[Adopted 11-22-2010 by Ord. No. 268]
As used in this article, the following, unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning, shall have the meanings set forth below:
CALENDAR YEAR
The twelve-month period beginning January 1 and ending December 31.
COMPENSATION
Salaries, wages, commissions, tips, bonuses, fees, gross receipts or any other earned income and as otherwise defined in Section 13 of the Local Tax Enabling Act, 53 P.S. § 6913, as amended.[1]
DCED
The Department of Community and Economic Development of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
EARNED INCOME
Compensation as defined above and 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 I, Subpart B, Article V,[2] not including, however, wages or compensation paid to individuals on active military service.
EMPLOYER
Any person, partnership, association, limited partnership, limited-liability company, institution, trust, corporation, governmental agency or any other entity employing one or more persons for compensation, including self-employed individuals.
EXEMPTION CERTIFICATE
An exemption certificate substantially in the form of the municipal form certificate prescribed by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development affirming that the person reasonably expects to receive earned income/compensation from all sources within the municipality of less than $12,000 in the calendar year for which the exemption certificate is filed.
INDIVIDUAL
Any person, male or female, engaged in any occupation, trade or profession within the corporate with the Borough.
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. Subchapter F.[3]
NET PROFITS
The net income from the operation of a business, profession, or other activity, except 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).[4] 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:
A. 
Any interest earnings generated from any monetary accounts or investment instruments of the farming business;
B. 
Any gain on the sale of farm machinery;
C. 
Any gain on the sale of livestock held 12 months or more for draft, breeding or dairy purposes; and
D. 
Any gain on the sale of other capital assets of the farm (definition amended December 9, 2002, P.L. 1364, No. 166).
NONRESIDENT
A person, partnership, association or other entity domiciled outside the Borough.
OCCUPATION
Any livelihood, job, trade, profession, business or enterprise of any kind, including services, domestic or otherwise, for which any earned income and/or net profits are charged and received from sources within the Borough.
POLITICAL SUBDIVISION
Any county, city, borough, incorporated town, township, school district, vocational school district and county institutional district.
PRECEDING YEAR
The calendar year before the current year.
TAX COLLECTOR
Tax Collector of the Borough of Avis, Clinton County, Pennsylvania.
TAXPAYER
Any natural person liable for the tax levied by this article.
TAX YEAR
The period from January 1 until December 31 in any calendar year.
[1]
Editor's Note: Said 53 P.S. § 6913 was repealed by 2008, July 2, P.L. 197, No. 32, § 17, effective June 30, 2012.
[2]
Editor's Note: See 72 P.S. § 7303 and 61 Pa. Code § 101.1 et seq., respectively.
[3]
Editor's Note: See 53 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 8581 through 8588.
[4]
Editor's Note: See 72 P.S. § 7303 and 61 Pa. Code § 101.1 et seq., respectively.
A. 
Avis 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 2011 and continuing on a calendar basis annually thereafter until modified or repealed by a subsequent ordinance. This tax is in addition to all other taxes of any kind or nature heretofore levied by the Borough.
B. 
This tax may be used solely for the following purposes as the same may be allocated by Council of Avis Borough, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, from time to time:
(1) 
Emergency services, which shall include emergency medical services, police services and/or fire services;
(2) 
Road construction and/or maintenance;
(3) 
Reduction of property taxes; or
(4) 
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).[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 8581 through 8588.
C. 
Avis Borough shall use no less than 25% of the funds derived from the tax for emergency services.
The tax levied by this article shall not be imposed upon the following persons:
A. 
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.
B. 
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 calendar 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 Forces Reserve, United States Coast Guard Reserve, United States Air Force Reserve, the Pennsylvania Army National Guard or the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.
C. 
Any person whose total earned income and/or 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.
A. 
A person seeking to claim an exemption from the local services tax may annually file an exemption certificate with the Borough and 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. In the event the Borough utilizes a tax collection officer, it shall provide a copy of the exemption certificate to that officer. The exemption certificate shall have attached to it a copy of all 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 tax. Upon receipt of the exemption certificate and until otherwise instructed by the Borough or except as required by Subsection B, 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. The exemption certificate form shall be the uniform form provided by the Borough.
B. 
With respect to a person who claimed an exemption for a given calendar year from the tax, upon notification to an employer by the person or by the Borough that the person has received earned income and net profits from all sources within the 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 the municipality 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 under Subsection C.
C. 
If a person who claimed an exemption for a given calendar year from the tax becomes subject to the tax for the calendar year under Subsection B, 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, 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 section is subsequently 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 section.
D. 
Except as provided in Subsection B, it is the intent of this subsection that employers shall not be responsible for investigating exemption certificates, monitoring tax exemption eligibility or exempting any employee form the local services tax.
E. 
Borough Council, in consultation with the Tax Collector and/or DCED shall establish procedures for the processing of refund claims for any tax paid by any person who is eligible for exemption, which procedures shall be in accord with provisions of the general municipal law relating to refunds of overpayments and interest on overpayments. Refunds made within 75 days of a refund request or 75 days after the last day the employer is required to remit the tax for the last quarter of the calendar year, whichever is later, shall not be subject to interest. No refunds shall be made for amounts overpaid in a calendar year that do not exceed $1. Borough Council or the Tax Collector shall determine eligibility for exemption and provide refunds to exempt persons.
A. 
Each employer shall register with the Tax Collector the employer's name, address, and other information the Tax Collector may require within 15 days after the effective date of this article or within 15 days after first becoming an employer. Failure to register in a timely manner does not relieve the employer of the requirements of this article.
B. 
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 the earned income payable to the taxpayer with respect to such payroll. 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 $52 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 one-hundredth of a dollar.
C. 
Each employer is hereby authorized to deduct the tax from each employee in his/her/its employ, whether said employee is paid by salary, wages, or commission and whether or not such services are performed within the Borough of Avis.
D. 
Any employer who discontinues business or ceases operation before December 31 of any year during which this tax is in effect shall pay any taxes due under this article within 15 days after discontinuing business or ceasing operations.
E. 
The failure of any employer to deduct the tax shall not relieve the employee from the duty to 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 Tax Collector shall be liable for such tax in full as though the tax had originally been levied against such employer.
F. 
As to employees who present official receipts evidencing prior payment of the tax imposed hereby either directly or by collection through employers, the employer shall not deduct the tax but shall maintain adequate records concerning such employees.
G. 
Unless presented with official receipt evidencing payment of the tax to another political subdivision or prior payment, per Subsection F, above, the tax shall be withheld at 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, the priority to withhold the local services tax shall be in the following order:
(1) 
The political subdivision in which a person maintains his or her principal office or is principally employed;
(2) 
The political subdivision in which a 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.
H. 
In the case of concurrent employment, an employer shall refrain from withholding the tax if the employee provides 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 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 employees of a change in principal place of employment within two weeks of its occurrence.
I. 
If a person has claimed exemption from tax because of income but either the employer has received notification that the person has received income or net profits equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that calendar year or the employer has paid the person earned income within the municipality an amount equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that calendar year, then the employer shall withhold the tax for the remainder of that calendar year and the employer shall withhold from that person for the first payroll period after receipt of the notification a lump sum equal to the amount of the tax that was not withheld from the person due to the exemption claimed by that person. A person seeking an exemption from the tax must annually file an exemption certificate with both the employer and the Tax Collector.
J. 
Employers shall be required to remit the local services taxes within 30 days of the end of each quarter of a calendar year.
Every taxpayer who is self-employed or whose tax for any other reason is not collected pursuant to § 465-46 of this article shall pay the tax directly to the Avis Borough Tax Collector. Each person who first becomes subject to the tax after the start of the current year shall pay a pro rata share of the tax to the Avis Borough Tax 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 $52 for the calendar year by four.
All employers and self-employed individuals residing or having their places of business outside of the Borough but who perform services of any type or kind or engage in any occupation or profession within the Borough 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. Further, any individual engaged in an occupation within the Borough and an employee of a nonresidential employer may, for the purpose of this article, be considered a self-employed person, and in the event his or her tax is not paid, the Borough shall have the option of proceeding against either the employer or employee for the collection of this tax as hereinafter provided.
The Tax Collector shall collect and receive the taxes, interest, fines, and penalties imposed by this article and shall maintain records showing the amounts received and the dates such amounts were received. The Tax 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. The Tax Collector may examine the records of any employer and/or supposed employer or of any taxpayer in order to ascertain the tax due or verify the accuracy of any information provided by the employer or taxpayer. Every employer or supposed employer and every taxpayer or supposed taxpayer shall give the Tax Collector all means, facilities and opportunity for the examinations hereby authorized.
The Tax Collector shall collect by suit or otherwise, consistent with Act 511 of 1965 (the Local Enabling Tax Act),[1] all taxes, interests, 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 the 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, attorney's fees, and for interest and penalties. The Tax Collector may accept payment under protest of the tax claimed by the Borough of Avis, Clinton County, Pennsylvania in any case where any person disputes Avis Borough's claim for the tax. If a court of competent jurisdiction thereafter decides that there has been overpayment to the Tax Collector, the Tax Collector shall refund the amount of the overpayment to the person who paid under protest. Any action instituted for such judicial determination shall be instituted within two years of the last day of the period for which the tax is disputed or claim made. All refunds shall be made in conformity with the procedures prescribed by the Borough of Avis, Clinton County, Pennsylvania.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 6924.101 et seq.
An employer or taxpayer who makes a false or untrue statement relative to any aspect of the tax or requirement for payment of the tax, who refuses inspection of his/her/its records in his/her/its custody and control setting forth his/her/its employees subject to this tax, who fails or refuses to file any paperwork as required by the Tax Collector per § 465-52 of this chapter or who violates any other provision(s) of this article, shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $500, and in default of payment, to imprisonment for a term not to exceed 30 days.
This article shall continue in force from one calendar year to another without annual reenactment.
If any provisions, sentence, clause, section or part of this article is for any reason found to be unconstitutional, illegal or invalid, such unconstitutionality, illegality or invalidity shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses, sections or parts of this article. It is hereby declared as the intent of the Borough of Avis, Clinton County, Pennsylvania that this article would have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal or invalid sentence, clause, section, or part thereof not been included herein.
This article shall take effect on January 1, 2011, and shall be in effect with respect to each calendar year thereafter, without annual reenactment, unless revised, amended, or revoked by action of the Council of the Borough of Avis, Clinton County, Pennsylvania.