Township of Cranberry, PA LOCAL SERVICES TAX

Any person, partnership, limited partnership, unincorporated association, institution, trust, corporation, governmental agency or any other body engaged in business or situated in the Township, employing one or more employees engaged in any occupation on a salary, wage, commission or other compensation basis, including a self-employed person.

[Amended by Ord. 2007-379, 11/30/2007, § I]

OCCUPATION

Any livelihood, job, trade, profession, business or enterprises of any kind, including services, domestic or other, for which any compensation is received.

TAX

The tax imposed by this part.

TAXPAYER

Any natural person liable for the tax levied by this part.

TOWNSHIP

The Township of Cranberry, Butler County, Pennsylvania.

§ 24-202 Imposition of Tax.

[Ord. 46, 2/-/1969; as amended by Ord. 2/16/1970; by Ord. 2005-363, 12/15/2005, § 1 and by Ord. 2007-379,[1] 11/30/2007, § I]

For the purposes permitted under Act 511 as amended, a tax is hereby levied upon the privilege of engaging in an occupation within the Township of Cranberry on and after the date of adoption of this Part. Unless exempt from the tax under § 24-203, each natural person who exercises such privilege (for any length of time) during any tax year and receives income including earned income and net profits, within the Township during a calendar year shall pay tax in accordance with this Part at the rate of $52 per calendar year, assessed pro rata for each payroll period in which the taxpayer is engaging in an occupation.

[1]

Editor’s Note: This ordinance also renumbered former §§ 24-203 through 24-209 as §§ 24-204 through 24-210, respectively.

§ 24-203 Exemption from Tax and Refunds.

[Added by Ord. 2007-379, 11/30/2007, § I]

The following persons shall be exempt from the tax:

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 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 permanent disability.

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. “Reserve component of the armed forces” shall mean the United States Army Reserve, the United States Marine Corps Reserve, United States Coast Guard Reserve, the United States Air Force Reserve, the Pennsylvania Army National Guard or the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.

Any person whose total earned income and net profits from all sources within the Township is less than $12,000 for the calendar year in which the tax is levied.

A person seeking to claim an exemption from the tax pursuant to § 24-203.1C shall annually file an exemption certificate with the Township’s Collector 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. 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 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 2A, 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 hiring.

With respect to a person who claimed an exemption from the tax for a given calendar year pursuant to § 24-203.1C, upon notification to an employer by the person or by the Township that the person has received earned income and net profits from all soruces 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 that political subdivision 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 2B.

If a person who claimed an exemption for a given calendar year from the tax pursuant to § 24-203.1C becomes subject to the tax for the calendar year under Subsection 2A, 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 under Subsection 2A, 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 the 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 Part.

A person seeking to claim an exemption from the tax pursuant to § 24-203.1A or B shall annually file an exemption certificate with the Township’s Collector and with the person’s employer affirming that the person meets the requirements for an active duty exemption or a military disability exemption. The exemption certificate shall have attached to it a copy of all of the employee's military orders directing the employee to active duty status if the exemption is requested under § 24-203.1B or the employee’s military discharge orders and determination of one-hundred-percent permanent disability by the United States Veterans’ Administration if the exemption is required under § 24-203.1A. Upon receipt of the exemption certificate and until otherwise instructed by the Township 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 employes at all times and shall furnish each new employe with a form at the time of hiring.

Refunds. The Collector 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 Collector shall determine eligibility for exemption and provide refunds to exempt persons.

§ 24-204 Collection Through Employers.

[Ord. 46, 2/-/1969; as amended by Ord. 2/16/1970; by Ord. 2005-363, 12/15/2005; and by Ord. 2007-379, 11/30/2007, § I]

Every employer not registered under the provisions of the Earned Income Tax Ordinance of the Township shall, within 15 days after the effective date of this Part or within 15 days after first becoming an employer, register with the Collector the employer's name, address and such other information as the Collector may require.

Each employer shall deduct the tax from compensation payable to the taxpayer, file a return on the form prescribed by the Collector and pay the Collector all such taxes 30 days after the end of each quarter of a calendar year. 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.

Any employer who discontinues business or ceases operation shall, within 15 days after discontinuing business or ceasing operation, file the return herein above required and pay the tax to the Collector.

The failure of any employer to deduct the tax shall not relieve the employee from the duty to file a return and pay the tax. Any employer who fails to deduct the tax as required by this Part or who fails to pay such tax to the Collector shall be liable for such tax in full, without deduction of the fee hereinafter provided, as though the tax had originally been levied against such employer; provided that no employer shall be held liable to the Township 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 §§ 24-203.2 and .3 and 24-204.5 and .6 herein.

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. Assessment 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 6. 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. 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, 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.

The Collector shall provide a taxpayer a receipt of payment upon request by the taxpayer.

§ 24-205 Direct Payment by Taxpayers.

[Ord. 46, 2/-/1969; as amended by Ord. 2/16/1970; and by Ord. 2007-379, 11/30/2007, § I]

Every taxpayer who is self-employed or whose tax for any other reason is not collected under § 24-203 of this Part shall file a return on a form prescribed by the Collector and shall pay the tax directly to the Collector, pro rata, 30 days after the end of each quarter of a calendar year.

The Collector shall provide a taxpayer a receipt of payment upon request by the taxpayer.

§ 24-206 Nonresident Taxpayers.

[Ord. 46, 2/-/1969]

Both resident and nonresident taxpayers shall, by virtue of engaging in an occupation within the Township of Cranberry, be subject to the tax and the provisions of this part.

§ 24-207 Administration and Enforcement.

[Ord. 46, 2/-/1969]

The Collector, on behalf of the Township, shall collect and receive the taxes, interest, fines and penalties imposed by this part and shall maintain records showing the amounts received and the dates such amounts were received. The Collector shall prescribe and issue all forms necessary for the administration of the tax and may adopt and enforce regulations relating to any matter pertaining to the administration of this part, including but not limited to requirements for deductions, requirements for evidence and records and provisions for the examination and correction of returns. The Collector and agents designated by him may examine the records of any employer or supposed employer or of any taxpayer or supposed taxpayer in order to ascertain the tax due or verify the accuracy of any return. Every employer or supposed employer and every taxpayer or supposed taxpayer shall give the Collector and any agent designated by him the means, facilities and opportunity for the examination hereby authorized.

§ 24-208 Collection.

[Ord. 46, 2/-/1969]

The Collector shall collect, by suit or otherwise, all taxes, interest, costs, fines and penalties due under this part and unpaid. If for any reason any tax is not paid when due, interest at the rate of 6% per year of the amount of unpaid tax and an additional penalty of 1/2 of 1% of the amount of unpaid tax, for each month or fraction of month during which the tax remains unpaid, shall be added and collected. Whenever suit is brought for the recovery of unpaid tax, the taxpayer shall, in addition, be liable for the costs of collection as well as for interest and penalties. The Collector may accept payment under protest of the tax claimed by the Township in any case where any person disputes the Township's claim for the tax. If a court of competent jurisdiction thereafter decides that there has been overpayment to the Collector, the Collector shall refund the amount of the overpayment to the person who paid under protest.

§ 24-209 Violations and Penalties.

[Ord. 46, 2/-/1969, § 18; as amended by Ord. 81, 8/13/1974; by Ord. 2005-362, 12/15/2005 and by Ord. 2007-379, 11/30/2007, § I]

Whoever makes any false or untrue statement on any return required by this Part, 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 Part 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 Part.

§ 24-210 Applicability.

[Ord. 46, 2/-/1969; as amended by Ord. 2007-379, 11/30/2007, § I]

The tax shall not apply to any subject of tax or person not within the taxing power of the Township under the Constitution of the United States and the laws and Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.