[Adopted 12-29-1966 by Ord. No. 3935 (Ch. 874 of the 1974 Codified Ordinances)]
This article is enacted pursuant to the authority granted by the Local Tax Enabling Act[1] of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Act No. 511 of December 31, 1965, and shall be known as the "Altoona Mercantile License Tax."
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 6924.101 et seq.
A. 
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
BROKER
Any merchandise broker, factor or commission merchant, but does not include any stockbroker, bill broker, note broker, exchange broker, real estate broker or agent or pawnbroker.
CITY LICENSE OFFICER
The person authorized by Council to collect the taxes imposed hereby and to enforce the provisions of this article.
GROSS VOLUME OF BUSINESS
Includes both cash and credit transactions but does not apply to the dollar volume of annual business covering the resale of goods, wares or merchandise taken by a dealer as a trade-in or as part payment for other goods, wares and merchandise, except to the extent that the resale price exceeds the trade-in allowance. [NOTE: If a private business has several locations, including one(s) located within the City of Altoona, the tax would only apply to the revenue generated by the location(s) within the City of Altoona. To the extent that the Altoona location(s) generates sales, accepts orders and/or accepts payments, those transactions would be subject to the tax. The tax would not be applicable to sales and orders generated through a location outside the City of Altoona so long as the order was filled and payment for these sales and orders was received by the location outside the City of Altoona. There needs to be a nexus between the Altoona location and the gross revenue sought to be taxed.]
[Amended 11-8-2021 by Res. No. 0124-21]
LICENSE YEAR
The twelve-month period beginning the first Monday of January, corresponding to the fiscal year of the City.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, limited partnership, association or corporation.
PLACE OF AMUSEMENT
Any place indoors or outdoors where the general public or a limited or selected number thereof may, upon payment of an established price, attend or engage in any amusement, entertainment, exhibition, contest or recreation, including theaters, opera houses, motion-picture houses, amusement parks, stadiums, arenas, baseball or football parks or fields, skating rinks, circus or carnival tents or grounds, fairgrounds, bowling alleys, billiard or pool rooms, shuffleboard rooms, nine- or ten-pin alleys, riding academies, golf courses, bathing and swimming places, dance halls, tennis courts, archery, rifle or shotgun ranges and other like places. The term does not include any exhibition, amusement, performance or contest conducted by a nonprofit corporation or association organized for religious, charitable or educational purposes.
RETAIL DEALER or RETAIL VENDOR
Any person who is a dealer in or vendor of goods, wares and merchandise and who is not a wholesale dealer or vendor, agencies of the Government of the United States or of the commonwealth, or any person vending or disposing of articles of his or her own growth, production or manufacture for shipment or delivery from the place of growth, production or manufacture thereof.
TEMPORARY, SEASONAL OR ITINERANT BUSINESS
Any business that is conducted at one location for less than 60 consecutive calendar days.
TREASURER
The City of Altoona Finance Department.
[Amended 6-12-2013 by Ord. No. 5639]
WHOLESALE DEALER or WHOLESALE VENDOR
Any person who sells to dealers in or vendors of goods, wares and merchandise and to no other persons.
B. 
The terms "person," "wholesale dealer," "wholesale vendor," "retail dealer" and "retail vendor" do not include nonprofit corporations organized for religious, charitable or educational purposes or associations organized for such purposes.
For each license year, the City hereby imposes a mercantile license tax in the manner and at the rates hereinafter set forth.
A. 
Every person in the City desiring to continue to engage in or hereafter to begin to engage in the business or occupation of wholesale or retail vendor or dealer in goods, wares and merchandise; any person conducting a restaurant or other place where food, drink or refreshment is sold, whether or not the same is incidental to some other business or occupation; any person conducting or operating a place of amusement, whether or not the same is incidental to some other business or occupation; and every broker shall, on or before January 1 or prior to commencing business in the license year, procure a mercantile license for his or her place of business or occupation or, if more than one, for each place of business or occupation in the City, from the City's License Officer.
B. 
Such license shall be conspicuously posted at the place of business or occupation of every such person at all times.
[Amended 9-9-1980 by Ord. No. 4657]
Every person engaging in any of the following occupations or businesses in the City shall pay a mercantile license tax for each license year at the following rates:
A. 
Retail vendors or dealers in goods, wares and merchandise, at the rate of 1/2 mill on each dollar of the volume of the annual gross business transacted by them;
B. 
Retail vendors or dealers in goods, wares and merchandise; all persons engaged in conducting restaurants or other places where food, drink or refreshment is sold, whether or not the same is incidental to some other business or occupation; all persons conducting a place of amusement, whether or not the same is incidental to some other business or occupation, at the rate of 3/4 of a mill on each dollar of the volume of the annual gross business transacted by them;
C. 
Wholesale and retail vendors or dealers in goods, wares and merchandise, at the rate of 1/2 mill on each dollar of the volume of the annual gross wholesale business transacted by them, and 3/4 of a mill on each dollar of the volume of the annual gross retail business transacted by them; and
D. 
Brokers, at the rate of 1/2 mill on each dollar of the volume of the annual gross business transacted by them. In the case of brokers, the term "gross business transacted" means gross commissions earned.
A. 
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby imposed who has commenced his or her business at least one full year prior to the beginning of the license year shall compute his or her annual gross volume of business upon the actual gross volume of business transacted by him or her during the preceding calendar year.
B. 
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby imposed who has commenced or who commences his or her business less than one full year prior to the beginning of the license year shall compute his or her annual gross volume of business for the license year upon the gross volume of business transacted by him or her during the first month he or she engages in business multiplied by 12.
C. 
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby imposed who commences his or her business subsequent to the beginning of the license year shall compute his or her annual gross volume of business for the license year upon the gross volume of business transacted by him or her during the first month of his or her engaging in business multiplied by the number of months he or she engages in business in the license year.
D. 
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby imposed who engages in a business temporary, seasonal or itinerant by its nature shall compute his or her annual gross volume of business upon the actual gross volume of business transacted by him or her during the license year.
E. 
Every person who discontinues business during the license year after having paid the mercantile tax for the entire year, upon making proper application to City of Altoona Finance Department, is entitled to receive a refund of a pro rata amount of the tax paid, based upon the period of time he or she was not in business during the license year.
A. 
Every return shall be made upon a form furnished by the City License Officer. Every person making a return shall certify the correctness thereof by affidavit.
B. 
Every person subject to the tax imposed by this article who has commenced his or her business at least one full year prior to the beginning of the license year shall, on or before May 15 following, file with the City License Officer a return setting forth his or her name, his or her business and business address and such other information as may be necessary in arriving at the actual gross volume of business transacted by him or her during the preceding calendar year and the amount of tax due.
[Amended 5-13-2020 by Ord. No. 5763]
C. 
Every person subject to the tax imposed by this article who has commenced his or her business less than one full year prior to the beginning of the license year shall, on or before May 15 following, file with the City License Officer a return setting forth his or her name, his or her business and business address and such other information as may be necessary in arriving at the actual gross volume of business transacted by him or her during his or her first month of business and the amount of tax due.
[Amended 5-13-2020 by Ord. No. 5763]
D. 
Every person subject to the tax imposed by this article who commences business subsequent to the beginning of the license year shall, within 40 days from the date of commencing such business, file a return with the City License Officer setting forth his or her name, his or her business and business address and such other information as may be necessary in arriving at the actual gross volume of business transacted by him or her during his or her first month of business and the amount of tax due.
E. 
Every person subject to the payment of the tax imposed by this article who engages in a business temporary, seasonal or itinerant by its nature shall, within seven days from the day he or she completes such business, file a return with the City License Officer setting forth his or her name, his or her business and business address and such other information as may be necessary in arriving at the actual gross volume of business transacted by him or her during such period and the amount of tax due.
F. 
The date for filing of the return as required by this article for any particular tax year may be extended by resolution of Council.
[Added 5-13-2020 by Ord. No. 5763]
At the time of filing a return, the person making the same shall pay the amount of the tax shown as due thereon to the City of Altoona Finance Department.
A. 
It shall be the duty of the City of Altoona Finance Department to collect and receive the taxes, fines and penalties imposed by this article. It shall also be the Department's duty to keep a record showing the amount received by it from each person paying the tax and the date of such receipt.
B. 
The City of Altoona Finance Department is hereby charged with the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this article and is hereby authorized to prescribe, adopt, promulgate and enforce rules and regulations relating to any matter pertaining to the administration and enforcement of this article, including provision for the reexamination and correction of returns, and for payments alleged or found to be incorrect, or as to which an overpayment is claimed or found to have occurred. Any person aggrieved by any decision of the City of Altoona Finance Department has the right to appeal to the Court of Common Pleas as in other cases provided.
C. 
The City of Altoona Finance Department or its duly authorized agent or the City License Officer is hereby authorized to examine the books, papers and records of any taxpayer or supposed taxpayer in order to verify the accuracy of any return made or, if no return was made, to ascertain the tax due. Every such taxpayer or supposed taxpayer is hereby directed and required to give to the City of Altoona Finance Department or City License Officer the means, facilities and opportunity for such examinations and investigations as are hereby authorized.
A. 
The City of Altoona Finance Department or the City License Officer may sue for the recovery of taxes due and unpaid under this article.
B. 
If for any reason the tax is not paid when due, interest at the rate of 6% per year on the amount of such tax, and an additional penalty of 1/2% of the amount of the 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 person liable therefor shall, in addition, be liable for the costs of collection and the interest and penalties herein imposed.
A. 
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed to authorize the City to levy and collect the taxes hereby imposed on any person or any business or portion of any business not within the taxing power of the City under the Constitution of the United States and the laws and Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B. 
If the tax, or any portion thereof, imposed upon any person under the provisions of this article is held by any court of competent jurisdiction to be in violation of the Constitution of the United States or of the commonwealth, the decision of the court shall not affect or impair the right to impose the taxes or the validity of the taxes so imposed upon other persons as herein provided.
The City of Altoona Finance Department is hereby authorized to accept payment under protest of the amount of mercantile tax claimed by the City in any case where the taxpayer disputes the validity or amount of the City's claim for tax. If it is thereafter judicially determined by a court of competent jurisdiction that the City has been overpaid, the amount of the overpayment shall be refunded to the taxpayer. The provisions of this section shall be applicable to cases in which the facts are similar to those in a case litigated in a court of competent jurisdiction.
No person shall make any false or untrue statement on his or her return or refuse to permit inspection of the books, records or accounts of any business in his or her custody or control, when the right to make such inspection by the City of Altoona Finance Department, or its duly authorized agent, is requested, or fail or refuse to file a return required by this article, or fail or refuse to procure a mercantile license when so requested under this article, or fail to keep his or her license conspicuously posted at his or her place of business as required herein.
Whoever violates or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this article shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 or shall be imprisoned for not more than 90 days, or both, for each offense.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).