[Adopted 11-15-2007 by Ord. No. 277[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance repealed former
Ch. 24, Part 2, of the 1995 Code, Emergency and Municipal Services
Tax, adopted 12-15-2005 by Ord. No. 257, as amended.
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 meanings ascribed to them in this section,
except where the context or language clearly indicates or requires
a different meaning:
The person, public employee or private agency designated
by the political subdivision to collect and administer the tax herein
imposed.
The Department of Community and Economic Development of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
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.
An individual, partnership, association, limited liability
corporation, limited liability partnership, corporation, 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.
Indicates the singular and plural number, as well as male,
female and neuter genders.
Any person, male or female, engaged in any occupation, trade
or profession within the corporate limits of the political subdivision.
The net income from the operation of a business, profession
or other activity, 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. 1251, § 13, as amended, 53 P.S.
§ 6913, as amended.
Any trade, profession, business or undertaking of any type,
kind or character, including services, domestic or other, earned on
or performed within the corporate limits of the political subdivision,
for which compensation is charged or received, whether by means of
salary, wages, commission or fees, for services rendered.
The local services tax at the rate fixed in § 220-55 of this article.
The period from January 1 until December 31 in any year;
a calendar year.
Lower Pottsgrove Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
For specific revenue purposes, an annual tax
is hereby levied and assessed, commencing January 1, 2008; upon the
privilege of engaging in an occupation with a primary place of employment
within the Township during the tax year. Each natural person who exercises
such privilege for any length of time during any tax year shall pay
the tax for that year in the amount of $52, assessed on a pro rata
basis, in accordance with the provisions of this article.
A.
This tax may be used solely for the following purposes,
as the same may be allocated by the Township from time to time:
(1)
Emergency services, which shall include emergency
medical services, police services and/or fire services;
(2)
Road construction and/or maintenance;
(3)
Reduction of property taxes; or
(4)
Property tax relief through implementation of a homestead
and farmstead exclusion in accordance with 53 Pa.C.S.A. Ch. 85, Subch.
F (relating to homestead property exclusion).
B.
The Township shall use no less than 25% of the funds
derived from the tax for emergency services. This Tax is in addition
to all other taxes of any kind or nature heretofore levied by the
Township. The tax shall be no more than $52 on each person for each
calendar year, irrespective of the number of political subdivisions
within which a person may be employed.
A.
Exemption. Any person whose total earned income and
net profits from all sources within the Township is less than $12,000
for any calendar year in which the tax is levied is exempt from the
payment of the tax for that calendar year. In addition, the following
persons are exempt from payment of the tax:
(1)
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 service 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.
(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. For the purposes of this subparagraph, "reserve
component of the armed forces" shall mean 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.
B.
Procedure to claim exemption.
(1)
A person seeking to claim an exemption from the tax may annually file an exemption certificate with the Township and with the person's employer affirming that the person reasonably expects to receive earned income and net profits from all sources within the Township of less than $12,000 in the calendar year for which the exemption certificate is filed. In the event the Township utilizes a tax collection officer, it shall provide a copy of the exemption certificate to that officer. The Tax Collection Officer is hereby authorized to receive such exemption certificates on behalf of the Township. The exemption certificate shall have attached to it a copy of all the employee's last pay stubs or W-2 forms from employment within the Township for the year prior to the fiscal year for which the employee is requesting to be exempted from the tax. Upon receipt of the exemption certificate and until otherwise instructed by the Township or except as required by Subsection B(2), the employer shall not withhold the tax from the person during the calendar year or the remainder of the calendar 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 hire. The exemption certificate form shall be the uniform form, as established by the Township by resolution.
(2)
With respect to a person who claimed an exemption for a given calendar year from the tax, upon notification to an employer by the person or by the Township that the person has received earned income and net profits from all sources within the 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 the Township in an amount equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that calendar year, an employer shall withhold the tax from the person under Subsection B(3).
(3)
If a person who claimed an exemption for a given calendar year from the tax becomes subject to the tax for the calendar year under Subsection B(2), the employer shall withhold the tax for the remainder of that calendar year. The employer shall withhold from the person for the first payroll period after receipt of the notification in Subsection B(2), 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 calendar 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 clause is subsequently severed in that calendar year, the person shall be liable for any outstanding balance of tax due, and the Township may pursue collection under this article.
C.
Refunds. The Township, in consultation with the Collector
and DCED, shall establish procedures for the processing of refund
claims for any tax paid by any person who is eligible for exemption,
which procedures shall be in accord with provisions of the general
municipal law relating to refunds of overpayments and interest on
overpayments. Refunds made within 75 days of a refund request or 75
days after the last day the employer is required to remit the tax
for the last quarter of the calendar year, whichever is later, shall
not be subject to interest. No refunds shall be made for amounts overpaid
in a calendar year that do not exceed $1. The Township or the Collector
shall determine eligibility for exemption and provide refunds to exempt
persons.
A.
Each employer within the Township, as well as those
employers situated outside the Township but who engage in business
within the Township, is hereby charged with the duty of collecting
the tax from each of his employees engaged by him or performing for
him within the Township and making a return and payment thereof to
the Collector. Further, each employer is hereby authorized to deduct
this tax for each employee in his or her employ, whether said employee
is paid by salary, wage or commission and whether or not all such
services are performed within the Township.
B.
A person subject to the tax shall be assessed by the employer 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 rate of the 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, 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 tax 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 of this section. For purposes of this subsection, combined rate shall mean the aggregate annual rate of the tax levied by the school district and the municipality.
C.
No person shall be subject to the payment of the tax
by more than one political subdivision during each payroll period.
D.
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 that the employee will
notify other employers of a change in principal place of employment
within two weeks of its occurrence. The employee's statement shall
be provided on the form approved by DCED.
E.
The tax shall be no more than $52 on each person for
each calendar year, irrespective of the number of political subdivisions
within which a person may be employed. The Township or Collector shall
provide a taxpayer a receipt of payment upon request by the taxpayer.
F.
No employer shall be held liable for failure to withhold the tax or for the payment of the withheld tax money to the political subdivision if the failure to withhold the tax 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. Further, 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 § 220-56B of this article and this section and remits the amount so withheld in accordance with this article.
G.
Employers shall be required to remit the taxes 30
days after the end of each quarter of a calendar year.
Each employer shall prepare and file a return
showing a computation of the tax on forms to be supplied to the employer
by the Collector. If an employer fails to file the return and pay
the tax, whether or not the employer makes collection thereof from
the salary, wages or commissions paid by him or her to an employee,
except as provided hereafter in this article, the employer shall be
responsible for the payment of the tax in full as though the tax had
been originally levied against the employer.
In each tax year, each employer shall use his
or her employment records to determine the number of employees from
whom such tax shall be deducted and paid over to the Collector on
or before the 30th day following the end of each calendar quarter
of each such tax year.
Each self-employed individual who performs services
of any type or kind or engages in any occupation or profession within
a primary place of employment within the Township shall be required
to comply with this article and pay the pro rata portion of the tax
due to the Collector on or before the 30th day following the end of
each quarter.
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. 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:
(1)
First, the political subdivision in which a person
maintains his or her principal office or is principally employed.
(2)
Second, the political subdivision in which the person
resides and works if the tax is levied by that political subdivision.
(3)
Third, the political subdivision in which a person
is employed and which imposes the tax nearest in miles to the person's
home.
B.
In case of dispute, a tax receipt of the taxing authority
for that calendar year declaring that the taxpayer has made prior
payment constitutes prima facie certification of payment to all other
political subdivisions.
All employers and self-employed individuals
residing or having their places of business outside of the Township
but who perform services of any type or kind or engage in any occupation
or profession within the Township 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 Township. Further, any
individual engaged in an occupation within the Township and an employee
of a nonresidential employer may, for the purpose of this article,
be considered a self-employed person, and in the event his or her
tax is not paid, the Township shall have the option of proceeding
against either the employer or employee for the collection of the
tax as hereinafter provided.
A.
The Collector shall be appointed by resolution of
the Township. It shall be the duty of the Collector 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 is hereby charged with the administration
and enforcement of this article and is hereby charged and empowered,
subject to Township approval, to proscribe, 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 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 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 Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, as in other cases
provided.
C.
The Collector is hereby authorized to examine the
books 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 Collector the means, facilities and opportunity for such examination.
A.
In the event that any tax under this part 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 such tax shall be calculated beginning
with the due date of the tax and a penalty of 5% shall be added to
the flat rate of such tax for nonpayment thereof. Where suit is brought
for the recovery of this tax or other appropriate remedy undertaken,
the individual liable therefor shall, in addition, be responsible
and liable for the costs of collection.
Whoever makes any false or untrue statement
on any return required by this article, or whoever refuses inspection
of the books, records or accounts in his or her custody and control
setting forth the number of employees subject to this tax who are
in his or her employment, or whoever fails or refuses to file any
return required by this article shall be guilty of a violation and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more
than $600 and costs of prosecution and, in default of payment of such
fine and costs, to imprisonment for not more than 30 days. The action
to enforce the penalty herein prescribed may be instituted against
any person in charge of the business of any employer who shall have
failed or who refuses to file a return required by this article.
A.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed
to empower the Township to levy and collect the tax hereby imposed
on any occupation not within the taxing power of the Township under
the Constitution of the United States and the laws of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
B.
If the tax hereby imposed under the provisions of
this article shall be held by any court of competent jurisdiction
to be in violation of the Constitution of the United States or of
the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as to any individual,
the decision of the court shall not affect or impair the right to
impose or collect said tax or the validity of the tax so imposed on
other persons or individuals as herein provided.
