[Adopted 12-19-2007 by Ord. No. 3834[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed
former Art. II, Emergency and Municipal Services Tax, adopted 12-22-2004
by Ord. No. 3732.
As used in this article, unless the context
clearly indicates a different meaning, the following words shall have
the meanings set forth below:
The Chief Financial Officer of the Township of Lower Merion
or his designated representative.
Compensation as this term is defined in Section 13 (relating
to earned income taxes) of the Local Tax Enabling Act, the Act of
December 31, 1965, P.L. 1257, § 13, 53 P.S. § 6913,
as amended.
An individual, partnership, association, limited-liability
corporation, limited-liability partnership, corporation, governmental
body, agency or other entity employing one or more persons on a salary,
wage, commission or other compensation basis, including a self-employed
person.
Indicates the singular and plural number, as well as male,
female and neuter genders.
Any person, male or female, engaged in any occupation, trade
or profession within the Township of Lower Merion.
The net income from the operation of a business, profession
or other activity, as this term is defined in Section 13 (relating
to earned income taxes) of the Local Tax Enabling Act, the Act of
December 31, 1965, P.L. 1257, § 13, 53 P.S. § 6913,
as amended.
Any trade, profession, business or undertaking of any type,
kind or character, including services, domestic or other, carried
on or performed within the Township of Lower Merion for which compensation
is charged or received, whether by means of salary, wages, commission
or fees for services rendered.
Any county, city, borough, incorporated town, township, school
district, vocational school district with the authority to levy the
local services tax.
The local services tax at the rate fixed in § 138-16 of this article.
The period from January 1 until December 31 in any year;
a calendar year.
The Township of Lower Merion.
A.
For specific revenue purposes an annual tax is hereby
levied and assessed, commencing January 1, 2008, upon the privilege
of engaging in an occupation with a primary place of employment within
the Township during the tax year. Each natural person who exercises
such privilege for any length of time during any tax year shall pay
the tax for that year in the amount of $52, assessed in accordance
with the provisions of this article.
B.
This tax may be used solely for the following purposes
as the same may be allocated by the Board of Commissioners from time
to time:
C.
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.
D.
The 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.
A.
Exemption. 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 tax is levied is exempt from the
payment of the tax for that calendar year. In addition, the following
persons are exempt from payment of the 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 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. 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. Active duty does not include weekend training
sessions or two-week summer service.
B.
Procedure to claim exemption.
(1)
A person seeking to claim an exemption from the local services tax must annually file an exemption certificate with the Township and with the person's employer pursuant to the Township's regulations 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 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) of this section, 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 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 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) of this section, 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) of this section, 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 subsection 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 Township 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. The
Collector shall determine eligibility for exemption and provide refunds
to exempt persons.
A.
Each employer within the Township, as well as those
employers situated outside the Township but who engage in business
within the Township, is hereby charged with the duty of collecting
the tax from each of his employees engaged by him or performing for
him 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 employee in his employ, whether said employee is
paid by salary, wage or commission and whether or not all such services
are performed within the Township.
B.
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 person 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 the rate of the 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. Collection of the tax shall be made on a payroll period basis for each payroll-period in which the person is engaging in an occupation, except as provided in Subsection D of this section. For purposes of this subsection, "combined rate" shall mean the aggregate annual rate of the tax levied by the Lower Merion School District and the Township.
C.
No person shall be subject to the payment of the local
services tax by more than one municipality during each payroll period.
D.
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 the employee will notify
other employers of a change in principal place of employment within
two weeks of its occurrence. The employee's statement shall be provided
on the form approved by Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic
Development.
E.
The 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 maybe employed. The Township shall provide a
taxpayer a receipt of payment upon request by the taxpayer.
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 the 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 the provisions of Subsection B of § 138-16.1 of this article and this section and remits the amount so withheld in accordance with this article.
G.
Employers shall be required to remit the local services
taxes 30 days after the end of each quarter of a calendar year, whether
or not the employer makes collection thereof from the employee's salary.
H.
Registration required. Any business or person not otherwise required to file for business registration under Article III or Article IV of Chapter 138 but who is responsible for the collection or payment of local services tax must obtain an annual registration on a form provided by the Township Business Tax Office. Said registration must be obtained by April 15 of each year.
[Added 10-19-2022 by Ord. No. 4252]
(2)
Registration fee. Every business or person is hereby assessed and shall pay a registration fee for each business location, as set forth in Chapter A167, for each calendar year, or part thereof, that the business or person is required to register.
(3)
Penalty
for failure to obtain registration. Any company or individual required
to obtain a registration shall be subject to a fine in the amount
of $30 for each year that a registration is not obtained. The Collector
may abate this penalty in situations involving voluntary compliance
where an offending person pays all outstanding fees and files any
outstanding returns within 60 days of an assessment by the Collector
for outstanding licenses and taxes or if the taxpayer voluntarily
comes forward to the Township.
Each employer shall prepare and file a return
showing a computation of the tax on forms to be supplied to the employer
by the Collector. If an employer fails to file the return and pay
the wages or commissions paid by him to an employee, 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.
In each tax year, each employer shall use his
employment records to determine the number of employees from whom
such tax shall be deducted and paid over to the Collector on or before
the 30th day following the end of each calendar quarter of each such
tax year.
Each self-employed individual who performs services
of any type or kind or engages in any occupation or profession within
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 30th day following the end of
the first quarter or any subsequent quarter in which they become self-employed
within the Township. For purposes of determining the pro rata share,
self-employed individuals shall be deemed to have one pay period per
year and the pro-rata share shall be deemed to be $52.
A.
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. In the event a person is engaged in more than one
occupation, that is, concurrent employment, or an occupation which
requires that the person work in more than one political subdivision
during a payroll period, the priority of claim to collect the local
services tax shall be in the following order:
(1)
First, the political subdivision in which a person
maintains his or her principal office or is principally employed;
(2)
Second, the political subdivision in which the person
resides and works if the tax is levied by that political subdivision;
(3)
Third, the political subdivision in which a person
is employed and which imposes the tax nearest in miles to the person's
home.
B.
In case of dispute, a tax receipt of the taxing authority
for that calendar year declaring that the taxpayer has made prior
payment constitutes prima facie certification of payment to all other
political subdivisions.
All employers and self-employed individuals
residing or having their places of business outside of the Township
but who perform services of any type or kind or engage in any occupation
or profession within 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 nonresidential employer may, for the purpose of this article,
be considered a self-employed person, and in the event his tax is
not paid, the Township shall have the option of proceeding against
either the employer or employee for the 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 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 approval of the Board of Commissioners, to prescribe, adopt
and promulgate rules and regulations relating to any matter pertaining
to the administration and enforcement of this article, including 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 the Collector's decision pursuant to the Township's
procedures under the Local Taxpayer's Bill of Rights[1] as in other cases provided.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 8421
et seq.
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 rate of 1 1/2% per month on the amount of such tax shall
be calculated beginning with the due date of the tax and a penalty
of 10% 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 and liable for the costs of collection.
A.
Whoever makes any false or untrue statement on any
return required by this article, or whoever refuses inspection of
the books, records or accounts in his custody and control setting
forth the number of employees subject to this tax who are in his employment,
or whoever fails or refuses to file any return required by this article
or whoever fails to collect or withhold or, having collected and withheld,
fails to pay the tax due, shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced
to pay a fine or penalty to the Township of not more than $600 and
costs of prosecution for each offense, and, in default of payment
of such fine and costs, to imprisonment for not more than 30 days.
The action to enforce the penalty herein prescribed may be instituted
against any person in charge of the business of any employer who shall
have failed or who refuses to file a return required by this article
and shall include self-employed individuals.
B.
Any employee or individual who submits false statements
regarding eligibility for exemption or submits a false exemption certificate
shall be guilty of a violation of this article, and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600 and
costs of prosecution for each offense, and, in default of payment
of such fine and costs, to imprisonment for not more than 30 days.
C.
The
Collector is empowered to proceed by citation against any person,
officer, agent, servant or employee who has violated the provisions
of this article.
[Added 9-23-2009 by Ord. No. 3889]
A.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed
to empower the Township to levy and collect the tax hereby imposed
on any occupation not within the taxing power of the Township under
the Constitution of the United States and the laws of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
B.
If the tax hereby imposed under the provisions of
this article shall be held by any court of competent jurisdiction
to be in violation of the Constitution of the United States or of
the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as to any individual,
the decision of the court shall not affect or impair the right to
impose or collect said tax or the validity of the tax so imposed on
other persons or individuals as herein provided.
