[Adopted 12-19-1986 by Ord. No. 15-4[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided
for the repeal of former Art. II, Realty Transfer Tax, adopted 12-2-1974
by Ord No. 15-2, as amended.
A.
ACCEPTANCE
ACQUIRED COMPANY
ASSOCIATION
BOARD
CORPORATION
DISTRICT
DOCUMENT
MEMBERS OF THE SAME FAMILY
PERSON
REAL ESTATE
(1)
(2)
(3)
REAL ESTATE COMPANY
(1)
(2)
SECRETARY
TAX
TITLE TO REAL ESTATE
(1)
(2)
TRANSACTION
TREASURER
VALUE
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
As used in this article, the following terms shall
have the meanings indicated:
The making, execution or final delivery of a document by
all parties to a transaction.
A real estate company where a change in the ownership interest
in the company, however effected, does not affect the continuity of
the company and of itself or together with prior changes has the effect
of transferring, directly or indirectly, 90% or more of the total
ownership interest in the company within a period of three years.
A partnership, limited partnership or any other form of unincorporated
enterprise owned or conducted by two or more persons other than a
private trust or decedent's estate.
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of Whitpain, Montgomery
County, Pennsylvania.
A corporation, joint-stock association, business trust or
banking institution which is organized under the laws of this commonwealth,
the United States or any other state, territory or foreign country
or dependency.
The Township of Whitpain, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Any deed, instrument or writing which conveys, transfers, demises, vests, confirms or evidences any transfer or demise of title to real estate, but does not include wills, mortgages, deeds of trust or other instruments of like character given as security for a debt and deeds of release thereof to the debtor, land contracts whereby the legal title does not pass to the grantee until the title consideration specified in the contract has been paid or any cancellation thereof unless the consideration is payable over a period of time exceeding 30 years or instruments which solely grant, vest or confirm a public utility easement. "Document" shall also include a declaration of acquisition required to be presented for recording under § 136-17B of this article.
Any individual, such individual's brothers and sisters, the
brothers and sisters of such individual's parents and grandparents,
the ancestors and lineal descendants of any of the foregoing, a spouse
of any of the foregoing and the estate of any of the foregoing. Individuals
related by the half blood or legal adoption shall be treated as if
they were related by the whole blood.
Every natural person, association or corporation. Whenever
used in any clause prescribing and imposing a fine or imprisonment,
or both, the term "person," as applied to associations, shall include
the responsible members or general partners thereof and, as applied
to corporations, the officers thereof
Any lands, tenements or hereditaments within
this commonwealth, including without limitation buildings, structures,
fixtures, mines, minerals, oil, gas, quarries, spaces with or without
upper or lower boundaries, trees or other improvements, immovables
or interest which, by custom, usage or law, pass with a conveyance
of land, but excluding permanently attached machinery and equipment
in an industrial plan.
A condominium unit.
A tenant-stockholder's interest in a cooperative
housing corporation, trust or association under a proprietary lease
or occupancy agreement.
A corporation or association which is primarily engaged in
the business of holding, selling or leasing real estate, 90% or more
of the ownership interest in which is held by 35 or fewer persons
and which:
Derives 60% or more of its annual gross receipts
from the ownership or disposition of real estate; or
Holds real estate, the value of which comprises
90% or more of the value of its entire tangible asset holdings exclusive
of tangible assets which are freely transferable and actively traded
on an estimated market.
The Secretary of the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Whitpain, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
The tax imposed, assessed and levied by this article.
Any interest in real estate which endures for
a period of time, the termination of which is not fixed or ascertained
by a specific number of years, including, without limitation, an estate
in fee simple, life estate or perpetual leasehold; or
Any interest in real estate enduring for a period
of years, but which, either by reason of the length of the term or
the grant of a right to extend the term by renewal or otherwise, consists
of a group of rights approximating those including, without limitation,
a leasehold interest or possessory interest under a lease or occupancy
agreement for a term of 30 years or more or a leasehold interest or
possessory interest in real estate in which the lessee has equity.
In determining the term of a lease, it shall be presumed that a right
or option to renew or extend a lease will be exercised if the rental
charge to the lessee is fixed or if a method for calculating the rental
charge is established.
The making, executing, delivering, accepting or presenting
for recording of a document.
The duly elected and acting Treasurer of the Township of
Whitpain, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
In the case of any bona fide sale of real estate
at arm's length for actual monetary worth, the amount of the actual
consideration therefor, paid or to be paid, including liens or other
encumbrances thereon existing before the transfer and not removed
thereby, whether or not the underlying indebtedness is assumed, and
ground rents or a commensurate part thereof, where such liens or other
encumbrances and ground rents also encumber or are charged against
other real estate;
In the case of a gift, sale by execution upon
a judgment or upon the foreclosure of a mortgage by a judicial officer,
transactions without consideration or for consideration less than
the actual monetary worth of the real estate, a taxable lease, an
occupancy agreement, a leasehold or possessory interest, any exchange
of properties or the real estate of an acquired company, the actual
monetary worth of the real estate determined by adjusting the assessed
value of the real estate for local real estate tax purposes for the
common level ratio of assessed values to market values of the taxing
district as established by the State Tax Equalization Board, or a
commensurate part of the assessment where the assessment includes
other real estate;
The actual consideration for or actual monetary
worth of any executory agreement for the construction of buildings,
structures or other permanent improvements to real estate between
the grantor and other persons existing before the transfer and not
removed thereby or between the grantor, the agent or principal of
the grantor or a related corporation, association or partnership and
the grantee existing before or effective with the transfer.
B.
Throughout this article, the singular shall include
the plural, and the masculine shall include the feminine and the neuter.
A.
Every person who makes, executes, delivers, accepts
or presents for recording any document or in whose behalf any document
is made, executed, delivered, accepted or presented for recording
shall be subject to pay for or in respect to the transaction or any
part thereof, or for or in respect of the vellum parchment or paper
upon which such document is written or printed, a tax at the rate
of 1% of the value of the real estate represented by such document,
which tax shall be payable at the earlier of the time the document
is presented for recording or within 30 days of acceptance of such
document, or within 30 days of becoming an acquired company.
B.
Within 30 days after becoming an acquired company,
such company shall present a declaration of acquisition with the recorder
of deeds of each county in which it holds real estate for the affixation
of documentary stamps and recording. Such declaration shall set forth
the value of real estate holdings of the acquired company in such
county.
C.
Except as otherwise provided in § 136-25, documents which make, confirm or evidence any transfer or demise of title to real estate between associations or corporations and the members, partners, shareholders or stockholders thereof are fully taxable. For the purposes of this article, corporations and associations are entities separate from their members, partners, stockholders or shareholders.
The tax hereby levied shall apply to or be imposed
upon all transactions, transfers or privileges arising out of agreements
or contracts to sell or any other arrangements made and entered into
by the parties thereto prior to the date of the adoption of this article.
The tax hereby levied shall apply to or be imposed
upon all transactions, transfers or privileges arising out of agreements
or contracts to sell or any other arrangements made and entered into
by the parties thereto after the date of the adoption of this article.
The tax hereby levied shall apply to or be imposed
upon all transactions, transfers or privileges where there are no
agreements made and entered into by the parties thereto.
All taxes imposed by this article not paid when
due shall bear interest from the due date at the rate of 1/2 of 1%
per month until paid.
[Amended 7-17-2007 by Ord. No. 15-5]
Any tax imposed under this article that is not
paid by the date the tax is due shall bear interest as prescribed
for interest on delinquent municipal claims under the Act of May 16,
1923 (P.L. 207, No. 153) (53 P.S. § 7101 et seq.), as amended,
known as "The Municipal Claims and Tax Liens Act." The interest rate
shall be 10% per annum.
All taxes imposed by this article, together
with interest from the due date and the penalty thereof, may be recovered
as other debts of like character are by law recovered.
The tax imposed by this article shall become a lien upon the lands, tenements or hereditaments, or any interest therein, situate wholly or partly within the Township, which are described in or conveyed by the documents which is the subject of tax imposed under § 136-17, said lien to begin at the time when the tax is due and payable and continue until discharged by payment or in accordance with the law. The Township Solicitor is authorized to file a municipal or tax claim for said tax in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Lien Act of 1923 and the amendments and supplements thereto.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 7101
et seq.
A.
Exempt parties. The United States, the commonwealth
or any of their instrumentalities, agencies or political subdivisions
shall be exempt from payment of the tax imposed by this article. The
exemption of such governmental bodies shall not, however, relieve
any other party to a transaction from liability for the tax.
B.
Excluded transactions. The tax imposed by § 136-17 shall not apply to the following:
(1)
A transfer to the commonwealth or to any of its instrumentalities,
agencies or political subdivisions by gift, dedication or deed in
lieu of condemnation or deed of confirmation in connection with condemnation
proceedings, or a reconveyance by the condemning body of the property
condemned to the owner of record at the time of condemnation, which
reconveyance may include property line adjustments, provided that
said reconveyance is made within one year from the date of condemnation.
(2)
A document which the commonwealth is prohibited from
taxing under the Constitution or Statutes of the United States.
(3)
A conveyance to a municipality, Township, school district
or county pursuant to acquisition by the municipality, Township, school
district or county of a tax delinquent property at sheriff sale or
Tax Claim Bureau sale.
(4)
A transfer for no or nominal actual consideration
which corrects or confirms a transfer previously recorded, but which
does not extend or limit existing record legal title or interest.
(5)
A transfer of division in kind for no or nominal action
consideration of property passed by testate or intestate succession
and held by cotenants; however, if any of the parties take shares
greater in value than their undivided interest, tax is due on the
excess.
(6)
A transfer between husband and wife, between persons
who were previously husband and wife who have since been divorced,
provided that the property or interest therein subject to such transfer
was acquired by the husband and wife or husband or wife prior to the
granting of the final decree in divorce, between parent and child
or the spouse of such child, between brother or sister or spouse of
a brother or sister and brother or sister or the spouse of a brother
or sister and between a grandparent and grandchild or the spouse of
such grandchild, except that a subsequent transfer by the grantee
within one year shall be subject to tax as if the grantor were making
such transfer.
(7)
A transfer for no or nominal actual consideration
of property passing by testate or intestate succession from a personal
representative of a decedent to the decedent's devisee or heir.
(8)
A transfer for no or nominal consideration to a trustee
of an ordinary trust where the transfer of the same property would
be exempt if the transfer was made directly from the grantor to all
of the possible beneficiaries, whether or not such beneficiaries are
contingent or specifically named. No such exemption shall be granted
unless the recorder of deeds is presented with a copy of the trust
instrument that clearly identifies the grantor and all possible beneficiaries.
(9)
A transfer for no or nominal actual consideration
from a trustee to a beneficiary of an ordinary trust.
(10)
A transfer for no or nominal actual consideration
from trustee to successor trustee.
(11)
A transfer for no or nominal actual consideration
between principal and agent or straw party, or from or to an agent
or straw party, where, if the agent or straw party were his principal,
no tax would be imposed under this article. Where the document by
which title is acquired by a grantee or statement of value fails to
set forth that the property was acquired by the grantee from, or for
the benefit of, his principal, there is a rebuttable presumption that
the property is the property of the grantee in his individual capacity
if the grantee claims an exemption from taxation under this clause.
(12)
A transfer made pursuant to the statutory merger
or consolidation of a corporation or statutory division of a nonprofit
corporation, except where it is reasonably determined that the primary
intent for such merger, consolidation or division is avoidance of
the tax imposed by this article.
(13)
A transfer from a corporation or association
of real estate held of record in the name of the corporation or association
where the grantee owns stock of the corporation or an interest in
the association in the same proportion as his interest in or ownership
of the real estate being conveyed and where the stock of the corporation
or the interest in the association has been held by the grantee for
more than two years.
(14)
A transfer from a nonprofit industrial development
agency or authority to a grantee of property conveyed by the grantee
to that agency or authority as security for a debt of the grantee
or a transfer of a nonprofit industrial development agency or authority.
(15)
A transfer from a nonprofit industrial development
agency or authority to a grantee purchasing directly from it, but
only if:
(a)
The grantee shall directly use such real estate
for the primary purpose of manufacturing, fabricating, compounding,
processing, publishing, research and development, transportation,
energy conversion, energy production, pollution control, warehousing,
or agriculture; and
(b)
The agency or authority has the full ownership
interest in the real estate transferred.
(16)
A transfer by a mortgagor to the holder of a
bona fide mortgage in default in lieu of a foreclosure or a transfer
pursuant to a judicial sale in which the successful bidder is the
bona fide holder of a mortgage, unless the holder assigns the bid
to another person.
(17)
Any transfer between religious organizations
or other bodies or persons holding title for a religious organization
if such real estate is not being or has not been used by such transferor
for commercial purposes.
(18)
A transfer to a conservancy which possesses
a tax-exempt status pursuant to Section 5.01(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1964 [68A Stat. 3, 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3)]
and which has as its primary purpose preservation of land for historic,
recreational, scenic, agricultural or open space opportunities.
(19)
A transfer of real estate devoted to the business
of agriculture to a family farm corporation by a member of the same
family which directly owns at least 75% of each class of the stock
thereof.
(20)
A transfer between members of the same family
of an ownership interest in a real estate company or family farm corporation.
(21)
A transaction wherein the tax due is $1 or less.
(22)
Leases for the production or extraction of coal,
oil, natural gas or minerals and assignments thereof.
C.
In order to exercise any exclusion provided in this
section, the true, full and complete value of the transfer shall be
known on the statement of value. For leases of coal, oil, natural
gas or minerals, the statement of value may be limited to an explanation
of the reason such document is not subject to tax under this article.
A.
Where there is a transfer of a residential property
by a licensed real estate broker which property was transferred to
him within the preceding year as consideration for the purchase of
other residential property, a credit for the amount of the tax paid
at the time of the transfer to him shall be given to him toward the
amount of the tax due upon the transfer.
B.
Where there is a transfer by a builder of residential
property which was transferred to the builder within the preceding
year as consideration for the purchase of new, previously unoccupied
residential property, a credit for the amount of the tax paid at the
time of the transfer to the builder shall be given to the builder
toward the amount of the tax due upon the transfer.
C.
Where there is a transfer of real estate which is
demised by the grantor, a credit for the amount of tax paid at the
time of the demise shall be given the grantor toward the tax due upon
the transfer.
D.
Where there is a conveyance by deed of real estate
which was previously sold under a land contract by the grantor, a
credit for the amount of tax paid at the time of the sale shall be
given the grantor toward the tax due upon the deed.
E.
If the tax due upon the transfer is greater than the
credit given under this section, the difference shall be paid. If
the credit allowed is greater than the amount of tax due, no refund
or carry-over credit shall be allowed.
The tax herein imposed shall be fully paid and
have priority out of the proceeds of any judicial sale of real estate
before any other obligation, claim, lien, judgment, estate or costs
of the sale and of the writ upon which the sale is made, and the Sheriff,
or other officer, conducting said sale shall pay the tax herein imposed
out of the first moneys paid to him in connection therewith. If the
proceeds of the sale are insufficient to pay the entire tax herein
imposed, the purchaser shall be liable for the remaining tax.
The Recorder of Deeds of Montgomery County is hereby authorized and empowered to act as the collector of the taxes imposed by § 136-17 of this article and to remit such taxes to the Treasurer of the Township on a monthly basis.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to make, execute,
issue, deliver or accept, or cause to be made, executed, issued, delivered
or accepted, any document without the full amount of tax thereon being
duly paid.
B.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this
article shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding $600 for each and
every offense and, further, shall be required to pay the amount of
tax, together with interest as is otherwise provided for herein, which
should have been paid upon the document or documents, and, upon default
in the payment of the same for 10 days, shall be subject to 30 days'
imprisonment.
[Amended 1-2-1989 by Ord. No. 184]
