[Adopted 10-31-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-01]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Athens
Township Local Services Tax Ordinance."
This article is enacted under the authority of the Local Tax
Enabling Act, as amended by Act No. 7 of 2007.
The following words and phrases when used in this article shall
have the meaning ascribed to them herein except where the context
clearing indicates or requires a different meaning:
The governing body of Athens Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania.
The person or firm, from time to time, designated by motion
of the Board of Supervisors to collect and administer the provision
of this article and collect the tax levied by this article. Until
changed by subsequent motion, the collector shall be Berkheimer Tax
Administration Services.
"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," and regulations in 61 Pa. Code Pt. I Subpt. B. Art. V (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 Ordinance 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 singular and plural number and male, female and
neuter gender.
Any person engaged in any occupation, trade or profession
within the jurisdictional limits of Athens Township.
The net income from the operation of a business, profession, or other activity, (expect 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 Pt. 1 Subpt. B. Art. 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, carries on
or performed within the jurisdictional limits of Athens Township for
which compensation is charged and/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 in this article.
Athens Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania.
A calendar year.
A.
The Township hereby levies and imposes on every individual engaging
in an occupation within the jurisdictional limits of the Township,
a tax in the amount of $52, per annum, beginning on January 1, 2019,
and continuing on a calendar basis annually thereafter, in accordance
with the provisions of this article. This tax may be used solely for
the following purposes as the same may be allocated by the Supervisors
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 farmland
exclusion in accordance with 53 Pa.C.S.A. Ch. 85, Subch. F (relating
to homestead property exclusion.
B.
The Township shall use no less than 25% of the funds derived from
the tax for emergency services. This tax is in addition to all other
taxes of any kind or nature heretofore levied by the Township. The
tax shall be no more than $52 on each individual for each calendar
year, irrespective of the number of political subdivisions within
which an individual may be employed.
A.
Each employer within the Township and 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 of the employees
engaged by the employer and performing work for the employer within
the Township. 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 Township
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, 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 who 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 31, October
31 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 theses supplemental
reports shall be made on July 31, October 31, and January 31, 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 or her
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 for
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
employees 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 local services tax shall be no more than $52 on each person for
each calendar year, irrespective of the number of political subdivisions
within which a person may be employed.
B.
The Local Tax Enabling Act, as amended, requires municipalities and
school districts who levy the local services tax at a combined rate
exceeding $10 to exempt any person from the local services tax whose
total earned income and net profits from all sources within the Township
is less than $12,000 for the calendar year in which the local services
tax is levied. The Township hereby exempts the following persons from
the local services tax:
(1)
Any person whose total earned income and net profits from all sources
within the Township is less than $12,000 for the calendar year in
which the local services tax is levied.
(2)
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 service-connected disability declared by the United States Veterans'
Administration or its successor to be a total 100% permanent 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. A "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.
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 the Township levying the tax and file a copy of the certificate
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. 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 Township 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 Township, 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 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 with the Township
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
as follows:
(1)
If the person who claimed an exemption for a given calendar year
from the local services tax 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 paragraph,
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 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 exemption is 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 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 a 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 of 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 (certain state and federal
agencies), will be billed quarterly for the local services tax. The
full amount of the tax must be paid by the date indicated on such
billing. If such taxpayer qualifies for a low-income 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 Township but who engage in any
occupation with the Township 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 Township. Further, any individual engaged
in an occupation within the Township and an employee of a nonresident
employer may for the purpose of this article be considered a self-employed
person and in the event this tax is not paid, the collector shall
have the option of proceeding against either the employer or employee
for collection of this 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 him 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 Township, to
provide 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; 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 Bradford County as
in other cases provided.
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 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 due tax 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 non-payment
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, attorney's
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 requires 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 employer is required to remit the local services tax for
the last quarter of the calendar year, whichever is later, and shall
not be subject to interest if paid within the allowed time.
B.
Refunds shall only be provided for an amount overpaid in a calendar
year that exceeds $1. If at any time during the calendar year a taxpayer
pays more than $52 in combined LST, the taxpayer may apply for a refund
of the amount of $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 we will not receive the tax from the employer.
When an individual's earned income and net profits only, for
the calendar year, is less than the twelve-thousand-dollar exception,
at the end of the calendar year, any taxpayer who qualifies may complete
a refund application and include a copy of the necessary documentation.
The provisions of this article shall be severable. If any of
its provisions shall be held to be unconstitutional, illegal or otherwise
invalid, that decision shall not affect the remaining provisions of
this article or of Code or Ordinances of Athens Township, Bradford
County, Pennsylvania.
This article shall become effective in accordance with applicable
law on January 1, 2019.
