It is hereby enacted by the Council of the Borough
of Punxsutawney, and this article shall be known and may be cited
as the local services tax.
The following words and phrases, when used in
this article, shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this section,
unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
COLLECTOR
The Tax Collector of the Borough of Punxsutawney.
EMPLOYER
An individual, partnership, association, corporation, governmental
body or other entity employing one or more persons on a salary, wages,
commission or other compensation basis, including a self-employed
person.
FISCAL YEAR
The twelve-month period beginning January 1 and ending December
31.
HE, HIS or HIM
Shall mean the singular and plural number as well as male,
female and neuter gender.
INDIVIDUAL
Any person, male or female, engaged in any occupation, trade
or profession within the corporate limits of the Borough of Punxsutawney.
OCCUPATION
Any trade, profession, business or undertaking of any type,
kind or character, including services, domestic or otherwise, carried
on or performed within the corporate limits of the Borough of Punxsutawney,
for which compensation is charged or received, whether by means of
salary, wages, commissions or fees for services rendered. This includes
self-employment.
PRIVILEGE
The exercising or carrying on, by any means or manner, of
any occupation whatsoever as hereinabove defined.
TAX
A local services tax in the amount of $52 per year, levied
on each engagement in any occupation, as heretofore defined, within
the limits of the Borough of Punxsutawney, limited by any occupational
privilege tax collected by any school district with taxing authority.
UPFRONT EXEMPTION
Required for any employee who must apply for, obtain and
provide to his employer when the employee will not earn $12,000 during
the calendar year.
Beginning with the fiscal year 2008 and annually
thereafter, the Borough of Punxsutawney hereby imposes on each engagement
in an occupation from which an individual derives more than $12,000
per year from such occupation or occupations, to be paid by each individual
exercising the privilege of engaging in any such occupation within
the corporate limits of the Borough of Punxsutawney, an annual local
services tax in the manner and at the rate hereinafter set forth.
Beginning on January 1, 2008, each engagement in an occupation subject to this tax, as defined in §
213-2 hereof, shall be subject to the payment of the local services tax in the amount also set forth in §
213-2 hereof, to be paid by each individual exercising the privilege of engaging in any such occupation hereinbefore defined within the corporate limits of the Borough of Punxsutawney.
Each taxpayer who is self-employed or whose
tax, for any other reason, is not collected under the provisions of
this article shall file a return on a form prescribed by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania or the Tax Collector and shall pay the tax directly
to the Tax Collector. A self-employed taxpayer who is subject to the
tax shall pay the tax on a quarterly basis, prorated as if the taxpayer's
payroll period is a calendar quarter. Self-employed taxpayers shall
pay the tax within 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter.
Both resident and nonresident taxpayers shall,
by virtue of engaging in an occupation within the Borough, be subject
to the tax and the provisions of this article.
Each individual who shall have more than one
occupation within the Borough of Punxsutawney shall be subject to
the payment of the annual local services tax fully upon the privilege
of engaging in his principal occupation, and his principal employer
shall deliver to him a certificate of payment and a form to be furnished
to the employer by the Tax Collector certifying to any other employer
of such individual that said tax has been paid by the employee to
the principal employer and, in turn, remitted by said principal employer
to the Tax Collector. Any employer receiving said certificate of payment
of the local services tax by another employer by deduction from said
individual shall not also deduct or collect the tax imposed by this
article. Upon request, the Tax Collector shall provide a taxpayer
with a receipt for payment of the tax.
If, for any reason, the tax is not paid when
due, interest thereon shall accrue at the rate of 6% per annum on
the amount of such unpaid tax, calculated beginning with the date
on which payment of the tax was due, and a penalty of 10% shall be
added to the flat rate of said tax for nonpayment thereof. In addition,
where suit is brought for the recovery of this tax, the individual
liable therefor shall be responsible and liable for the cost of collection.
However, an employer is relieved of liability for the local services
tax if the employer fails to withhold the tax due to incorrect information
provided by the employee regarding the employee's principal employer.
Any employer or any agent of any employer who
makes any false or untrue statement on any return required by this
article or 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 appropriate judicial authority, be sentenced to pay a fine
of not more than $300 for each offense and, in default of payment
of said fine and costs, be imprisoned in the Jefferson County Prison
for a period not exceeding 30 days for each offense.
Claims for refunds of overpayment of the local
services tax shall be in accordance with the Local Taxpayer Bill of
Rights (53 Pa.C.S.A. § 8425 et seq., as amended). A refund
shall not include interest on the overpaid tax if the request for
refund is made within 75 days of either a refund request or January
30 of the year after the tax is paid, whichever occurs later. The
Borough shall not provide a refund if it is less than $1.
This article shall go into effect at midnight
on January 1, 2008, and shall remain in effect until repealed or amended.