[Adopted 11-21-2007 by Ord. No. 868]
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 amended, known as the "Local Tax Enabling Act,"[1]and under authority of Act 7 of 2007 (SB 218), known as
the "Local Services Tax Act."
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 6901 et seq. and 53
P.S. § 6924.101 et seq.
As used in this article, unless the context clearly indicates
a different meaning, the following words shall have the meanings set
forth below:
The twelve-month period beginning January 1 and ending December
31.
Person, public employee, public agency, private agency or
other entity designated by the governing body of South Whitehall Township
to collect and administer the tax.
"Compensation" as determined under section 303 of the Act of March 4, 1971 (P.L. 6, No. 2), known as the "Tax Reform Code of 1971," and regulations in 61 Pa. Code Pt. I, Subpt. B, Art. V (relating to personal income tax) not including, however, wages or compensation paid to individuals on active military service. Employee business expenses are allowable deductions as determined under Article III of the Tax Reform Code of 1971. The amount of any housing allowance provided to a member of the clergy shall not be taxable as earned income.
A person, partnership, association, corporation, institution,
governmental body, unit or agency, or any other entity employing one
or more persons for a salary, wage, commission or other compensation,
including self-employed individuals.
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.
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 Act 7 of
2007.
The Township of South Whitehall.
The net income from the operation of a business, profession or other activity, except corporations, determined under Section 303 of the Act of March 4, 1971 (P.L. 6, No. 2), known as the "Tax Reform Code of 1971," and regulations in 61 Pa. Code Pt. I, Subpt. B, Art. V (relating to personal income tax). 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. (Def.
amended Dec. 9, 2002, P.L. 1364, No. 166.)
A person, partnership, association or other entity domiciled
outside the municipality.
Any livelihood, job, trade, profession, business or enterprise
of any kind, including services, domestic or otherwise, for which
any earned income and/or net profits are charged and received from
sources within the municipality.
Any county, city, borough, incorporated town, township, school
district, vocational school district and county institutional district.
The calendar year before the current year.
The tax imposed by § 328-75 of this article.
Any natural person liable for the tax levied by § 328-75 of this article.
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.
This tax is in addition to all other taxes of any kind or nature heretofore
levied by the municipality.
The tax levied by § 328-75 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
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, 100% 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.
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, $47 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 one-hundredth
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.
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) of this section.
(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 $47 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 § 328-76C, the exemption is available 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 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;
and
(d)
The employer has not paid to the person earned income within the
municipality 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 § 328-76C 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 an amount equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that calendar year and the employer shall withhold from the person, for the first payroll period after receipt of the notification described in clause (a) above or for the first payroll period after payments described in clause (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 § 328-76C 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 certification with the Collector, or whose tax for any other reason is not collected under § 328-77 of this article, 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 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 interest, fines and penalties
imposed by this article, and shall maintain records showing the amount
that is 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."[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 6901 et seq. and 53
P.S. § 6924.101 et seq.
If for any reason the tax is not paid when due, interest at
the rate of 6% per annum on the amount of said tax, and an additional
penalty of 1/2 of 1% of the amount of unpaid tax for each month, or
fraction thereof, during which the tax remains unpaid, shall be added
and collected. Where suit is brought for the recovery of any such
tax, the taxpayer or employer liable for the tax shall, in addition,
be liable for the costs of collection and the interest herein imposed.
The penalties imposed under this section shall be in addition to any
other penalty imposed by any other section in this article.
A.
Any taxpayer or employer who fails, neglects or refuses to make a
return as required and any employer who fails, neglects or refuses
to register or to pay the tax deducted from an employee, 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 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 a Magisterial
District Judge, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $500 for
each offense, and costs, and in default of said fines and costs be
imprisoned for a period not exceeding 30 days.
B.
The failure of 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.
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
proves 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.
The amendments made by this article shall be effective with
respect to the calendar year 2008 and each year thereafter.
