[Ord. No. 480,
§ 1, 4-11-1966; Ord. No. 1434, § 1, 1-10-2005; Ord.
No. 1485, § 1, 11-12-2007]
The following words and phrases, when used in this article,
shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this section, except where
the context or language clearly indicates or requires a different
meaning.
Shall mean an individual, partnership, association, corporation,
government body, agency or other entity employing one or more persons
on a salary, commission, or other compensation basis, including a
self-employed person.
Shall indicate the singular and plural number as well as
male, female and neuter gender.
Shall mean any person, male or female, engaged in any occupation,
trade or profession of any nature, type or kind whatsoever, within
the corporate limits of the Township, whether in the employ of another
or self-employed during the year in question.
Shall mean the Township Finance Director or other person,
public employee or private agency designated by the Council of Plymouth
Township to collect and administer the local services tax.
Shall mean 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
for which compensation is charged or received whether by means of
salary, wages, commissions or fees for services rendered or net profits
are received.
Shall mean the local services tax authorized by Act 7 of
2007 in the amount of fifty-two dollars ($52.00) levied by this article
on each individual engaged in any occupation as defined in this section,
within the corporate limits of the Township.
[Ord. No. 480,
§§ 2, 4, 4-11-1966; Ord. No. 759, § 1, 11-8-1976; Ord.
No. 1434, § 1, 1-10-2005; Ord. No. 1485, § 1, 11-12-2007]
(a)
The Township hereby levies and imposes a local services tax on each
occupation engaged in by individuals within its corporate limits.
This tax is in addition to all other taxes of any kind or nature heretofore
levied by the Township.
(b)
The following shall be exempt from the payment of the local services
tax:
(1)
Any person whose total earned income and net profits from all
sources within the corporate limits of the Township is less than twelve
thousand dollars ($12,000.00) for the calendar year in which the local
services tax is levied.
a.
A person seeking to claim an exemption from the local services
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
corporate limits of the Township of less than twelve thousand dollars
($12,000.00) within the calendar year for which the exemption certificate
is filed. Upon receipt of the exemption certificate and until otherwise
instructed by the Township or except as required by Subsection (b)(1)a,
below, 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.
b.
With respect to a person who claimed an exemption for a given
calendar year from the local services tax, 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 corporate
limits of the Township equal to or in excess of twelve thousand dollars
($12,000.00) in that calendar year, or that 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 twelve thousand dollars ($12,000.00) in that
calendar year, an employer shall withhold the local services tax from
the person as provided in Subsection (b)(1)c, below.
c.
If a person claimed an exemption for a given calendar year from
the local services tax becomes subject to the tax for the calendar
year under Subsection (b)(1)b above, 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)(1)b, above, 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 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 of the balance of tax
due.
d.
Except as provided in Subsection (b)(1)b, above, employers shall
not be responsible for investigating exemption certificates, monitoring
tax exemption eligibility or exempting any employee from the local
services tax.
(2)
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 (100) percent permanent disability.
(3)
Any person who serves a member of a reserve component of the
armed forces and is called to active duty at any time during the taxable
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.
[Ord. No. 480,
§ 3, 4-11-1966; Ord. No. 1434, § 1, 1-10-2005; Ord.
No. 1485, § 1, 11-12-2007]
Each occupation, as defined in this article, engaged in within
the corporate limits of the Township, shall be subject to a local
services tax in the amount of fifty-two dollars ($52.00) per annum,
such tax to be paid by the individual so engaged.
[Ord. No. 480,
§ 5, 4-11-1966; Ord. No. 1434, § 1, 1-10-2005; Ord.
No. 1485, § 1, 11-12-2007]
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 from each
of his employees engaged by him and performing for him within the
Township, the tax of fifty-two dollars ($52.00) per annum levied by
this article and making a return and payment thereof to the Local
Services Tax Receiver. Each employer is hereby authorized to deduct
this tax from each employee in his employ, whether such employee is
paid by salary, wages, commission or net profits and whether or not
part or all of such services are performed within the Township.
(a)
A person subject to the local services tax shall be assessed 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 combined rate of the local services 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 1/100th of a dollar. Collection of the
local services tax shall be made on a payroll period basis for each
payroll period in which the person is engaging in an occupation, except
as follows:
(1)
In the case of concurrent employment, an employer shall refrain
from withholding the local services 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 local services 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.
(2)
The situs of the local services 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 working in more than one political subdivision
during a payroll period, the priority of claim to collect the local
services tax shall be in the following order: first, the political
subdivision in which a person maintains the person's principal office
or is principally employed; second, the political subdivision in which
the person resides and works, if the tax is levied by that political
subdivision; and third, the political subdivision in which a person
is employed and which imposes the tax nearest in miles to the person's
home.
(b)
Employers shall be required to remit the local services taxes to
the Township within thirty (30) days after the end of each quarter
of a calendar year.
[Ord. No. 480,
§ 6, 4-11-1966; Ord. No. 1434, § 1, 1-10-2005; Ord.
No. 1485, § 1, 11-12-2007]
Each employer shall prepare and file a return showing a computation
of the tax on forms to be supplied to him by the Local Services Tax
Receiver. If the employer fails to file such return and pay such tax,
whether or not he makes collection thereof from the salary, wages
or commissions paid by him to such employee or net profits, the employer
shall be responsible for the payment of the tax in full as though
the tax had originally been levied against him.
[Ord. No. 480,
§ 7, 4-11-1966; Ord. No. 759, § 1, 11-8-1976; 12-8-2003, § 1, Ord. No. 1413; Ord. No. 1434, § 1, 1-10-2005; Ord. No. 1485, § 1, 11-12-2007]
(a)
Each employer shall use employment records as of January 1 of each
year through March 31 of each year in determining those employees
from whom the local services tax shall be due and payable to Plymouth
Township by April 30 of each year. The said employer shall include
therein the names of all employees who have been or are employed since
the last reporting date. Supplemental reports and the tax due thereon
shall be made by each employer as follows:
(1)
By July 30 of each year, covering all employees for whom the
local services tax shall be due for the period April 1 through June
30;
(2)
By October 30 of each year, covering all employees for whom
the local services tax shall be due and payable for the period July
1 through September 30; and,
(3)
By January 30 of each year, covering all employees for whom
the local services tax shall be due and payable for the period of
October 1 through December 31.
(b)
Each employer who engages the services of an individual in an occupation
to be performed in Plymouth Township after a reporting date shall
require said employee to furnish a certificate of payment from Plymouth
Township showing that the local services tax has been paid. In the
event that such employee has not previously paid such tax, the employer
shall deduct the same within fifteen (15) days after the employee
is hired.
[Ord. No. 480,
§ 8, 4-11-1966; Ord. No. 1434, § 1, 1-10-2005; Ord.
No. 1485, § 1, 11-12-2007]
Each individual who shall have more than one occupation within
the Township shall be subject to the payment of the tax levied by
this article on his principal occupation and his principal employer
shall deduct the tax and deliver to him evidence of deductions on
a form to be furnished to the employer by the Local Services Tax Receiver,
which form shall be evidence of deduction having been made and when
presented to any other employer shall be authority for such employer
to not deduct such tax from the employee's wages, but to include such
employee on his return by setting forth his name, address and the
name and account number of the employer who deducted this tax.
[Ord. No. 480,
§ 9, 4-11-1966; Ord. No. 759, § 1, 11-8-1976; Ord.
No. 1434, § 1, 1-10-2005; Ord. No. 1485, § 1, 11-12-2007]
All self-employed individuals who perform services of any type
or kind, or engage in any occupation or profession within Plymouth
Township, shall be required to comply with this ordinance and to pay
a local services tax to Plymouth Township as soon as that person engages
in that trade, occupation, or profession within the Township.
[Ord. No. 480,
§ 10, 4-11-1966; Ord. No. 1434, § 1, 1-10-2005; Ord.
No. 1485, § 1, 11-12-2007]
All employers and self-employed individuals residing or having
their place of business outside 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. Any individual engaged in an occupation
within the Township and an employee of a nonresident employer may,
for the purpose of this article, be considered a self-employed person
and, in the event such tax is not paid, the Local Services Tax Receiver
shall have the option of proceeding against either the employer or
the employee for the collection of the tax as provided in this article.
[Ord. No. 480,
§ 11, 4-11-1966; Ord. No. 1434, § 1, 1-10-2005; Ord.
No. 1485, § 1, 11-12-2007]
(a)
The Local Services Tax Receiver is hereby charged with the administration and enforcement of this article and is hereby charged and empowered 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 the 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 Local Services Tax Receiver shall have the right to appeal under the Local Taxpayers Bill of Rights, Chapter 22, Article X, of the Plymouth Township Code.
(b)
Refunds on overpayments and interest on overpayments shall be subject to the provisions of the Local Taxpayers Bill of Rights, Chapter 22, Article X of the Plymouth Township Code. Refunds made within seventy-five (75) days of a refund request or seventy-five (75) days after the last day the employer is required to remit the local services tax 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. The Township shall only provide refunds for amounts overpaid in a calendar year that exceed one dollar ($1.00).
[Ord. No. 480,
§ 11, 4-11-1966; Ord. No. 1434, § 1, 1-10-2005; Ord.
No. 1485, § 1, 11-12-2007]
It shall be the duty of the Local Services Tax Receiver to accept
and receive payments of tax levied by this article and to keep a record
thereof showing the amount received by him from each employer or self-employed
person together with the date the tax was received.
[Ord. No. 480,
§ 11, 4-11-1966; Ord. No. 1434, § 1, 1-10-2005; Ord.
No. 1485, § 1, 11-12-2007]
The Local Services Tax Receiver 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 local services tax receiver the means, facilities and
opportunity for such examination.
[Ord. No. 480,
§ 12, 4-11-1966; Ord. No. 1434, § 1, 1-10-2005; Ord.
No. 1485, § 1, 11-12-2007]
In the event that any tax under this article remains due or
unpaid thirty (30) days after the due dates above set forth, the Local
Services Tax Receiver may sue for the recovery of any such tax due
or unpaid under this article together with interest, penalty, court
costs and attorney fees.
[Ord. No. 480,
§ 12, 4-11-1966; Ord. No. 1485, § 1, 11-12-2007]
If for any reason the tax levied by this article is not paid
when due, interest at the rate of six (6) percent on the amount of
such tax shall be calculated beginning with the due date of such tax
and a penalty of five (5) percent shall be added to the flat rate
of such 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 costs of collection, including court
costs and attorney fees.
[Ord. No. 480,
§ 13, 4-11-1966; Ord. No. 1485, § 1, 11-12-2007]
Whoever makes any false or untrue statement on any return required by this article, or who refuses inspection of his books, records or accounts in his custody and control setting forth the number of employees subject to this tax who are in his employment, or whoever fails or refuses to file any return required by this article or who shall fail to pay the tax due, shall upon conviction before any justice of the peace, be subject to punishment as provided in Sec. 1-9 of this Code. It is further provided that the action to enforce the fine and penalty herein provided may be instituted against any person in charge of the business of any employer who has failed or refuses to file a return required by this article.
[Ord. No. 1485, § 1, 11-12-2007]
