[Adopted 8-13-1991 by Ord. No. 186 (Ch.
24, Part 4, of the 1983 Code of Ordinances); amended in its entirety 11-13-2007 by Ord. No.
356[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided
that it shall apply to tax years commencing on or after 1-1-2008.
This article shall be known and may be cited
as the "West Whiteland Township Local Services Tax."
A.Â
Every individual who engages in an occupation within
the Township of West Whiteland shall pay a local services tax to the
Township in the amount of $52 per individual per calendar year.
B.Â
In the event that an individual is engaged in more
than one occupation, or in an occupation which requires his working
in more than one political subdivision during the calendar year, then
the provisions of the Local Tax Enabling Act, Act of December 31,
1965, P.L. 1257, Section 2, as amended, 53 P.S. § 6902,
shall determine the priority of West Whiteland Township's claim to
collect such local services tax.
C.Â
All taxes imposed by this article, together with all
interest, penalties and costs, shall be recoverable by the Solicitor
of West Whiteland Township as debts of like amount are recoverable
by law.
D.Â
The tax imposed under this article shall be used for
police, fire or emergency services, road maintenance or real estate
tax reduction purposes, as provided for under the provisions of the
Local Tax Enabling Act, Act of December 31, 1965, P.L. 1257, Section
22.6, as amended, 53 P.S. § 6922.6.
E.Â
This article is enacted under the authority of the
Local Tax Enabling Act, as amended (53. P.S. § 6901 et.
seq.).
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated except where the context or language
clearly indicates or requires a different meaning. Use of the masculine
gender shall include the feminine and neuter, and reference to the
masculine singular shall include the plural.
The same meaning as provided for in The Local Tax Enabling
Act, Act of December 31, 1965, P.L. 1257, Section 13, Division I,
as amended, 53 P.S. § 6913.
An individual whose compensation is subject to the withholding
of federal income tax and who performs services for an employer.
An individual, partnership, association, corporation, governmental
body, agency or other entity employing one or more individuals on
a salary, commission or other compensation basis, including a self-employed
individual.
Any person, male or female, engaged in any occupation, trade
or profession of any nature within the corporate limits of West Whiteland
Township, whether in the employ of another or self-employed.
The Township Manager of West Whiteland Township, his designated
representative or a person or corporation engaged for this purpose
by contract with West Whiteland Township.
Any trade, profession, business or undertaking of any type,
kind or character, including services, domestic or other, carried
on or performed within the corporate limits of West Whiteland Township
for which compensation is charged or received, whether by means of
salary, wages, commission, fees or otherwise, for services rendered.
The same meaning as provided for in The Local Tax Enabling
Act, Act of December 31, 1965, P.L. 1257, Section 13, Division I,
as amended, 53 P.S. § 6913.
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 on each individual engaged in any occupation, as hereinbefore
defined, within the corporate limits of West Whiteland Township.
The calendar year.
A.Â
Duty of employer to collect and make payment. Each
employer within West Whiteland Township, as well as each employer
situated outside of West Whiteland Township but who engages in business
within West Whiteland Township, is hereby charged with the duty of
collecting from each employee engaged by the employer and performing
for the employer within West Whiteland Township, the tax of $52 per
annum and making a return and payment thereof to the Local Services
Tax Collector. Subject to the withholding requirements of this section,
each employer is hereby authorized to deduct the tax from the compensation
of each employee in its employ, whether said employee is paid by salary,
wages or commissions and whether or not part or all of such services
are performed within West Whiteland Township. Each employer shall
pay the tax to the Local Services Tax Collector as provided herein,
whether or not the tax was deducted from the compensation of each
employee in its employ.
(1)Â
An employer required hereunder to collect the tax shall withhold a pro rata share of the total tax per annum for each payroll period in which the person is engaged 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 calendar year by the number of payroll periods established by the employer for the calendar year. For purposes of determining the pro rata share of tax, 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 section shall be made on a payroll-period basis for each payroll period in which the person is engaging in an occupation, except as provided for in § 292-32A(3).
(2)Â
Upon notification to an employer by the person or
by West Whiteland Township that a person has received earned income
and net profits from all sources within West Whiteland Township equal
to or in excess of $12,000 in that calendar year or that the person
is otherwise ineligible for the tax exemption for that calendar year,
or upon an employer’s payment to the person of earned income
within West Whiteland Township in an amount equal to or in excess
of $12,000 in that calendar year, an employer shall withhold the local
services tax from the person for the remainder of that calendar year.
The employer shall withhold from the person, for the first payroll
period after receipt of the notification hereunder, 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 section, 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 calendar
year shall be the same amount withheld for other employees. In the
event that the employment of a person subject to withholding of the
tax under this clause is subsequently severed in that calendar year,
the person shall be liable for any outstanding balance of tax due,
and West Whiteland Township may pursue collection of the tax.
(3)Â
In the case of an employee who has concurrent employment,
an employer shall refrain from withholding the local services tax
if the employee provides a recent pay stub from a principal employer
that includes the name of the employer, the length of the payroll
period and the amount of the local services tax withheld and a statement
from the employee that the pay statement is from the employer’s
principal employer and the employee will notify other employers of
a change in principal place of employment within two weeks of its
occurrence.
B.Â
Returns; responsibility for payment. Each employer
shall prepare and file a return showing a computation of the tax on
forms to be supplied to him by the Local Services Tax Collector. 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 as
though the tax had originally been levied against the employer.
C.Â
Dates for determining liability and payment. Each
employer shall use his employment record as of each payroll period
in the calendar year to determine from whom the tax shall be deducted.
An employer shall be required to remit quarterly payments of the tax
to the Local Services Tax Collector on or before the 30th day after
the end of each quarter of a calendar year on forms prescribed by
the Local Services Tax Collector.
D.Â
Self-employed individuals. Every taxpayer who is self-employed
and has not filed an exemption certificate with the Tax Collector,
or whose tax for any other reason is not collected under this section,
shall file a return on a form prescribed by the Local Services Tax
Collector and shall pay a pro rata share of the tax directly to the
Local Services Tax Collector within 30 days after the end of each
calendar quarter. The pro rata share of the tax assessed on a taxpayer
for a calendar quarter shall be determined by dividing the rate of
the tax levied under this article for the year by four.
E.Â
Persons residing outside the Township. All self-employed
individuals and employers residing or having their place of business
outside the corporate limits of West Whiteland Township and engaging
in an occupation within the Township do by virtue thereof agree to
be bound by and subject themselves to the provisions of this article
and the regulations promulgated hereunder with the same force and
effect as though they had their place of business in or were residents
of West Whiteland Township. Further, any individual engaged in an
occupation within West Whiteland Township and as an employee of a
nonresident employer may, for the purpose of this article, be considered
a self-employed person, but in the event the tax is not paid, the
Local Services Tax Collector shall have the option of proceeding against
either the employer or employee for the collection as hereinafter
provided.
F.Â
Individuals engaged in more than one occupation.
(1)Â
Each employee who shall have more than one occupation
within West Whiteland Township shall be subject to the payment of
this tax on his principal occupation, and his principal employer shall
deduct this tax. The principal employer shall deliver to such employee
evidence of deduction. This evidence of deduction showing that payment
having been made and, when presented to any other employer, shall
be authority for such employer to not deduct this tax from the employee's
wages but to include such employee on his return by setting forth
his name, social security number and the name of the employer who
deducted this tax.
(2)Â
In the event that an individual is engaged in more
than one occupation or an occupation which requires his working in
more than one political subdivision during the calendar year, the
priority of claim to collect such local services tax shall be in the
following order: first, the political subdivision in which an individual
maintains his principal office or is principally employed; second,
the political subdivision in which the individual resides and works
if such a tax is levied by that political subdivision; third, the
political subdivision in which an individual is employed and which
imposes the tax nearest in miles to the individual's home. The place
of employment shall be determined as of the day the taxpayer first
becomes subject to the tax during the calendar year.
(3)Â
It is the intent of this provision that no individual
shall pay more than $52 in any calendar year as a local services tax,
irrespective of the number of political subdivisions within which
such individual may be employed within any given calendar year. In
case of dispute, a proof of payment that that tax has been paid for
that calendar year shall constitute prima facie certification of payment
to all other political subdivisions.
G.Â
Each employer shall ensure that exemption certificate
forms are readily available to employees at all times and shall furnish
each new employee with an exemption certificate form at the time of
hiring and prior to the first payroll period of each year.
A.Â
Powers and duties of Tax Collector.
(1)Â
It shall be the duty of the Local Services Tax Collector
to accept and receive payments of the tax and to keep a record thereof
showing the amount received by him from each employer or self-employed
individual, together with the date the tax was received.
(2)Â
The Local Services Tax Collector 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 books, accounts and payroll records of any employer subject
to this article, 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 and found to have
occurred.
(3)Â
The Local Services Tax Collector is hereby authorized
to examine the books, accounts and payroll records of any employer
in order to verify the accuracy of any return made by an employer,
or if no return was made, to ascertain the tax due. Each employer
is hereby directed and required to give the occupational privilege
tax collector the means, facilities and opportunity for such examination.
B.Â
Late payment; recovery. If for any reason the tax
is not paid when due, a penalty of 10% shall be added to the tax,
and interest at the rate of 1% per month or fraction thereof shall
also be added. Where legal action is brought for the recovery of the
tax, the individual or employer thereafter shall, in addition, be
responsible and liable for collection costs including attorney fees.
C.Â
Violations and penalties. Any person who makes any
false or untrue statement on any return or record required by this
article, refuses inspection of his books, records or accounts in his
custody and control, fails or refuses to file any return required
by this article or fails to pay the tax due shall be subject to a
fine in the amount of at least $25, but not to exceed $600, for each
offense, plus all court costs, including reasonable attorney fees
incurred by the Township. Upon a finding of liability for committing
said violation, or permitting said violation, in a civil enforcement
proceeding commenced by the Township, the defendant shall pay the
fine plus costs and attorney fees. No judgment shall be imposed until
the date of determination of a violation by a District Justice. If
the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Township
may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable Rules of Civil
Procedure. 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 refuses to
file a return required by this article.
[Amended 6-10-1997 by Ord. No. 257]
A.Â
Any person whose total earned income and net profits
from all sources within West Whiteland Township is less than $12,000
per calendar year in which the tax is levied shall be exempt from
this tax upon the filing of an exemption certificate with the Local
Services Tax Collector.
B.Â
Any person who has 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 services 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
successor to be a total one-hundred-percent disability shall be exempt
from this tax upon the filing of an exemption certificate with the
Local Services Tax Collector.
C.Â
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 shall be exempt from this tax upon the filing of
an exemption certificate with the Local Services Tax Collector.
D.Â
The Local Services Tax Collector is hereby charged and empowered to adopt regulations for the processing of claims for exemptions under this § 292-34.
E.Â
A person seeking exemption from the tax under § 292-34 must annually file an exemption certificate with the employer and the Local Services Tax Collector. If a person claims an exemption from the tax under § 292-34.A, the exemption certificate shall have attached to it a copy of all of the employee’s last pay stubs or W-2 forms from employment within West Whiteland Township for the calendar year prior to the calendar year for which the employee is requesting to be exempt from the tax. The exemption certificate for any exemption under § 292-34 must be in a form substantially similar to the uniform exemption certificate prescribed by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
A.Â
A person who overpaid local services tax for a calendar
year shall be entitled to a refund of the tax by filing a refund request
with the Local Services Tax Collector. A person shall only be entitled
to a refund of tax for amounts overpaid in a calendar year that exceed
$1.
B.Â
The Local Services Tax Collector is hereby charged
and empowered to adopt regulations for the processing of refund claims
for overpaid local services tax consistent with 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 8425,
as amended (relating to refunds of overpayments) and 53 Pa.C.S.A.
§ 8426, as amended (relating to interest on overpayments).
C.Â
A person shall not be entitled to interest on the amount of refunded tax if the Township pays the refund within 75 days of the 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 calendar year under § 292-32C, whichever is later.