[Adopted 11-10-2008 by Ord. No. 11-10-08C[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Art. VII, Occupational Privilege Tax, adopted 10-9-1987 by Ord. No. 10-9-78H, as amended.
62.66.1. 
As used in this article, unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning, the following words shall have the meanings set forth below:
62.66.2. 
MUNICIPALITY — The Municipality of Bethel Park.
62.66.3. 
MUNICIPAL COUNCIL — The Municipal Council of the Municipality of Bethel Park.
62.66.4. 
COLLECTOR — The person, persons, agency, association and/or corporate entity designated by the Municipal Council of the Municipality of Bethel Park to collect the tax and to carry out and administer the provisions of this article.
62.66.5. 
COMPENSATION — Salaries, wages, commissions, tips, bonuses, fees, gross receipts or other income derived from engaging in an occupation.
62.66.6. 
EARNED INCOME and NET PROFITS — Shall have the same meanings as those terms are given in Section 13 of the Local Tax Enabling Act, Act 511 of 1965 (53 P.S. § 6313).
62.66.7. 
EMERGENCY SERVICES — Emergency services, which shall include emergency medical services, police services and/or fire services.
62.66.8. 
EMPLOYER — Any person, partnership, limited partnership, unincorporated association, institution, trust, corporation, governmental agency, or any other body engaged in business or situated within the Municipality employing one or more employees engaged in any occupation, other than domestic servants.
62.66.9. 
EXEMPTION CERTIFICATE — An exemption certificate substantially in the form of the uniform certificate prescribed by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development affirming that the person reasonably expects to receive earned income and net profits from all sources within the Municipality of less than $12,000 in the calendar year for which the exemption certificate is filed, which exemption certificate has attached to it a copy of all of the employee's last pay stubs or W-2 forms from employment within the Municipality for the year prior to the fiscal year for which the employee is requesting to be exempted from the tax.
62.66.10. 
LOCAL SERVICES — Emergency services; road construction and/or maintenance; reduction of property taxes; and property tax relief through implementation of a homestead and farmstead exclusion in accordance with 53 Pa.C.S.A. Chapter 85 Subchapter F.
62.66.11. 
OCCUPATION — Any livelihood, job, trade, profession, business or enterprise of any kind, including services, domestic or other, for which any compensation is received.
62.66.12. 
TAX — The tax imposed by this article.
62.66.13. 
TAXPAYER — Any natural person liable for the tax levied by this article.
62.67.1. 
For local services purposes, a tax is hereby levied upon the privilege of engaging in an occupation within the Municipality. Each natural person who exercises such privilege for any length of time in any year shall be assessed and shall pay the tax in the annual amount of $52 in accordance with the provisions of this article, subject to the exemptions set forth in Section 62.68 of this article and the conditions set forth in Section 62.67.2.
62.67.2. 
If a school district located within the boundaries of the Municipality exercises its right under the Local Tax Enabling Act to levy the tax in the amount of $5, the amount of the tax payable to the Municipality under this article shall be reduced to $47.
62.68.1. 
The tax levied by Section 62.67 shall not be imposed upon the following persons:
1. 
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 one-hundred-percent permanent disability.
2. 
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. 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.
3. 
Any natural person whose total earned income and net profits from all sources within the Municipality during the taxable year is less than $12,000.
62.69.1. 
Every employer shall, within 15 days after the effective date of this article or within 15 days of first becoming an employer thereafter, register with the collector the employer's name, address and such other information as the collector may require.
62.69.2. 
As to each taxpayer employed for any length of time during any payroll period of an employer during the calendar year, each employer shall deduct a pro rata share of the tax from compensation payable to the taxpayer with respect to such payroll period. The pro rata share of the tax assessed on a taxpayer for a payroll period shall be determined by dividing the rate of the 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 of the tax, an employer shall round down the amount of tax deducted for each payroll period to the nearest 1/100 of a dollar. Each employer shall file a return on a form prescribed by the collector and pay the collector the full amount of all such taxes deducted during a calendar quarter within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter.
62.69.3. 
Any employer who discontinues business or ceases operation before December 31 of any year shall, within 15 days after discontinuing business or ceasing operation, file the return hereinabove required and pay the tax to the collector.
62.69.4. 
The failure of any employer to deduct the tax shall not relieve the employee from the duty to file a return and pay the tax. Any employer who fails to deduct the tax as required by this section, or who fails to pay such tax to the collector, shall be liable for such tax in full, as though the tax had originally been levied against such employer. No employer shall be liable for failure to deduct the tax if the failure to deduct the tax 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.
62.69.5. 
The employer shall not deduct the tax but shall maintain adequate records concerning the employees in the cases described in Sections 62:69.5(1) and 62.69.5(2).
1. 
In the case of concurrent employment, if the employee provides:
a. 
A recent pay statement from a principal employer that includes.
[1] 
The name of the employer; and
[2] 
The amount of the tax deducted; and
b. 
A statement from the employee that:
[1] 
The pay statement is from the employee's principal employer; and
[2] 
That the employee will notify other employers of a change in the principal place of employment within two weeks of its occurrence.
2. 
In the case of an employee claiming the exemption set forth at Section 62.68(1)3, if:
a. 
The employee has provided an exemption certificate to the employer;
b. 
The collector has not otherwise instructed the employer;
c. 
The employer has not received notification from the person who claimed the exemption or from the collector that the person has received earned income and net profits from all sources within the Municipality 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; and
d. 
The employer has not paid to the person earned income within the Municipality in an amount equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that calendar year.
3. 
The employer shall file with the collector a copy of each exemption certificate, including attachments, received by the employer no later than the last day of the first month of any year when such taxpayer first becomes subject to the tax.
4. 
Each employer shall ensure that exemption certificate forms are readily available to employees at all times and shall furnish each new employee with an exemption certificate form at the time of hiring.
5. 
A person seeking exemption from the tax under Section 62.68(1)3 must annually file an exemption certificate with the collector.
62.70.1. 
Every taxpayer who is self-employed, or whose tax for any other reason is not collected under Section 62.69 of this article, shall file a return on a form prescribed by the collector and shall pay a pro rata share of the tax directly to the collector within 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter. The pro rata share of the tax assessed on a taxpayer for a calendar quarter shall be determined by dividing the rate of the tax levied for the calendar year by four.
62.71.1. 
Both resident and nonresident taxpayers shall, by virtue of engaging in an occupation within the Municipality, be subject to the tax and the provisions of this article.
62.72.1. 
The collector, on behalf of the Municipality, shall collect and receive the taxes, interest, fines and penalties imposed by this article, and shall maintain records showing interest, fines and penalties imposed by this article, and shall maintain records showing the amounts received and the dates such amounts were received. The collector shall prescribe and issue all forms necessary for the administration of the tax and may adopt and enforce regulations relating to any matter pertaining to the administration of this article, including, but not limited to, requirements for collection through employers, requirements for evidence and records, and provisions for the examination and correction of returns. The collector and agents designated by him may examine the records of any employer or supposed employer or of any taxpayer or supposed taxpayer in order to ascertain the tax due or verify the accuracy of any return. Every employer or supposed employer and every taxpayer or supposed taxpayer shall give the collector and any agent designated by him all means, facilities and opportunity for the examinations hereby authorized.
62.73.1. 
The collector shall collect, by suit or otherwise, all taxes, interest, costs, fines and penalties due under this article and unpaid. If for any reason any tax is not paid when due, interest at the rate of 6% per year on the amount of unpaid tax and an additional penalty of 1/2 of 1% of the amount of unpaid tax, for each month or fraction of month during which the tax remains unpaid, shall be added and collected. Whenever suit is brought for the recovery of unpaid tax, the taxpayer shall, in addition, be liable for the costs of collection as well as for interest and penalties. The collector may accept payment under protest of the tax claimed by the Municipality in any case where any person disputes the Municipality's claim for the tax. If a court of competent jurisdiction thereafter decides that there has been overpayment to the collector, the collector shall refund the amount of the overpayment to the person who paid under protest.
62.74.1. 
The situs of the tax shall be the place of employment on the first day the person becomes subject to the tax. In the event a person is engaged in more than one occupation, that is, concurrent employment, the priority of claim to collect the Tax shall be in the following order:
1. 
First, the political subdivision in which a person maintains his or her principal office or is principally employed;
2. 
Second, the political subdivision in which the person resides and works if the tax is levied by that political subdivision;
3. 
Third, the political subdivision in which a person is employed and which imposes the tax nearest in miles to the person's home.
62.74.2. 
In case of dispute, a tax receipt of the taxing authority for that calendar year declaring that the taxpayer has made prior payment constitutes prima facie certification of payment to all other political subdivisions.
62.75.1. 
Any person who violates a provision of this article, or who fails to comply therewith, or with any of the requirements thereof, shall be, upon conviction thereof, sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600 for each violation, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred by the Municipality in the enforcement proceedings, and in default of payment of said fine and costs, to imprisonment to the extent permitted by law for the punishment of summary offenses.
62.75.2. 
A separate offense shall arise for each day or portion thereof in which a violation is found to exist or for each section of this article found to have been violated. All fines and penalties collected for violation of this article shall be paid to the Municipal Treasurer.
62.75.3. 
The Municipality may also commence appropriate actions in equity, at law or other to prevent, restrain, correct, enjoin or abate violations of this article.
62.75.4. 
The initial determination of a violation of this article and the service of notice of violation are hereby delegated to the Municipal Manager, the collector and their designees and to any other officer or agent that the Municipal Manager or the Municipal Council shall deem appropriate.
62.76.1. 
Any person who has overpaid the tax may obtain a refund by making a written application for a refund to the collector no later than one year after payment of the tax or three years after the due date for payment of the tax, whichever is later, and satisfactorily proves to the Collector that he is entitled to the refund. Refunds made within 75 days of a refund request or 75 days after the last day the employer is required to remit the tax to the collector, whichever is later, shall not be subject to interest imposed under 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 8426. A refund shall be provided only for an amount overpaid in a calendar year that exceeds $1.
62.76B.1. 
The tax shall not apply to any subject of tax or person not within the taxing power of the Municipality under the Constitution of the United States and the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
62.76E.1. 
Except as set forth hereafter, all ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. Nothing herein shall be construed to repeal the imposition and collection of an occupation privilege tax, plus applicable penalties and interest, for all prior calendar years.