[Adopted 11-16-2009 by Ord. No. 09-03]
This article shall be known as the "Local Services Tax Ordinance
of Birmingham Township."
This article is enacted pursuant to the authority of the Local
Tax Enabling Act, 53 P.S. § 6924.101 et seq.
A.
COLLECTOR
DCED
EMPLOYER
INDIVIDUAL
OCCUPATION
TAX
TAX YEAR
TOWNSHIP
Except as otherwise indicated by the context, the following definitions
shall apply in addition to those set forth in the Local Tax Enabling
Act:
The person, public employee or private agency designated
by the Township of Birmingham to collect and administer the tax herein
imposed.
The Department of Community and Economic Development of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
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.
Any person, male or female, engaged in any occupation, trade
or profession within the corporate limits of the Township of Birmingham.
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 the Township of Birmingham
for which compensation is charged or received, whether by means of
salary, wages, commission or fees.
The local services tax.
The period from January 1 until December 31 in any calendar
year.
The Township of Birmingham, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
B.
Use of the masculine gender shall include the feminine and the neuter,
and reference to masculine in the singular shall include the plural.
A.
For specific revenue purposes as set forth herein, an annual tax
is hereby levied and assessed, commencing January 1, 2010, 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.
B.
This tax may be used solely for the following purposes, as the same
may be allocated by the Township from time to time: emergency services,
which shall include emergency medical services, police services and/or
fire services; road construction and/or maintenance; or reduction
of property taxes. The Township shall use no less than 25% of the
funds derived from the tax for emergency services.
C.
This tax is in addition to all other taxes of any kind or nature
heretofore levied by the Township.
D.
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 subsection, "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 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 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 hiring. The exemption certificate form shall be the uniform form provided by the Township or the Collector.
(2)
With respect to a person who claimed an exemption from the tax for a given calendar year, 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 from the tax for a given calendar year 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 under 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 B, 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 subsection 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 the
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.
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 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 the 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 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 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. 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 § 109-11B 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 tax 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.
Each employer shall use his employment and payroll records from
the first day of January to March 31 each year for determining the
number of employees from whom said tax shall be deducted and paid
over to the Collector on or before April 30 of the same calendar year.
Supplemental reports shall be made by each employer on July 30, October
30 and January 31 for new employees, as reflected on his employment
and payroll records from April 1 to June 30, July 1 to September 30
and October 1 to December 31, and payments on these supplemental reports
shall be made on July 30, October 30 and January 31, respectively.
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
to work 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 a 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 this 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 or her from each employer or self-employed person, together
with the date the tax was received. It shall be the duty of the Collector
to accept and keep a record of the information submitted by employers
relating to the number of employees subject to the tax, the number
of employees exempt from the tax, the employee exemption certificates
and refunds of the tax paid to individuals and employers.
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 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 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 consistent
with the Local Taxpayers Bill of Rights.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 8421 et seq.
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 article remains due or unpaid
30 days after the due dates set forth in this article, 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 is undertaken,
the individual liable therefor shall be responsible and liable for
the costs of collection.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
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.
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 as 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 political subdivision 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.
