[Adopted 12-10-2007 by Ord. No. 549[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance repealed former Art. III, Occupation
Privilege Tax, adopted 12-30-1978 by Ord. No. 317, as amended.
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Dallastown
Local Services Tax Ordinance."
This article is enacted under the authority of the Local Tax
Enabling Act,[1] as amended by Act No. 7 of 2007.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 6901 et seq.
The following words and phrases, when used in this article,
shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where
the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:
The person or firm from time to time designated by motion
of the Borough Council of the Borough of Dallastown to collect and
administer the provisions of this article and collect the tax levied
by this article. Until changed by subsequent motion, the collector
shall be the York Area Tax Bureau.
The aggregate annual rate of the local services tax levied
by the Dallastown Area School District and by the Borough of Dallastown.
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,"[1] and regulations in 61 Pa. Code Part I, Subpart B, Article V.[2] (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 the singular and plural number and male, female
and neuter genders.
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 I, 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; and
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 of
Dallastown for which compensation is charged 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 by and pursuant to this article.
A calendar year.
A.
A local services tax is hereby levied and imposed on every individual
engaging in an occupation within the jurisdictional limits of The
Borough of Dallastown in the amount of $10 per annum, beginning the
first day of January 2008 and continuing on a calendar basis annually
thereafter until modified or repealed by subsequent ordinance.
B.
This tax is in addition to all other taxes of any kind or nature
heretofore or hereafter levied by the Borough of Dallastown.
C.
The Borough of Dallastown 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 below:
(1)
Emergency services, which shall include emergency medical services,
police services and fire services or any one or a combination of the
same.
(2)
Road construction and road maintenance or either of the same.
(3)
Reduction of property taxes.
(4)
Property tax relief through implementation of a homestead and farmstead
exclusion in accordance with 53 Pa.C.S.A. Chapter 85, Subchapter F[1] (relating to homestead property exclusion), and in accordance
with Section 22.6 of Act 7 of 2007, as amended from time to time,
if the same is implemented.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 8581 et seq.
A.
Each employer within the Borough of Dallastown and each employer
situated outside the Borough of Dallastown who engages in business
within the Borough of Dallastown 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 of Dallastown.
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.
B.
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 1/100
of a dollar.
C.
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.
D.
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
of Dallastown 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.
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.
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.
A.
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:
(1)
The political subdivision in which a person maintains his principal
office or is principally employed;
(2)
The political subdivision in which the person resides and works,
if the tax is levied by that political subdivision;
(3)
The political subdivision in which a person is employed and which
imposes the tax nearest in miles to the person's home.
B.
In the case of concurrent employment, an employer shall refrain from
withholding the local services tax if the employee provides:
(1)
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
(2)
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.
C.
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.
A.
The following persons are exempt from the local services tax:
(1)
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-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.
B.
If, at any time in the future, Dallastown increases the amount of
the local services tax to be more than $10 per annum, then any person
whose total earned income and net profits from all sources within
the Borough of Dallastown is less than $12,000 for the calendar year
in which such increased local services tax is levied shall be exempt
from paying the same. At the effective date of this article and until
the amount of the local services tax is increased as aforesaid, such
persons are not exempt from the local services tax imposed under this
article.
C.
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 Dallastown and file a copy of the certificate with the person's employer affirming the relevant, applicable facts on which the exemption is claimed. In the event the exemption is claimed under Subsection A, the employee shall attach to the exemption certificate a copy of the employee's orders directing the employee to active duty status or shall attach a copy of the employee's discharge orders and a statement from the Veterans' Administrator documenting the disability, as the case may be. In the event the exemption is claimed under Subsection B, if applicable, 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 of Dallastown for the year prior to the fiscal year for which the employee is requesting to be exempted from the local services tax.
D.
Upon receipt of the exemption certificate and until otherwise instructed by the collector of the tax for the Borough of Dallastown, 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 of Dallastown that the person is or has become ineligible for the tax exemption for that calendar year or that the person has received earned income and net profits from all sources within the Borough of Dallastown equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that calendar year if the person had claimed an exemption under Subsection B or upon an employer's payment to the person of earned income within the Borough of Dallastown in an amount equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that calendar year if the person had claimed an exemption under Subsection B, an employer shall withhold the local services tax from the person as follows:
(1)
If a person who claimed an exemption from the tax for a given calendar
year becomes subject to the tax for the calendar year the employer
shall withhold the tax for the remainder of that calendar year.
(2)
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.
(3)
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,
E.
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 of Dallastown may pursue collection under this
act.
F.
Except as provided for in Subsection D above, employers shall not be responsible for investigating exemption certificates, monitoring tax exemption eligibility or exempting any employee from the local services tax.
G.
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 levied against the employer.
All self-employed individuals and individuals whose employer
is not required to withhold local taxes (e.g., certain state and federal
agencies) will be billed quarterly for the local services tax. The
full amount of tax must be paid by the date indicated on such billing.
If such taxpayer qualifies for an applicable exemption, the taxpayer
may complete the required exemption certificate or make application
for a refund of the tax paid.
All employers and self-employed individuals residing or having
their place of business outside the Borough of Dallastown but who
engage in any occupation within the Borough of Dallastown 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 Borough
of Dallastown. Further, any individual engaged in an occupation within
the Borough of Dallastown who is an employee of a nonresident employer
may, for the purpose of this article, be considered a self-employed
person and, in the event that the tax is not paid, the collector shall
have the option of proceeding against either the employer or employee
for collection of the tax as hereinafter provided.
A.
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 the collector 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 of Dallastown,
to provide a taxpayer a receipt of payment upon written request of
the taxpayer.
B.
The collector is hereby charged with the administration and enforcement
of this article 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 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 collector
shall have the right to appeal to the Court of Common Pleas of York
County.
C.
The collector is hereby authorized to examine the books and payroll
records of any employer and any self-employed individual 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 and self-employed
individual is hereby directed and required to give the collector the
means, facilities and opportunity for such examination.
A.
In the event any of the tax under this article 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.
B.
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 therefore shall, in addition, be responsible and liable for
the costs of collection, including, but not limited to, attorneys'
fees.
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 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 article 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, 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 article.
A.
Refunds are to be paid within 75 days of a refund request or 75 days
after the last day the employer is required to remit the local services
tax for the last quarter of the calendar year under Section 9 of Act
7, whichever is later, and shall not be subject to interest if paid
within the allowed time.
B.
Refunds shall only be provided for amounts overpaid in a calendar
year that exceed $1.
C.
Refund 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 over $52. 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 that
the collector will not receive the tax from the employer.
D.
In the event the exemption becomes applicable for persons whose total
earned income and net profits is less than $12,000 for the calendar
year as set forth above and if any person who has not filed an exemption
certificate for the same but discovers at the end of the calendar
year that such person's earned income and net profits are less than
the threshold allowing such exemption, then such person may complete
a refund application and include a copy of the necessary documentation
for the same.
