[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
This Part shall be known and may be cited as the "Borough of
Gettysburg Local Services Tax Ordinance."
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
This Part is enacted under authority of Act No. 7 of 2007 and
the Local Tax Enabling Act, Act of December 31, 1965, P.L. 1257, No.
511 (53 P.S. § 6901 et seq.), as hereafter amended, supplemented,
modified or reenacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania. The provisions of said Act No. 7 of 2007 and the
Local Tax Enabling Act, as supplemented from time to time, are hereby
incorporated herein by reference as fully as though set forth at length
herein.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
The purpose of this Part is to provide revenue for police, fire
and emergency services; road construction and maintenance; the reduction
of property taxes; and for such other purposes as may be specified
for such tax from time to time by the laws of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
The following words and phrases, when used in this Part shall
have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the
context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:
The Borough of Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania.
The Borough Council of the Borough of Gettysburg, Adams County,
Pennsylvania.
The person or firm from time to time designated by resolution
of the Borough Council to collect and administer the provisions of
this Part and collect the tax levied by this Part. Until changed by
subsequent resolution, the collector shall be the same person or firm
last designated to collect the emergency and municipal services tax
for the Borough.
The aggregate annual rate of the local services tax levied
by a school district and the Borough located in whole or in part within
the school district.
"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, Part 1, Subpart B, Article 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. Any housing allowance provided to a member of the clergy shall not be taxable as earned income.
An individual, partnership, association, corporation, governmental
body, agency or other entity employing one or more persons on a salary,
wage, commission, fee or other compensation basis, including a self-employed
person.
Includes singular and plural number and male, female and
neuter gender.
Any person engaged in any occupation, trade or profession
within the jurisdictional limits of the Borough whose total earned
income and net profits within the Borough are greater than $12,000
per calendar year.
The net income from the operation of a business, profession, or other activity (except from 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, Part 1, Subpart B, Article 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 generated from monetary accounts or investment
instruments of the farming business.
Any gain on the sale of farming machinery.
Any gain on the sale of livestock held 12 months or more for
draft, breeding or dairy purposes.
Any gain on the sale of other capital assets of the farm.
Any trade, profession, business or undertaking of any type,
kind or character, including services, domestic or other, carried
on or performed within the jurisdictional limits of the Borough for
which compensation is charged and/or received, whether by salary,
wages, commissions, fees or net profits for services rendered.
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.
The local services tax levied pursuant to this Part.
The period from January 1 until December 31 in any year;
a calendar year.
A calendar year.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
The Borough hereby levies and imposes on every individual engaging
in an occupation within the jurisdictional limits of the Borough a
tax in the amount of $52 per annum, beginning the first day of January
2008 and continuing on a calendar basis annually thereafter until
modified or repealed by subsequent ordinance. This tax is in addition
to all other taxes of any kind or nature heretofore levied by the
Borough.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
The Borough shall use the revenue derived from this tax for
the following purposes; provided, however, that no less than 25% of
the funds derived from this tax shall be used for emergency services,
as defined herein:
A.
Emergency services, which shall include emergency medical services,
police services and/or fire services.
B.
Road construction and/or maintenance.
C.
Reduction of property taxes.
D.
Property tax relief through implementation of a homestead and farmstead
exclusion in accordance with 53 Pa.C.S.A., Chapter 85, Subchapter
F (relating to homestead property exclusion), and in accordance with
Section 22.6 of Act 7 of 2007, as amended from time to time.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
1.
Each employer within the Borough and each employer situate outside
the Borough who engages in business within the Borough 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 Borough.
Each person subject to the tax shall be assessed a pro-rata share
of the tax for each payroll period in which the person is engaging
in an occupation.
2.
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 one-hundredth
of a dollar.
3.
Employer collection of the local services tax shall be made on a
payroll-period basis for each payroll period, beginning with the first
payroll period in which the person is engaging in an occupation.
4.
No employer shall be held liable for failure to withhold the local
services tax or for the payment of the withheld tax money to the Borough
if the failure to withhold taxes 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.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
Employers are required to make and file a local services tax
quarterly return 30 days after the end of each quarter of a calendar
year. The local services tax quarterly return shall list the name,
address, and social security number of the employee; the physical
address of the employee's place of employment; the number of payroll
periods for which the local services tax was withheld; and the amount
of local services tax being remitted for each employee.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
Each employer shall use his employment and payroll records from
the first day of January to March 31 each year for determining the
number of employees from whom said tax shall be deducted and paid
over to the collector on or before April 30 of the same calendar year.
Supplemental reports shall be made by each employer on July 30, October
30 and January 31 for new employees as reflected on his employment
and payroll records from April 1 to June 30, July 1 to September 30
and October 1 to December 31; and payments on these supplemental reports
shall be made on July 30, October 30, and January 30, respectively.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
1.
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 the payroll
period, the priority of claim to collect the local services tax shall
be in the following order:
A.
The political subdivision in which a person maintains his 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.
2.
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 payment 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.
3.
The situs of the tax shall be the place of employment on the first
day the person becomes subject to the tax during each payroll period.
It is the intent of this section that no person shall be subject to
the payment of the local services tax by more than one political subdivision
during each payroll period.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
1.
The local services tax shall be no more than $52 on each person for
each calendar year, irrespective of the number of political subdivisions
within which a person may be employed.
2.
The Local Tax Enabling Act, as amended, requires municipalities and
school districts who levy the local services tax at a combined rate
exceeding $10 to exempt any person from the local services tax whose
total earned income and net profits from all sources within the Borough
is less than $12,000 for the calendar year in which the local services
tax is levied.
3.
Each political subdivision levying the local services tax hereby
exempts the following persons from the local services tax:
A.
Any person whose total earned income and net profits from all sources
within the Borough is less than $12,000 for the calendar year in which
the local services tax is levied.
B.
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.
C.
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 taxable
year.
4.
A person seeking to claim an exemption from the local services tax
must annually file an exemption certificate with the collector of
the tax for the political subdivision levying the tax and file a copy
of the certificate with the person's employer affirming that the person
reasonably expects to receive earned income and net profits from all
sources within the Borough of less than $12,000 in the calendar year
for which the exemption certificate is filed. The exemption certificate
shall have attached to it a copy of all of the employee's last pay
stubs or W-2 forms from employment within the Borough for the year
prior to the fiscal year for which the employee is requesting to be
exempted from the local services tax.
5.
Upon receipt of the exemption certificate and until otherwise instructed
by the collector of the tax for the Borough, the employer shall not
withhold the tax from the person during the calendar year or remainder
of the calendar year for which the exemption certificate applies.
With respect to a person who claimed an exemption from the local services
tax, upon notification to an employer by the person or by the collector
of the tax for the Borough that the person has received earned income
and net profits from all sources within that Borough 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 upon an
employer's payment to the person of earned income within that Borough
in an amount equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that calendar year,
an employer shall withhold the local services tax from the person
as follows:
A.
If a person who claimed an exemption for a given calendar year from
the local services tax becomes subject to the tax for the calendar
year, the employer shall withhold the tax for the remainder of that
calendar year.
B.
The employer shall withhold from the person, for the first payroll
period after receipt of the notification under the above subsection,
a lump sum equal to the amount of the tax that was not withheld from
the person due to the exemption certificate filed by the person, plus
the per-payroll amount due for that first payroll period.
C.
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.
6.
In the event the employment of a person subject to withholding of
the local services tax under this exception is severed in that calendar
year, the person shall be liable for any outstanding balance of tax
due, and the Borough may pursue collection under this Part.
7.
Except as provided for in Subsection 5 above, employers shall not be responsible for investigating exemption certificates, monitoring tax exemption eligibility or exempting any employee from a local services tax.
8.
Employers shall be responsible for retaining a copy of all exemption
certificates filed by employees within a given calendar year for a
minimum of three years. Employers who have failed to withhold the
local services tax from an employee or employees and do not have copies
of the employee exemption certificate or certificates will be held
responsible for the payment of the local services tax as if the tax
had been originally against the employer.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
Any self-employed individual or any individual whose employer
is not required to withhold local taxes (certain State and Federal
agencies) who is engaged in any occupation or profession with a primary
place of employment within the Borough shall be required to comply
with this Part and shall pay the pro-rata portion of the tax due to
the collector 30 days after the end of each quarter of a tax year.
If such taxpayer qualifies for a low-income exemption, the taxpayer
may complete the required exemption certificate or make application
for a refund of the tax paid.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
All employers and self-employed individuals residing or having
their place of business outside of the Borough but who engage in any
occupation within the Borough do, by virtue thereof, agree to be bound
by and subject themselves to the provisions, penalties and regulations
promulgated under this Part with the same force and effect as though
they were residents of the Borough. Further, any individual engaged
in an occupation within the Borough and an employee of a nonresident
employer may, for the purpose of this Part, be considered a self-employed
person; and in the event this tax is not paid, the collector shall
have the option of proceeding against either the employer or employee
for collection of this tax as hereinafter provided.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
1.
It shall be the duty of the collector to accept and receive payments
of this tax and 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. It shall be the duty of the collector to
accept and keep a record of the information submitted by employers
relating to the number of employees subject to the tax, the number
of employees exempt from the tax, the employee exemption certificates,
and refunds of the tax paid to individuals and employers. It further
shall be the duty of the collector, on behalf of the Borough, to provide
a taxpayer a receipt of payment upon written request of the taxpayer.
2.
The collector is hereby charged with the administration and enforcement
of this Part and is hereby empowered to prescribe, adopt, promulgate
and enforce rules and regulations relating to any matter pertaining
to the administration and enforcement of this Part, including provisions
for the examination of the payroll records of any employer subject
to this Part; the examination and correction of any return made in
compliance with this Part; 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 collector shall have the
right to appeal to the Court of Common Pleas of Adams County as in
other cases provided.
3.
The collector 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 collector
the means, facilities and opportunity for such examination.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
1.
In the event any of the tax under this Part remains due or unpaid
30 days after the due date set forth above, the collector may sue
for the recovery of such tax due or unpaid, together with interest
and penalty.
2.
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 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
costs of collection, including but not limited to attorneys' fees.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
Whoever makes any false or untrue statement on any return required
by this Part, or who refuses inspection of his books, records or accounts
in his custody and control in order to determine the number of employees
subject to this tax who are in his employment, or who fails or refuses
to file any return required by this Part, or fails or refuses to pay
the tax herein levied shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay
a fine of not more than $600 plus costs and, in default of payment
of said fine and costs, to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment
not to exceed 30 days. 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
refused to file a return required by this Part.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
1.
Refunds shall only be provided for amounts overpaid in a calendar
year that exceed $1.
2.
Refunds due to duplication of payment. If, at any time during the
calendar year, a taxpayer pays more than $52 in combined local services
tax, the taxpayer may apply for a refund of the amount of overpayment.
The proper refund request form must be completed and signed by the
taxpayer, and necessary documentation must be included. These refunds
may be processed at the time they are received, unless there is reason
to believe the tax will not be received from the employer.
3.
When an individual's earned income and net profits only for the calendar
year is less than the $12,000 exemption, at the end of the calendar
year, any taxpayer who qualifies may complete a refund application
and include a copy of the necessary documentation.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
Ordinance No. 1298-04, which, upon its enactment, imposed, levied
and assessed a tax for emergency and municipal services upon persons
engaged in an occupation within the Borough of Gettysburg, is hereby
repealed effective January 1, 2008, it being the express intention
of the Borough to substitute in the place and stead of the emergency
and municipal services tax the tax provided for in this Part. Nothing
herein shall be construed, however, to repeal or preclude the imposition
and collection of the occupational privilege tax, with any applicable
penalties and interest, for all prior calendar years or of the emergency
and municipal services tax, plus all applicable penalties and interest,
for all prior calendar years as each tax existed prior to the effective
date of this Part. All other ordinances and parts of ordinances inconsistent
herewith are hereby repealed.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
The provisions of this Part shall be severable. If any of its
provisions shall be held to be unconstitutional, illegal or otherwise
invalid, that decision shall not affect the remaining provisions of
this Part or of the Borough Code of Ordinances.
[Ord. 1342-07, 12/28/2007]
This Part shall become effective in accordance with applicable
law, with the repeal of the previous emergency and municipal services
tax ordinances, effective January 1, 2008.
