[Adopted 11-19-2007 by Ord. No. 1214 (Ch. 856 of the 1979
Codified Ordinances)]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Local Services
Tax Ordinance."
This article is enacted under the authority of Act 511 of 1965,
as supplemented and amended, known as "The Local Tax Enabling Act,"
approved December 31, 1965, and effective January 1, 1966.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 6901 et seq. and 53 P.S.
§ 6924.101 et seq.
For the purpose of this article, the following terms, phrases
and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein. When not
inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include
the future, words in the plural number include the singular number,
and the masculine shall include the feminine. The word "shall" is
always mandatory and not merely directory.
The person or entity appointed by the municipal governing
body of the Borough of Bellefonte to collect and administer the local
services tax.
The Council of the Borough of Bellefonte.
"Compensation," as this term is defined under Section 13
(in the definition of "earned income") of the Local Tax Enabling Act,
the Act of December 31, 1965, P.L. 1257, 53 P.S. § 6913,
as amended. The amount of any housing allowance provided to a member
of the clergy shall not be taxable as earned income.
The natural person, firm, partnership association, corporation,
company, trust, estate or organization of any kind employing one or
more individuals on a salary, wage, commission or other compensation
basis, including a self-employed person.
An exemption certificate substantially in the form of the
uniform certificate prescribed by the Pennsylvania Department of Community
and Economic Development affirming that the person reasonably expects
to receive earned income and/or net profits from all sources within
the municipality of less than $12,000 in the calendar year for which
the exemption certificate is filed, which exemption certificate has
attached to it a copy of all of the employee's last pay stubs or W-2
forms from employment within the municipality for the year prior to
the calendar year for which the employee is requesting to be exempted
from the tax. In addition to the income exemptions, provision has
been made for certain military exemptions.
The calendar year or normal fiscal year of the municipality.
Any natural person engaged in an occupation, trade or profession
within the corporate limits of the municipality.
Emergency services; road construction and/or maintenance;
reduction of property taxes, and property tax relief through implementation
of a homestead and farmstead exclusion in accordance with 53 Pa.C.S.A.
Chapter 85, Subchapter F.
The Borough of Bellefonte.
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. The term does not include income which
is not paid for services provided and which is in the nature of earnings
from an investment. For taxpayers engaged in the business, profession
or activity of farming, the term shall not include:
Any interest earnings generated from any monetary accounts or
investment instruments of the farming business;
Any gain on the sale of farm machinery;
Any gain on the sale of livestock held 12 months or more for
draft, breeding or dairy purposes; and
Any gain on the sale of other capital assets of the farm (definition
amended December 9, 2002, P.L. 1364, No. 166).
A person, partnership, association or other entity domiciled
outside the municipality.
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 municipality for
which earned income is charged or received, whether by means of salary,
wages, commissions or fees for services rendered.
Any county, city, borough, incorporated town, township, school
district, vocational school district and county institutional district.
The calendar year before the current year.
The local services tax imposed by § 508-35.
Any natural person liable for the tax levied by § 508-35.
The municipality hereby levies and imposes on every individual
engaging in an occupation within the jurisdictional limits of the
municipality a tax in the amount of $47 per annum, beginning the first
day of January 2008 and continuing on a calendar basis annually thereafter
until modified or repealed by a subsequent ordinance. An additional
amount of $5 is currently levied by the Bellefonte Area School District,
bringing the total amount of the tax to $52. This tax is in addition
to all other taxes of any kind or nature heretofore levied by the
municipality.
The tax levied by § 508-35 shall not be imposed upon the following persons:
A.
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
circumstance 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.
B.
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 calendar
year. For 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.
C.
Any person whose total earned income and/or net profits from all
sources within the municipality is less than $12,000 for the calendar
year in which the local services tax is levied.
The Borough hereby appoints the Bellefonte Area School District
to collect the local services tax.
A.
Every employer shall, 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. Failure to register
in a timely manner does not relieve the employer of the requirements
of this article.
B.
As to each taxpayer employed for any length of time during any payroll
period of an employer during the calendar year, each employer shall
deduct a pro rata share of the tax from the earned income payable
to the taxpayer with respect to such payroll period. The pro rata
share of the tax assessed on a taxpayer for a payroll period shall
be determined by dividing the rate of the tax ($52) 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 the tax, an employer shall round down the amount of
tax deducted for each payroll period to the nearest 1/100 of a dollar.
C.
Each employer shall file a return on a form prescribed by the Collector
and pay the Collector the full amount of all such taxes deducted during
a calendar quarter within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter.
A tax return must be filed for each calendar quarter, regardless of
whether withholdings were completed or any tax liability exists. Each
employer, in filing his return and making payment by deduction from
salary, wages, commissions or other compensation payable to him by
his employees, shall be entitled to retain a commission calculated
at 2% on the gross tax due and payable by each individual, provided
that such tax is collected and paid over by the employer in accordance
with the schedule set forth herein. It is further provided that, if
the employer fails to file said return and impose said tax, but makes
collection thereof from the salary, wages or commissions paid to him,
said employer shall be responsible for payment of the tax in full
as though the tax had originally been levied against him.
D.
Any employer who discontinues business or ceases operation during
the calendar year shall, within 15 days after discontinuing business
or ceasing operation, file the return hereinabove required and pay
the tax to the Collector.
E.
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 section or who fails
to pay such tax to the Collector shall be liable for such tax in full
as though the tax had originally been levied against such employer.
No employer shall be liable for failure to deduct the tax if the failure
to deduct 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.
F.
Priority of withholding.
(1)
The tax shall be withheld at the place of employment on the first
day the person becomes subject to the tax during each payroll period.
(2)
In the event a person is engaged in more than one occupation, i.e.,
concurrent employment, or an occupation which requires the person
working in more than one political subdivision during the payroll
period, the priority to withhold the local services tax shall be in
the following order:
(a)
The political subdivision in which a person maintains his or
her principal office or is principally employed.
(b)
The political subdivision in which the person resides and works,
if the tax is levied by that political subdivision.
(c)
The political subdivision in which a person is employed and
which imposes the tax nearest in miles to the person's home.
G.
The employer shall not deduct the tax but shall maintain adequate records concerning the employees in the cases described in Subsection G(1) and (2) hereof.
(1)
It is the intent of this section that no person shall be subject
to the payment of the local services tax in more than one municipality
during each payroll period. No taxpayer shall be required to pay more
than $52 in total during the calendar year. In the case of concurrent
employment, an employer shall refrain from withholding the local services
tax, if the employee provides:
(a)
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 local services tax withheld; and
(b)
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.
(2)
In the case of an employee claiming the exemption set forth at § 508-36, if:
(a)
The employee has provided an exemption certificate to the employer;
(b)
The Collector has not otherwise instructed the employer;
(c)
The employer has not received notification from the person who
claimed the exemption or from the Collector that the person has received
earned income and/or net profits from all sources within the municipality
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
(d)
The employer has not paid to the person earned income within
the municipality in an amount equal to or in excess of $12,000 in
that calendar year.
(3)
If a person has claimed exemption from the tax under § 508-36 for a given calendar year but either:
(a)
The employer has received notification from the person who claimed
the exemption or from the Collector that the person has received earned
income and/or net profits from all sources within the municipality
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
(b)
The employer has paid to the person earned income within the municipality in an amount equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that calendar year, then the employer shall withhold the tax for the remainder of that calendar year and the employer shall withhold from the person, for the first payroll period after receipt of the notification described in Subsection G(3)(a) above or for the first payroll period after payments described in Subsection G(3)(b) above have been made, a lump sum equal to the amount of tax that was not withheld from the person due to the exemption claimed by the person, 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 Collector may pursue collection under this article.
(4)
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 pay period of each calendar year.
(5)
A person seeking exemption from the tax under § 508-36 must annually file an exemption certificate with the employer and the Collector.
(6)
Each employer within the municipality and each employer located outside
the municipality who engages in business within the municipality is
hereby charged with the duty of collecting the tax from each of the
employees engaged by the employer and performing work for the employer
within the municipality.
Every taxpayer who is self-employed and has not filed an exemption certificate with the Collector, or whose tax for any other reason is not collected under § 508-38, shall file a return on a form prescribed by the Collector and shall pay a pro rata share of the tax directly to the 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 ($52) for the calendar year by four.
Both resident and nonresident taxpayers shall, by virtue of
engaging in an occupation within the municipality, be subject to the
tax and the provisions of this article.
The Collector, on behalf of the municipality, shall collect
and receive the taxes, interest, fines and penalties imposed by this
article 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
shall enforce regulations adopted by the governing body relating to
any matter pertaining to the administration of this article, including,
but not limited to, requirements for collection through employers,
requirements for evidence and records, and provisions for the examination
and correction of returns. The Collector and any designated agents
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 designated agent all means, facilities and opportunity for the
examinations hereby authorized. Any such examination shall be conducted
within this municipality or at the office where the tax return is
processed.
The municipality or its collector of the tax may collect unpaid
taxes from the taxpayer or employer owing such taxes by suit as provided
for by Act 511 of 1965, as amended, known as "The Local Enabling Tax
Act."
A.
In the event that any tax under this article remains due and unpaid
for 30 days after the due dates above set forth, the Collector may
sue for recovery of any such tax due and unpaid under this article,
together with interest and penalty. 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 the tax was due, and a penalty of 10% shall be added to the
flat rate of said tax for nonpayment thereof. Where suit is brought
for the recovery of this tax, the individual liable therefor shall,
in addition, be responsible and liable for the cost of collection.
B.
The penalties imposed under this section shall be in addition to
any other penalty imposed by any other section in this article.
A.
Any person who has overpaid the tax may obtain a refund by making
a written application for a refund to the Collector no later than
one calendar year after payment of the tax or three years after the
due date for payment of the tax, whichever is later, and satisfactorily
prove to the Collector that the taxpayer is entitled to the refund.
Refunds made within 75 days of a refund request or 75 days after the
last day the employer is required to remit the tax to the Collector
for the last quarter of the calendar year, whichever is later, shall
not be subject to interest imposed under 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 8426.
A refund shall be provided only for an amount overpaid in a calendar
year that exceeds $1.
B.
Refund requests must be submitted on the form approved by the Collector.
It should be noted that incomplete refund requests will be deferred
until the missing or incomplete information is provided. Refunds in
the deferred status are not subject to the payment of interest requirement.
The Collector shall provide a taxpayer a receipt of payment
of the tax upon request by the taxpayer. A stamped self-addressed
envelope shall be furnished by the taxpayer if a receipt via return
mail is desired.
The tax shall not apply to any subject of tax or person not
within the taxing power of the municipality under the Constitution
of the United States and the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
This article shall continue in force from one calendar year
to another without annual reenactment.
A.
Any taxpayer or employer who fails, neglects or refuses to make a
return required; any employer who fails, neglects or refuses to register
or to pay the tax deducted from employees, or fails, neglects or refuses
to deduct or withhold the tax from employees; any taxpayer or employer
who refuses to permit the Collector to examine the books, records
and papers; and any taxpayer or employer who knowingly makes any incomplete,
false or fraudulent return or attempts to do anything whatsoever to
avoid the full disclosure of the amount of tax due in order to avoid
the payment of the whole or any part of the tax imposed shall, upon
conviction thereof before the Magisterial District Judge, be sentenced
to pay a fine of not more than $600 for each offense and costs and,
in default of said fines and costs, be imprisoned for a period not
exceeding 30 days. No judgment shall commence or be imposed, levied
or payable until the date of the determination of a violation by the
Magisterial District Judge. If the defendant neither pays nor timely
appeals the judgment, the municipality may enforce the judgment pursuant
to the applicable rules of civil procedure. Each day that a violation
continues or each section of this article which shall be found to
have been violated shall constitute a separate offense. Nothing contained
in this section shall be construed or interpreted to grant any person
or entity other than the municipality the right to commence any action
for enforcement pursuant to this section.
B.
The failure of a taxpayer or employer to receive or procure forms
required for filing the required return does not excuse the taxpayer
or employer from the filing requirement.
