[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.
EMPLOYER
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.
HE, HIS or HIM
Shall indicate the singular and plural number as well as male, female and neuter gender.
INDIVIDUAL
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.
LOCAL SERVICES TAX RECEIVER
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.
OCCUPATION
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.
TAX
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]
In the event the provisions of this Chapter 22, Article IV of the Plymouth Township Code, are inconsistent with the provisions of Act 7 of 2007, the provisions of Act 7 of 2007 shall apply and control.