor as hereinafter defined.
Any business that is conducted at one location for less than
60 consecutive calendar days.
North Coventry Township.
Any person who sells to dealers in or vendors of goods, wares
and merchandise and to other persons.
Any person who sells to dealers in or vendors of goods, wares
and merchandise and to no other person.
B.
The terms hereinbefore defined: "person," "wholesale
dealer or wholesale vendor," "retail dealer or retail vendor" and
"wholesale and retail dealer or wholesale and retail vendor" of this
section shall not include nonprofit corporations or associations organized
for religious, charitable or educational purposes, agencies of the
Government of the United States or of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
or any person vending or disposing of articles of his own manufacture
for shipment or delivery away from the place of the manufacture thereof,
or any farmer vending or disposing of his own produce, or other transaction
exempted by law.
For the license year beginning January 1, 1983,
and each license year thereafter, every person desiring to continue
to engage in, or hereafter to begin to engage in, the business of
wholesale, or retail, or wholesale and retail vendor or dealer in
goods, wares and merchandise and any person conducting a restaurant
or other place where food, drink or refreshment are sold in the Township
shall, on or before the first day of January 1983, and each license
year thereafter, or prior to commencing business in any such license
year, apply for and procure a mercantile license for his place of
business, or if more than one, for each of his places of business
in the Township from the Collector who shall issue the same upon payment
of a fee of $10 for a wholesale or retail license and $4 for a wholesale
and retail license for his place of business, or, if more than one,
for each of his places of business in the Township for such license
year. Each application for a license shall be signed by the applicant,
if a natural person, and, in the case of an association or partnership,
by a member or partner thereof, and, in the case of a corporation,
by an officer thereof. Such licenses shall not be assignable and shall
be conspicuously posted at the place of business or each of the places
of business of every such person at all times. In the case of loss,
defacement or destruction of any license, the person to whom the license
was issued shall apply to the Collector for a new license for which
a fee of $0.50 shall be charged.
A.
A tax to provide revenue for general Township purposes
is hereby levied, assessed and imposed upon every person engaging
in any of the following businesses in the Township, at the rate hereinafter
set forth, and such persons shall pay a mercantile license tax for
the year beginning January 1, 1983, at such rate, subject to the exemptions
hereinafter set forth; provided, however, that in no event shall the
annual mercantile license tax herein imposed be less than $10 for
each of the places of business of every such person:
(1)
Wholesale vendors, or dealers in goods, wares and
merchandise of every kind, at the rate of one mill on each dollar
of the gross volume of business transacted by him during the license
year.
(2)
Retail vendors, or dealers of goods, wares and merchandise
of every kind, and all persons engaged in conducting restaurants or
other places where food, drink or refreshments are sold, at the rate
of 1 1/2 mills on each dollar of the gross volume of business
transacted by him during the license year.
(3)
Wholesale and retail vendors or dealers in goods,
wares and merchandise of every kind at the rate of one mill on each
dollar of the gross volume of wholesale business transacted by him,
and 1 1/2 mills on each dollar of the gross volume of retail
business transacted by him during the license year.
(4)
The tax imposed by this article shall not apply to
the dollar volume of annual business covering the resale of goods,
wares or merchandise taken by a dealer at a trade-in, or as part payment
for other goods, wares and merchandise, except to the extent that
the resale price exceeds the trade-in allowance.
B.
Exemptions: This article shall not be construed to
levy or assess a tax on goods and articles manufactured in North Coventry
Township or on the by-products of manufacture, or on minerals, timber,
natural resources and farm products produced in North Coventry Township
or on the preparation or processing thereof for use or market, or
on any privilege, act or transaction related to the business of manufacturing,
the production, preparation or processing of minerals, timber and
natural resources, or farm products, by manufacturers, by producers
and by farmers with respect to the goods, articles and products of
their own manufacture, production or growth, or on any privilege,
act or transaction relating to the business of processing by-products
of manufacture, or on the transportation, loading, unloading or dumping
or storage of such goods, articles, products or by-products. The burden
is hereby imposed upon any person, firm or corporation claiming an
exemption from the payment of the tax hereby imposed to convince the
Collector of his legal right to such exemption.
The following subsections refer to the computation
of the estimated gross volume of business:
A.
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby
imposed, who has commenced his business at least a full year prior
to January 1, 1983, shall compute the gross volume of business upon
the actual gross amount of business transacted by him during the 12
months preceding January 1, 1983.
B.
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby
imposed, who has commenced his business less than one full year prior
to January 1, 1983, shall compute the gross volume of business by
multiplying by 12 the monthly average of the actual gross amount of
business transacted by him during the months he was engaged in business
prior to January 1, 1983.
C.
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby
imposed, who commences his business subsequent to January 1, 1983,
shall compute the gross volume of business for the license year upon
the gross volume of business transacted by him during the first month
of his engaging in business, multiplied by the number of months remaining
in the license year.
D.
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby
imposed who engages in business, temporary, seasonal or itinerant
by its nature shall compute the gross volume of business upon the
actual gross amount of business transacted by him during the license
year.
Every return, as hereinafter required, shall
be made upon a form furnished by the Collector. Every person making
such return shall furnish all information requested therein and certify
the correctness thereof under the penalties of perjury.
First tax returns shall be made as follows:
A.
Every person subject to the tax imposed by this article
who has commenced his business at least one full year prior to the
beginning of the license year, shall, on or before the 15th day of
April, 1983, and thereafter, file with the Collector a return setting
forth his name, business and business address, and such other information
as may be necessary to compute the actual gross volume of business
estimated to be transacted by him during the license year and the
amount of tax estimated to be due.
B.
Every person subject to the tax imposed by this article
who has commenced his business less than one full year prior to the
beginning of the license year shall, on or before the 15th day of
April, 1983, and thereafter, file with the Collector a return setting
forth his name, his business, business address, and such other information
as may be necessary to compute the actual gross volume of business
estimated to be transacted by him during the license year and the
amount of tax estimated to be due.
C.
Every person subject to the tax imposed by this article
who commences business subsequent to the beginning of the license
year shall, within 60 days from the date of commencing such business,
file a return with the Collector, setting forth his name, his business
and business address, and such information as may be necessary to
compute the actual gross volume of business estimated to be transacted
by him during the license year and the amount of tax estimated to
be due.
D.
Every person subject to the payment of the tax imposed
by this article who engages in a business, temporary, seasonal or
itinerant by its nature, shall, within seven days from the day he
completes such business, file a return with the Collector, setting
forth his name, his business and business address, and such information
as may be necessary in arriving at the actual gross amount of business
estimated to be transacted by him during such period and the amount
of tax due.
At the time of filing the first tax return,
the person making the same shall pay the amount of the tax estimated
to be due.
On or before the 15th day of April of each year,
beginning in 1984, every person subject to the tax hereby imposed
shall make a final return to the Collector, showing the actual volume
of business transacted by the taxpayer during the preceding license
year. Such final return shall state the amount of the gross volume
of business as set forth in the first tax return, the amount of tax
paid at the time of the filing of the first tax return, and the amount
of tax due upon the final computation.
At the time of the filing of the final tax return,
if the full amount of the tax due by the taxpayer for the license
year has not been paid, the taxpayer shall pay the remaining balance
of the tax, which will be the difference between the amount of the
tax paid at the time of making the first return on the estimated computation
and the amount of the tax finally shown to be due.
Any person ceasing to do business during the
license year shall, within 14 days from the date of ceasing to do
business, file a final return showing the actual gross volume of business
conducted during that portion of the license year in which said person
was actually in business, and pay the tax due as computed thereon.
It shall be the duty of the Collector to collect
and receive the fees, taxes, fines and penalties imposed by this article.
It shall also be his duty to keep a record showing the amount of tax
received by him and the date of payment.
The Collector is hereby authorized and empowered
to make a determination of the tax due by any taxpayer or supposed
taxpayer based upon the facts contained in the return, or upon any
information within his possession, or that shall come into his possession
and, for this purpose, the Collector, or his authorized agents, are
authorized to examine the books, papers and records of any such person
to verify the accuracy of any return or payment made under the provisions
thereof or to ascertain whether the taxes imposed by this article
have been paid. The Collector is hereby authorized and directed to
make and keep such records, prepare such forms, and take such other
measures as may be necessary or convenient to carry this article into
effect, and may, in his discretion, require reasonable deposits to
be made by licensees who engage in a business temporary, seasonal
or itinerant in nature.
If any taxpayer or supposed taxpayer shall neglect
or refuse to make any return and payment of tax required by this article,
or if, as a result of an investigation by the Collector, a return
is found to be incorrect, the Collector shall estimate the tax due
by such person and determine the amount due by him for taxes, penalties
and interest thereon.
If the final return of the taxpayer shows an
overpayment of the tax by reason of the fact that the gross volume
of business as stated in the estimated computation was less than the
actual volume of business for the year or by reason of the fact that
the taxpayer did not continue to engage in business throughout the
year, the Collector shall refund to the taxpayer, without interest,
the amount of such overpayment which shall be the difference between
the amount of tax paid upon the filing of the first return and the
amount of the tax finally shown to be due.
Any information gained by the Collector or any
other Township employee or official from the administration of this
tax shall be confidential, except in accordance with proper judicial
order or as otherwise provided by law, and divulgence of any information
so gained is hereby declared to be a violation of this article.
All taxes due and unpaid under this article
shall be recoverable by the Township Solicitor as other debts due
the Township are now recoverable.
All taxes due under this article shall bear
interest, at the rate of 1% per month or fractional part of a month,
from the day they are due and payable until paid. If any taxpayer
shall neglect or refuse to make any return or payment as herein required,
an additional 10% of the amount of the tax shall be added by the Collector
and collected.
All taxes, interest and penalties received,
collected or recovered under the provisions of this article shall
be paid into the General Fund of North Coventry Township for the use
and benefit of the Township.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed
to empower the Township to levy and collect the taxes hereby imposed
on any person, or any business, or any portion of any business not
within the taxing power of the Township, under the Constitution of
the United States and the Constitution and the Laws of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
The provisions of this article are severable,
and if any of its provisions or exemptions shall be held to be illegal,
invalid or unconstitutional, or invalid or unconstitutional as to
any part of the period designated herein as the license year, the
decisions of any court shall not affect or impair any of the remaining
provisions of this article; or affect or impair its application upon
any other part of the said license year, and the requirements as to
the license shall operate as of the effective date of this article
and the computation of tax and payment thereof shall be applied and
adjusted accordingly. The use of masculine terms shall also include
the feminine of said terms.
Any person who violates or permits a violation
of this article shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil
enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township before a Magisterial
District Judge, pay a fine of not more than $600, plus all court costs,
including reasonable attorney's fees, incurred by the Township in
the enforcement of this article. No judgment shall be imposed until
the date of the determination of the violation by the Magisterial
District Judge. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the
judgment, the Township may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable
Rules of Civil Procedure. Each day a violation exists shall constitute
a separate offense. Further, the appropriate officers or agents of
the Township are hereby authorized to seek equitable relief, including
injunction, to enforce compliance herewith.
It is the intent of the Board of Supervisors
that any ordinance now in effect which imposes a special license fee
or tax on specific types or kinds of business not covered by the provisions
of this article shall be and remain in full force and effect.
