[Adopted 11-7-2007 by Ord. No. 16-2007[1]]
[1]
Editor’s Note: This ordinance superseded
former Art. II, Emergency and Municipal Service Tax, adopted 3-30-1966
by Ord. No. 301, as amended. It was reenacted 11-5-2008 by Ord. No.
3-2009, which stated that it would be effective from 1-1-2009 to 12-31-2009
and annually for each calendar year thereafter. Ordinances adopting
subsequent reenactments are on file in the Borough offices.
A.
EARNED INCOME
EMERGENCY SERVICES
EMPLOYER
FISCAL YEAR
NET PROFITS
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
OCCUPATION
PERSON or INDIVIDUAL
RESERVE COMPONENT OF THE ARMED FORCES
TAX
TAX RECEIVER or TAX COLLECTOR
The following words and phrases, when used in this
article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section,
except where the context or language clearly indicates or requires
a different meaning:
Compensation as this term is defined in Section 13, relating
to earned income taxes, of the Local Tax Enabling Act, the Act of
December 31, 1965, P.L. 1257, § 13, as amended, 53 P.S.
§ 6913, as amended.
Police, fire and emergency medical services.
An individual, partnership, association, corporation, LLC,
governmental body, agency or other entity employing one or more persons
on a salary, wage, commission or other compensation basis, including
a self-employed person.
The twelve-month period beginning January 1 and ending December
3l in any tax year.
The net income from the operation of a business, profession, or other activity, except corporations, determined under Section 303 of the Act of March 4, 1971 (P.L. 6, No. 2), known as the "Tax Reform Code of 1971," and regulations in 61 Pa. Code Part 1, Subpart B, Article V (relating to personal income tax). The term does not include income which is not paid for services provided and which is in the natural earnings from an investment. For taxpayers engaged in the business, profession or activity of farming, the term shall not include:
Any interest earnings generated from any monetary
accounts or investment instruments of the farming business;
Any gain on the sale of farm machinery;
Any gain on the sale of livestock held 12 months
or more for draft, breeding or dairy purposes; and
Any gain on the sale of other capital assets
of the farm.
Any trade, profession, business or undertaking of any type
or kind or character, including services, domestic or other, carried
on or performed within the corporate limits of the Borough of Moosic
for which compensation is charged or received, whether by means of
salary, wages, commission or fees, for services rendered.
A natural person.
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.
The local services tax in the amount of $52 levied by this
article.
The person designated by the Borough of Moosic for the collection
of the local services tax as imposed by this article.
B.
“He,” “his” or “him”
indicates the singular and plural number as well as male, female and
neuter gender.
For purposes of 1) road construction and/or
maintenance; 2) emergency services; and/or 3) reduction of property
taxes, the Borough of Moosic hereby levies a tax upon the privilege
of engaging in an occupation within the Borough of Moosic, during
the fiscal year. Each individual who exercises such privilege shall
pay the tax in the amount of $52 in accordance with this article.
This tax is in addition to all other taxes of any kind or nature heretofore
levied by the Borough of Moosic.
A.
At least 25% of revenue generated from said tax will
be expended on emergency services.
B.
The tax shall be no more than $52 on each person for
each fiscal year, irrespective of the number of political subdivisions
within which a person may be employed.
C.
The Borough shall provide a taxpayer a receipt of
payment of the tax upon request by the taxpayer.
A.
An individual engaged in an occupation within the
corporate limits of the Borough of Moosic shall be subject to the
local services tax in the amount of $52 per annum on a pro rata basis,
said tax to be paid by the individual so engaged.
B.
Exemption. The following person shall be exempt from
said tax:
(1)
Any person who 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 or if,
as a result of military service, the person is blind, paraplegic or
a double or quadruple amputee or has a service-connected disability
declared by the United States Veterans' Administration or its successors
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.
(3)
Any person whose total earned income and net profits
from all sources within the Borough of Moosic is less than $12,000
for the fiscal year in which the tax is levied.
A.
A person seeking to claim an exemption from the tax may annually file an exemption certificate with the Borough and with the person's employer affirming that the person reasonably expects to receive earned income and net profits from all sources within the Borough of Moosic of less than $12,000 in the fiscal year for which the exemption certificate is filed. In the event the Borough of Moosic utilizes a Tax Collector, the Borough of Moosic shall provide a copy of the exemption certificate, to the Tax Collector. The exemption certificate shall have attached to it a copy of all of the individuals last pay stubs or W-2 forms from employment within the Borough of Moosic for the year prior to the fiscal year for which the individual is requesting to be exempted from the tax. Upon receipt of the exemption certificate and until otherwise instructed by the Borough of Moosic or except as required by § 273-13D, the employer shall not withhold the tax from the person during the fiscal year or the remainder of the fiscal year for which the exemption certificate applies. Employers 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 fiscal year from the tax, upon notification to an employer by the person or by the Borough of Moosic that the person has received earned income and/or net profits from all sources within the Borough of Moosic equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that fiscal year or that the person is otherwise ineligible for the tax exemption for that fiscal year, or upon an employer's payment to the person of earned income within the Borough of Moosic in an amount equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that fiscal year, an employer shall withhold the tax from the person under § 273-13D.
A.
Each employer within the Borough of Moosic, as well
as each employer outside the Borough of Moosic but engaging in business
within the Borough of Moosic, is hereby charged with the duty of collecting
the said tax of $52 in accordance with the terms of this article,
from each employee who is engaged in an occupation and has earned
income, as herein defined, for the benefit of said employer or in
the service of said employer within the Borough of Moosic during the
fiscal year.
B.
Each employer shall make a return and payment of said
tax to the Tax Receiver or Tax Collector, and each such employer is
hereby authorized to deduct said tax from each such employee, whether
or not such employee is paid by salary, wages, or commission and whether
or not part or all of such services are performed within the Borough
of Moosic.
C.
A person subject to the 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 tax assessed on the person for a payroll period shall be determined by dividing the combined rate of the local services tax levied for the fiscal year. For purposes of determining the pro rata share, an employer shall round down the amount of the tax collected each payroll period to the nearest 1/100 of a dollar. Collection of the local services tax levied under this subsection shall be made on a payroll period basis for each payroll period in which the person is engaging in an occupation, except as provided in Subsection D.
D.
If a person who claimed an exemption for a given fiscal year from the tax becomes subject to the tax for the fiscal year under § 273-12.1B, the employer shall withhold the tax for the remainder of that fiscal year. The employer shall withhold from the person, for the first payroll period after receipt of the notification under § 273-12.1B, a lump sum equal to the amount of tax that was not withheld from the person due to the exemption claimed by the person under this subsection, plus the per-payroll amount due for that first payroll period. The amount of tax withheld per payroll period for the remaining payroll periods in that fiscal year shall be the same amount withheld for other employees. In the event the employment of a person subject to withholding of the tax under this subsection is subsequently severed in that fiscal year, the person shall be liable for any outstanding balance of tax due, and the political subdivision levying the tax may pursue collection.
E.
Except as provided in Subsection B, employers shall not be responsible for investigating exemption certificates, monitoring tax exemptions eligibility or exempting any employee from the tax.
F.
No employer shall be held liable for failure to withhold
the tax or for the payment of the withheld tax money to the Borough
of Moosic if the failure to withhold taxes arises from incorrect information
submitted by the employee as to the employee's place or places of
employment, the employee's principal office or where the employee
is principally employed; and provided, further, that an employer shall
not be liable for payment of the tax in an amount exceeding the amount
withheld by the employer if the employer complies with the provisions
of this article and the Local Tax Enabling Act No. 511.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 6901
et seq.
A.
The situs of the tax shall be the place of employment
on the first day the person becomes subject to the tax during each
payroll period.
B.
In the event a person is engaged in more than one
occupation, that is, concurrent employment, or an occupation which
requires the person working in more than one political subdivision
during a payroll period, the priority of claim to collect the tax
shall be in the following order: first, the political subdivision
in which a person maintains the person's principal office or is principally
employed; second, the political subdivision in which the person resides
and works, if the tax is levied by that political subdivision; and
third, the political subdivision in which a person is employed and
which imposes the tax nearest in miles to the person's home.
Each employer shall prepare and file a return
showing computation of the tax on forms to be supplied to him by the
Collector of Taxes, Moosic, Pennsylvania. Each employer in filing
this return and making payment of the tax withheld from his employees
shall be entitled to retain a commission calculated at the rate of
2% of the gross tax due and payable, provided that such tax is collected
and paid over by the employer on or before the dates hereinafter set
forth. It is further provided that if the employer fails to file said
return and pay said tax, whether or not he makes collection thereof
from the salary, wages or commissions paid by him to said employee,
the employer shall be responsible for the payment of the tax in full
without deducting a commission and as though the tax had originally
been levied against him.
Employers shall be required to remit the tax
to the Borough of Moosic 30 days after the end of each quarter of
the fiscal year.
In the case of concurrent employment, an employer
shall refrain from withholding the tax if the employee provides a
recent pay statement from a principal employer that includes the name
of the employer, the length of the payroll period and the amount of
the tax withheld and a statement from the employee that the pay statement
is from the employee's principal employer and the employee will notify
other employers of a change in principal place of employment within
two weeks of its occurrence.
Each self-employed individual who performs services
of any kind or type, or engages in any occupation or profession within
the Borough of Moosic, shall be required to comply with this article
and pay the pro rata portion of the tax due to the Tax Collector on
or before the 30th day following the end of each quarter.
All employers and self-employed individuals
residing or having their place of business outside the Borough of
Moosic, but who perform services of any type or kind, or engage in
any occupation or profession, within the Borough of Moosic do by virtue
thereof agree to be bound by and subject themselves to the provisions,
penalties and regulations promulgated under this article with the
same force and effect as though they were residents of the Borough
of Moosic. Further, any individual engaged in an occupation within
the Borough of Moosic and an employee of a nonresident employer may,
for the purpose of this article, be considered a self-employed person,
and in the event this tax is not paid, the Borough shall have the
option of proceeding against either the employer or employee for the
collection of this tax as hereinafter provided.
A.
The Borough shall adopt regulations for the processing
of refund claims for overpaid local services taxes for any fiscal
year.
B.
The regulations shall be consistent with 53 Pa.C.S.A.
§§ 8425 and 8426.
C.
Refunds made within 75 days of a refund request or
75 days after the last day the employer is required to remit the local
services tax for the last quarter of the fiscal year under Section
9 of this Act, whichever is later, shall not be subject to interest
imposed under 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 8426.
D.
The Borough shall only provide refunds for amounts
overpaid in a fiscal year that exceed one dollar.
A.
It shall be the duty of the Collector of Taxes to
accept and receive payments of this tax and to keep a record thereof
showing the amount received by him from each employer or self-employed
person together with the date the tax was received.
B.
The Collector of Taxes is hereby charged with the
administration and enforcement of this article and is hereby charged
and empowered to prescribe, adopt, and promulgate rules and regulations
relating to any matter pertaining to the administration and enforcement
of this article, including provisions for the examination of the payroll
records of any employer subject to this article, and the examination
and correction of any return made in compliance with this article
and any payment alleged or found to be incorrect, or as to which overpayment
is claimed or found to have occurred. Any person aggrieved by any
decision of the Collector shall have the right to appeal to the Court
of Common Pleas of Lackawanna County as in other cases provided.
C.
The Collector of Taxes is hereby authorized to examine
the books and payroll records of any employer in order to verify the
accuracy of any return made by any employer, or, if no return was
made, to ascertain the tax due. Each employer is hereby directed and
required to give the Collector the means, facilities and opportunity
for such examination.
A.
In the event that any tax under this article remains
due or unpaid 30 days after the due dates above set forth, the Collector
may sue for the recovery of any such tax due or unpaid under this
article, together with interest and penalty.
B.
If for any reason the tax is not paid when due, interest
at the rate of 6% on the amount of said tax shall be calculated beginning
with the due date of said tax, and a penalty of 10% shall be added
to the flat rate of said tax for nonpayment thereof. Where suit is
brought for the recovery of the tax, the individual liable thereof
shall, in addition, be responsible and liable for the cost of collection
and attorney's fees as allowed by law. The reasonable attorney's fees
shall be at the rate of $125 per hour.
Whoever makes any false or untrue statement
on any return 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 required by this article,
shall, upon conviction before the District Justice, be sentenced to
pay a fine of not more than $600, plus costs of prosecution, and,
in default of payment of such fine and costs, be imprisoned for a
period not exceeding 30 days for each offense. 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 has failed or refused to file a return required by this
article.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed
to empower the Borough of Moosic to levy and collect the tax hereby
imposed on any occupation not within the taxing power of the Borough
under the Constitution of the United States and the laws of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
