This Article shall be known and may be cited
as the "Mercantile License Tax Code."
[Amended 10-20-1981 by Ord. No. 1523]
For the license year beginning January 1, 1982,
and in each license year thereafter, every person desiring to continue
to engage in, or hereafter to begin to engage in, the business of
wholesale, or retail, or wholesale and retail, vendor or dealer in
goods, wares and merchandise and any person conducting a restaurant
or other place where food, drink or refreshments are sold in the Township,
shall, on or before the 30th day of January, 1982, or prior to commencing
business in any such license year, apply for and procure a mercantile
license for his place of business, or if more than one, for each of
his places of business in the Township, from the Township Manager
who shall issue the same upon payment of a fee, to be set forth from
time to time by resolution of the Board of Commissioners for his place of business, or if more than one, for each
of his places of business in the Township for such license year. Each
application for a license shall be signed by the applicant, if a natural
person, and in the case of an association or partnership, by a member
or partner thereof, and in the case of a corporation, by an officer
thereof. Such licenses shall not be assignable and shall be conspicuously
posted at the place of business or each of the places of business
of every such person at all times. In the case of loss, defacement
or destruction of any license, the person to whom the license was
issued shall apply to the Township Manager for a new license for which
a fee, to be set forth from time to time by resolution of the Board
of Commissioners, shall be charged.
[Amended 10-20-1981 by Ord. No. 1523]
A tax to provide revenue for general Township
purposes is hereby levied, assessed and imposed upon every person
engaging in any of the following occupations or businesses in the
Township at the rate hereinafter set forth, and such persons shall
pay a mercantile license tax for the year beginning January 1, 1982,
at such rate, subject to the exemptions hereinafter set forth; provided,
however, that in the event that the mercantile license tax therein
calculated is less than $2, no tax shall be due:
A. Wholesale vendors, or dealers in goods, wares and
merchandise of every kind, at the rate of one mill on each dollar
of the gross volume of business transacted by him during the license
year.
B. Retail vendors, or dealers in goods, wares and merchandise
of every kind, and all persons engaged in conducting restaurants or
other places where food, drink or refreshments are sold, at the rate
of one and one-half (1 1/2) mills on each dollar of the gross
volume of business transacted by him during the license year.
C. Wholesale and retail vendors or dealers in goods,
wares and merchandise of every kind at the rate of one mill on each
dollar of the gross volume of wholesale business transacted by him,
and one and one-half (1 1/2) mills on each dollar of the gross
volume of retail business transacted by him during the license year.
[Amended 2-21-1984 by Ord. No. 1579]
Every return, as hereinafter required by this
section, shall be made upon a form furnished by the Township Manager.
Every person making such return shall certify the correctness thereof
under the penalties of perjury. Upon written request from a taxpayer
prior to April 15 in such form as specified by the Tax Collector,
the Tax Collector may extend the due date of any tax return provided
for herein for a period of 60 days.
On or before April 15, after the end of the license year, every person subject to the tax hereby imposed shall make a final return in the form provided by §
270-21 hereof.
All taxes due and unpaid under this article
shall be recoverable by the Township Solicitor as other debts due
the Township are now by law recoverable.
[Amended 4-21-1981 by Ord. No. 1514; 9-20-1983 by Ord. No.
1572; 2-21-1984 by Ord. No. 1579]
All taxes due under this article to the extent not offset by a credit owing the taxpayer at the due date of such tax shall bear interest at the rate of 1.25% per month or fractional part of a month from the day they are due and payable without regard to any extension until paid. If any taxpayer shall neglect or refuse to make any return or payment as herein required, an additional 10% shall be added by the Collector and collected; provided, however, that no such amount shall be collected for the failure to file a return when the period to file said return has been extended by the Tax Collector pursuant to §
270-22 of this article.
All taxes, interest and penalties received,
collected or recovered under the provisions of this article shall
be paid into the treasury of the Township of Cheltenham for the use
and benefit of the Township of Cheltenham.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed
to empower the Township to levy and collect the taxes hereby imposed
on any person or any business or any portion of any business now within
the taxing power of the Township under the Constitution of the United
States and the Constitution and Laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The provisions of this article are severable,
and if any of its provisions or exemptions shall be held to be illegal,
invalid or unconstitutional, or invalid or unconstitutional as to
any part of the period designated herein as the license year, the
decisions of any court shall not affect or impair any of the remaining
provisions of this article or affect or impair its application upon
any other part of said license year, and the requirements as to the
license shall operate as of the effective date of this article, and
the computation of tax and payment thereof shall be applied and adjusted
accordingly.
[Amended 3-21-1989 by Ord. No. 1686]
Any person or legal entity, or any officer,
agent, servant or employee thereof, who shall fail, neglect or refuse
to comply with any of the provisions of this article shall, upon a
finding thereof before a District Justice, be required to pay a civil
fine of not more than $600 and costs of suit, collectible in the manner
provided by law. The fine imposed by this section shall be in addition
to any other penalty imposed by any other section of this article.
It is the intent of the Board of Commissioners
that any ordinance now in effect which imposes a special license fee
or tax on specific types or kinds of business not covered by the provisions
of this article shall be and remain in full force and effect.