[Adopted 12-19-2007 by Ord. No. 2970; amended in its entirety 11-17-2012 by Ord. No. 3007]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Local Services
Tax Ordinance."
As used in this article, unless the context clearly indicates
a different meaning, the following words shall have the meanings set
forth below:
The Finance Director of the Township or his designee.
Salaries, wages, commissions, tips, bonuses, fees, gross
receipts or any other income.
Any person, partnership, limited partnership, unincorporated
association, institution, trust, corporation, governmental agency
or any other body engaged in business or situated in the Township
employing one or more individuals engaged in any occupation other
than household employees.
Includes any livelihood, job, trade, profession, business
or enterprise of any kind, including services, household or other,
for which any compensation is received.
The tax imposed by this article.
Any natural person liable for the tax levied by this article.
The Township of Upper Darby.
For purposes of: (1) road construction and/or maintenance; (2)
police, fire, and/or emergency services; and/or (3) reduction of property
taxes, a tax is hereby levied upon the privilege of engaging in an
occupation during the fiscal year; provided, however, that at least
25% of the revenue generated by such tax shall be designated to police,
fire and/or emergency services.
A.
Every employer shall, within 30 days after first becoming an employer,
register with the Collector the employer's name, address and such
other information as the Collector may require.
B.
Each employer within the Township, as well as each employer situated
outside the Township who engages in business within the Township,
is hereby charged with the duty of collecting the tax from each employee
engaged by such employer and performing for such employer within the
Township and making a return and payment thereof to the Collector.
Further, each employer is hereby authorized to deduct this tax for
each such employee in its employ, whether said employee is paid by
salary, wage or commission, and whether or not all such services are
performed within the Township.
C.
A person subject to the tax shall be assessed by the employer a pro rata share of the tax for each payroll period in which the employee is engaging in an occupation. The pro rata share of the tax assessed on the person for a payroll period shall be determined by dividing $52 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. Collection of the tax shall be made on a payroll-period basis for each payroll period in which the employee is engaging in an occupation, except as provided in Subsection E below.
D.
No person who has been subjected to a local services tax in another
municipality during a particular pay period in the full amount that
such person would be subject to such tax in the Township shall be
subject to the tax in the Township. Any person subjected to a local
services tax in another municipality during a particular pay period
at a lower rate than that assessed in the Township shall be subject
to the tax in the Township in the amount of the difference between
the tax charged by the Township and that charged by such other municipality.
The Township shall provide any taxpayer a receipt of payment upon
request. The priority of payment shall be determined in accordance
with Act 7 of 2007, and any successor legislation thereto.
E.
In the case of concurrent employment, an employer shall refrain from
withholding the tax if the employee provides 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 the tax withheld,
and a statement from the employee that the pay statement is from the
employee's principal employer and that the employee will notify other
employers of a change in the principal employment within two weeks
of its occurrence. The employee's statement shall be provided on the
form approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic
Development.
F.
No employer shall be held liable for failure to withhold the tax
or for the payment of the withheld tax money to the Township if the
failure to withhold taxes arises from incorrect information submitted
by an employee as to the employee's place or places of employment,
the employee's principal office or where the employee is principally
employed. Further, an employer shall not be liable for payment of
the local services tax in an amount exceeding the amount withheld
by the employer if the employer complies with all requirements of
this article.
G.
Employers shall be required to remit the local services tax to the
Township for the following periods on the following dates of each
year:
|
Period
|
Due Date
|
|---|---|
|
January 1 through March 31
|
April 30
|
|
April 1 through June 30
|
July 30
|
|
July 1 through September 30
|
October 30
|
|
October 1 through December 31
|
January 30
|
H.
Each employer shall prepare and file a return showing a computation
of the local services tax on forms to be supplied to the employer
by the Collector. If an employer fails to file the return and pay
the tax, whether or not the employer makes a collection thereof from
the salary, wages or commissions paid to such employer by its employees,
except as provided hereafter in this article, the employer shall be
responsible for the payment of the tax in full as though the tax had
been originally levied against the employer.
Each self-employed individual who performs services of any type or kind or engages in any occupation or profession with a primary place of employment within the Township shall be required to comply with this article and pay the pro rata portion of the tax due to the Collector on or before the dates set forth in § 489-47G.
Both resident and nonresident taxpayers shall, by virtue of
engaging in an occupation within the Township, be subject to the tax
and the provisions of this article.
A.
Exemptions.
(1)
Any person whose total earned income and net profits from all sources
within the Township is less than $12,000 for any calendar year in
which the Township levies the local services tax is exempt from payment
of the tax.
(2)
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 100% disability.
(3)
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 the 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.
B.
Procedure to claim exemption.
(1)
A person seeking to claim an exemption from the local services tax may annually file an exemption certificate with the Township and with the person's employer affirming that the person reasonably expects to receive earned income and net profits from all sources within the Township of less than $12,000 in the calendar year for which the exemption certificate is filed. In the event the Township should at any time utilize a third-party 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 Township 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 Township or except as required by Subsection B(2), 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 Township.
(2)
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 Township that the person has received earned income and net profits from all sources within the Township 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 B(3).
(3)
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(2), 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(2), 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 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 is subject to withholding of the tax under this clause is subsequently severed in that calendar year, the person shall be liable for any outstanding balance of tax due, and the Township may pursue collection under this article.
C.
Refunds. The Director of Finance, in consultation with the Collector
and 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 for 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 subjected to interest. No refunds shall be made for amounts
overpaid in a calendar year that do not exceed $1. The Director of
Finance or the Collector shall determine eligibility for exemption
and provide refunds to exempt persons.
A.
It shall be the duty of the Collector to accept and receive payments
of this tax and to 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.
B.
The Collector is hereby charged with the administration and enforcement
of this article and is hereby charged and empowered, subject to municipal
approval, to prescribe, adopt and promulgate rules and regulations
relating to any matter pertaining to the administration and enforcement
of this article, including the provisions for the examination of 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 consistent
with the Local Taxpayers Bill of Rights under Act 50 of 1998 (municipalities
may detail their appeal processes).
C.
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.
A.
In the event that any tax under this article remains due or unpaid
30 days after the due dates above set forth, the Collector may sue
for the recovery of any such tax due or unpaid under this article,
together with interest and penalty.
B.
If for any reason the tax is not paid when due, interest at the annual
rate of 6% on the amount of such tax shall be calculated beginning
with the due date of the tax, and a penalty of 5% shall be added to
the flat rate of such tax for nonpayment thereof. Where suit is brought
for the recovery of this tax or other appropriate remedy undertaken,
the individual liable therefor shall, in addition, be responsible
for and liable for the costs of collection.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
This article shall be enforced by the filing of a civil complaint
or by such other means as may be provided by the Pennsylvania Rules
of Civil Procedure. Any person, firm or corporation who violates any
building, housing, property maintenance, health, fire or public safety
code shall, upon being found liable in a civil proceeding, be ordered
to pay a penalty of not more than $1,000, plus the costs of prosecution,
plus all Township attorneys' fees incurred in the prosecution of the
civil case. Any person, firm or corporation who violates any other
ordinance shall, upon being found liable in a civil proceeding, be
ordered to pay a penalty of not more than $600, plus the costs of
prosecution, plus all Township attorneys' fees incurred in the prosecution
of the civil case. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute
a separate violation of this article. Each subsection of this article
that is violated shall constitute a separate violation of this article.
The tax shall not apply to any subject of tax or person not
within the taxing power of the Township under the Constitution of
the United States and the laws and Constitution of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania. If a final decision of a court of competent jurisdiction
holds any provision of this article or the application of any provision
to any circumstances to be illegal or unconstitutional, the other
provisions of this article, or the application of such provisions
to other circumstances, shall remain in full force and effect. The
intention of the Council is that the provisions of this article shall
be severable and that this article would have been adopted if any
such illegal or unconstitutional provisions had not been included.
