[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Editor’s Note: This ordinance superseded former Art.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. 
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:
EARNED INCOME
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.
EMERGENCY SERVICES
Police, fire and emergency medical services.
EMPLOYER
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.
FISCAL YEAR
The twelve-month period beginning January 1 and ending December 3l in any tax year.
NET PROFITS
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:
(1) 
Any interest earnings generated from any monetary accounts or investment instruments of the farming business;
(2) 
Any gain on the sale of farm machinery;
(3) 
Any gain on the sale of livestock held 12 months or more for draft, breeding or dairy purposes; and
(4) 
Any gain on the sale of other capital assets of the farm.
OCCUPATION
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.
PERSON or INDIVIDUAL
A natural person.
RESERVE COMPONENT OF THE ARMED FORCES
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.
TAX
The local services tax in the amount of $52 levied by this article.
TAX RECEIVER or TAX COLLECTOR
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.