[Adopted 12-2-1948 by Ord. No. 853; amended in its entirety 12-1-1980 by Ord. No.
1485]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Mercantile
License and Tax Ordinance."
This article and tax are passed pursuant to the authority of
the Local Tax Enabling Act, Act No. 511, approved December 31, 1965,
P.L. 1257, and amendments thereto.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 6924.101 et seq.
The following words and phrases when used in this article shall
have the meanings ascribed to them in this section unless the context
clearly indicates a different meaning:
The Borough of Millvale.
Includes both cash and credit transactions.
The calendar year of 1981 and each calendar year thereafter.
Any natural person, partnership, unincorporated association
or corporation, nonprofit or otherwise. Whenever used in any provision
prescribing a fine or a penalty, the word "person," as applied to
partnerships, shall mean the partners thereof, and as applied to corporations
and unincorporated associations, shall mean the officers thereof.
Shall not include nonprofit corporations organized for religious,
charitable or educational purposes, any association organized for
such purposes, agencies of the Government of the United States or
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or any person vending or disposing
of articles of his own growth, production or manufacture for shipment
or delivery from the place of growth, production or manufacture thereof.
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, contest, recreation, including
among other places, theaters, opera houses, motion picture houses,
amusement parks, stadiums, arenas, baseball or football parks or fields,
skating rinks, circus or carnival tents or grounds, fair grounds,
bowling alleys, billiard or pool 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 performances or
contest conducted by a nonprofit corporation or association organized
for religious, charitable or educational purposes.
Any person who is a dealer in, or vendor of, goods, wares
and merchandise who is not a wholesale dealer or vendor.
The Tax Collector of the Borough of Millvale.
Any business that is conducted at one location for less than
60 consecutive days.
Any person who sells to dealers in, or vendors of, goods,
wares and merchandise and to no other persons.
For the license year 1981 and annually thereafter, the Borough
of Millvale hereby imposes an annual mercantile license tax in the
manner and at the rates hereinafter set forth.
Beginning in the license year 1981 and annually thereafter,
every person desiring to continue to engage in, or hereafter to begin
to engage in the business of wholesale or retail vendor, or dealer
in goods, wares and merchandise, and any person conducting a restaurant
or other place where food, drink or refreshments are sold, or place
of amusement, whether or not the same be incidental to some other
business or occupation, shall on or before the 15th day of January
of each license year, procure a mercantile license for his place of
business, or if more than one, for each of his places of business
in the Borough, from the Tax Collector as required by law; such license
shall be conspicuously posted at the place of business or each of
the places of business of every person at all times. The license fees
for the following, in such amount as set by resolution of the Borough
Council, shall be paid at the time of filing of the license application:
Every person engaged in any of the following occupations or
businesses in the Borough shall pay an annual mercantile license tax
for each license year at the following rates:
A.
Wholesale vendors or dealers in goods, wares and merchandise, at
the rate of one 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, at the
rate of 1 1/2 mills on each dollar of the volume of the annual
gross business transacted by them.
C.
All persons engaged in conducting restaurants or other places where
food, drink or refreshments are sold, whether or not the same be incidental
to some other business or occupation, and all persons conducting places
of amusement or entertainment, whether or not the same be incidental
to some other business or occupation, at the rate of 1 1/2 mills
on each dollar of the volume of the annual gross business transacted
by them.
D.
Wholesale and retail vendors or dealers in goods, wares and merchandise,
at the rate of one mill on each dollar for the annual gross wholesale
business transacted by them, 1 1/2 mills on each dollar of the
volume of the annual gross retail business transacted by them.
E.
No tax shall be levied on the dollar volume of business transacted
by wholesale and retail dealers, derived from the resale of goods,
wares, and merchandise taken by any 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.
A.
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby imposed, who
has commenced his business at least one full year prior to the beginning
of any license year, shall compute his annual gross volume of business
upon the annual gross amount of business transacted by them during
the preceding calendar year.
B.
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby imposed, who
has commenced or who commences his business less than one full year
prior to the beginning of any license year, shall compute his annual
gross volume of business for such license year upon the average monthly
gross volume of business transacted by him during the preceding calendar
year multiplied by 12.
C.
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby imposed who
commences his business after the beginning of the license year shall
compute his annual gross volume of business for the license year upon
the gross volume of business transacted by him during the first month
of his engaging in business multiplied by the number of months remaining
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 annual gross volume of business upon the actual
gross amount of business transacted by him during such license year.
E.
Every person who shall discontinue business during any license year
after having paid the mercantile tax for the entire year, upon making
proper application to the Tax Collector, shall be entitled to receive
a refund of pro rata amount of the tax paid, based upon the period
of time he was not in business during the license year.
A.
Every return shall be made on a form furnished by the Tax Collector.
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 business at least one full year prior to the beginning of the
license year, shall, on or before the following April 15 and annually
thereafter, file with the Tax Collector a return setting forth his
name, business, business address and such other information as may
be necessary in arriving at the actual gross amount of business transacted
by him during the preceding calendar year and the amount of the tax
due.
C.
Every person subject to the tax imposed by this article who has commenced
his business less than one full year prior to the beginning of any
license year shall on or before the 15th day of April of the current
license year file with the Tax Collector a return setting forth his
name, his business, business address, and such other information as
may be necessary in arriving at the actual gross amount of business
transacted by him during the period of operation prior to January
1 of that tax year.
D.
Every person subject to the tax imposed by this article who commences
business subsequent to the beginning of any license year shall within
40 days from the day of commencing such business file a return with
the Tax Collector setting forth his name, his business and business
address, and such information as may be necessary in arriving at the
actual gross amount of business transacted by him during his first
month of business and the amount of tax due.
E.
Every person subject to the payment of tax imposed by this article
who engages in a business which is temporary, seasonal or itinerant
by its nature, shall within seven days from the day he completes such
business, file a return with the Tax Collector setting forth his name,
his business address, and such information as may be necessary in
arriving at the actual gross amount of business transacted by him
during such period and the amount of tax due.
At the time of filing the return, the person making the same
shall pay the amount of the tax shown as due thereon to the Tax Collector.
A.
It shall be the duty of the Tax Collector to collect and receive
the taxes, fines and penalties imposed by this article. It shall also
be his duty to keep a record showing the amount received by him from
each person paying the tax and the date of each receipt.
B.
The Tax Collector is hereby charged with the administration and enforcement
of the provisions of this article and any rules and regulations adopted
pursuant thereto, including reexamination and correction of returns,
and payments alleged or found to be incorrect, or as to which an overpayment
is claimed or found to have occurred, and to make refunds where necessary.
Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Tax Collector shall have
the right to appeal to any court of proper jurisdiction.
C.
The Tax Collector 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 Tax Collector the means, facilities
and opportunity for such examinations and investigations as are hereby
authorized.
D.
The Tax Collector shall receive as compensation for the collection
of all taxes and penalties herein imposed 2% of all amounts collected
under the terms and provisions of this article.
Any information gained by the Tax Collector, or any other officer,
official, agent or employee of the Borough, as a result of any returns,
investigations, hearings or verifications, required or authorized
by this article, shall be confidential except in accordance with proper
judicial order or as otherwise provided by law, and divulgence of
any information so gained is hereby declared to be a violation of
this article, which may be punished by dismissal from office or employment.
A.
The Tax Collector may sue for the recovery of taxes due and unpaid
under this article and may enter such suit in the name of the Borough
of Millvale.
B.
If for any reason the tax is not paid when due in each license year,
interest at the rate of 6% per annum on the amount of said tax, and
an additional penalty of 1% 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.
Whoever makes any false or untrue statement on his return, or
who refuses to permit inspection of the books, records or accounts
of any business in his custody, when the right to make such inspection
by the Tax Collector is requested, and whoever fails or refuses to
pay any amounts due thereunder, and whoever fails or refuses to procure
a mercantile license when so required under this article, or fails
to keep his license conspicuously posted at this place of business
as herein required, shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil
enforcement proceeding commenced by the Borough before a Magisterial
District Judge, pay a fine of not more than $600, plus court costs
and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Borough in the enforcement
proceedings. No judgment shall be imposed until the date of the determination
of the violation by the Magisterial District Judge. If the defendant
neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Borough may enforce
the judgment pursuant to the applicable Rules of Civil Procedure.
Each day a violation exists shall constitute a separate offense. Further,
the appropriate officers or agents of the Borough are hereby authorized
to seek equitable relief, including injunction, to enforce compliance
herewith. Where the taxpayer is a firm or association, the fine or
penalty may be imposed upon any of the partners or members thereof,
and in case of corporations, upon any of the officers thereof.
The Tax Collector is hereby authorized to except payment under
protest of the amount of mercantile tax claimed by the Borough in
any case with the taxpayer disputes the validity or amount of the
Borough's claim for the tax. If it is thereafter judicially determined
by a court of competent jurisdiction that the Borough has been overpaid,
the amount of the overpayment shall be refunded to the taxpayer without
any accrued interest.
A.
Nothing
contained in this article shall be construed to empower the Borough
to levy and collect the taxes hereby imposed on any person or any
business, or any portion of any business, not within the taxing power
of the Borough 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 provision
of this article shall be held by any court of competent jurisdiction
to be in violation of the Constitution of the United States or the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 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.
C.
The provisions
of this article are severable, and, if any of its provisions shall
be held illegal, invalid or unconstitutional, the decision of the
court shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions of
this article. It is hereby declared to be the intention of the Council
of the Borough of Millvale that this article would have been adopted
if such illegal, invalid or unconstitutional provisions had not been
included herein.
This article and the tax levied hereunder shall continue in
full force, and effect for the license year 1981, and each license
year thereafter without annual reenactment. All dates referred to
herein shall be applicable to each succeeding year.
Any ordinance or part of an ordinance conflicting with the provisions
of this article be and the same is hereby repealed, as of the effective
date of this article, insofar as the same affects this article. Ordinance
No. 853 of the Borough of Millvale, ordained and enacted into law
on the second day of December 1948, is specifically repealed as of
the effective date of this article, subject to the following exception:
A.
Section 10 ("Suit on collection; penalty") and Section 11 ("Fine
and penalties") of said ordinance No. 853 are specifically saved from
repeal for purposes of collecting unpaid taxes levied pursuant to
said Ordinance No. 853.
The provisions of this article shall become effective January
1, 1981.
