[Adopted 7-23-1968 by Ord. No. 51 as Article
505 of the 1968 Code; amended 2-12-2002 by Ord. No. 02-01; 12-22-2004 by Ord. No. 04-10]
A.
EMPLOYER
FISCAL YEAR
INDIVIDUAL
OCCUPATION
TAX
TAX OFFICER
TOWNSHIP OF HANOVER
The following words and phrases, when used in this
article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section,
except where the context or language clearly indicates or requires
a different meaning:
An individual, partnership, association, 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.
The period beginning January 1 and ending December 31.
Any person, male or female, engaged in any occupation, trade
or profession within the corporate limits of the Township of Hanover,
Northampton County.
Any trade, profession, business, or undertaking of any type,
kind or character, including services, domestic or other, carried
on or performed within the corporate limits of the Township of Hanover
for which compensation is charged or received, whether by means of
salary, wages, commissions or fees for services rendered.
The Local Services Tax in the amount of $52 to be levied
by this article.
[Amended 12-11-2007 by Ord. No. 07-18]
The person, public employee or private agency designated
by the Township to collect the tax.
The area within the corporate limits of the Township of Hanover.
B.
"He," "his" or "him" indicates the singular and plural
number, as well as male, female and neuter gender.
[Amended 1-24-2006 by Ord. No. 06-01]
For general revenue purposes, a tax is hereby
levied upon the privilege of engaging in an occupation within the
corporate limits of the Township during the fiscal year. Each natural
person that is at least 18 years of age by the end of the fiscal year
who exercises such privilege for any length of time during the year
shall pay a tax in the amount of $52, in accordance with the provisions
of this article. This tax is in addition to all other taxes of any
kind or nature heretofore levied by the Township.
[Amended 1-24-2006 by Ord. No. 06-01; 12-11-2007 by Ord. No.
07-18]
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 from each of his employees engaged by him and performing for him within the Township the said tax of $52 per annum and making a return and payment thereof to the Tax Officer as follows: a pro rata share of the tax for each payroll period in which the individual is engaging in an occupation. The pro rata share of the tax assessed on the individual for a payroll period shall be determined by dividing the rate of the tax levied for a fiscal year by the number of payroll periods established by the employer for the fiscal 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 one-hundredth of a dollar. Collection of the tax shall be made on a payroll-period basis for each payroll period in which the individual is engaging in an occupation, except as provided by Subsection B below.
B.
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.
C.
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. The employer shall not be liable for payment
of the tax in an amount exceeding the amount withheld by the employer
if the employer has withheld tax in accordance with this section.
D.
Employers shall be required to remit the tax 30 days
after the end of each quarter of the fiscal year.
Each employer shall prepare and file a return
showing a computation of the tax on forms to be supplied to him by
the Tax Officer. It is further provided that, if the employer fails
to file said tax, whether or not he makes collection thereof from
the salary, wages or commissions paid by him to said employee, the
employer shall be responsible for the payment of the tax, in full,
without deducting a commission and as though tax had originally been
levied against him.
A.
Each employer shall use his employment records from
the first day of January to the 31st day of March for determining
the number of employees from whom said tax shall be deducted and paid
over to the Tax Officer on or before April 10.
B.
Supplemental reports and payment of tax due thereon
shall be made by each employer on July 31, October 31 and January
31, of new employees as reflected on his employment records from April
1 to June 30; July 1 to September 30; and October 1 to December 31.
Payment of tax due on these supplemental reports shall be made on
July 31, October 31 and January 31, respectively.
Each self-employed individual who performs services
of any type or kind or engages in any occupation or profession within
the Township shall be required to comply with this article and pay
the tax to the Tax Officer on April 30, or as soon thereafter as he
engages in an occupation.
A.
No individual shall be subject to payment of the tax
by more than one political subdivision during each payroll period.
The status of the tax shall be the place of employment on the first
day the individual becomes subject to the tax during each payroll
period.
[Amended 12-11-2007 by Ord. No. 07-18]
B.
Working in multiple political subdivisions.
(1)
In the event a person is engaged in more than one
occupation, or an occupation which requires his working in more than
one political subdivision during the calendar year, the priority of
claim to collect such occupation privilege tax shall be in the following
order:
All employers and self-employed individuals
residing or having their place 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 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 Township shall have the option of proceeding against either
the employer or employee for the collection of this tax as hereinafter
provided.
[Amended 12-11-2007 by Ord. No. 07-18]
The Township shall exempt the following persons
from the tax:
A.
Any individual 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 it successor
to be a total one-hundred-percent permanent disability.
B.
Any individual who serves as a member of a reserve
component of the armed forces and is called to active duty any time
during the fiscal year. A "reserve component of the armed forces"
shall mean the United States Army Reserve, United States Navy Reserve,
United States Marine Corps Reserve, Untied States Coast Guard Reserve,
United States Air Force Reserve, the Pennsylvania Army National Guard
or the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.
C.
Any individual whose total earned income and net profits
form all sources within the Township is less than $12,000 for the
fiscal year in which the tax is levied.
(1)
An individual seeking to claim an exemption from the
tax shall annually file an exemption certificate with the Township,
the Tax Officer and the 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 fiscal year in which
the tax is levied. The exemption certificate shall have attached to
it a copy of the individual's last pay stubs or W-2 forms from employment
within the Township for the year prior to the fiscal year for which
the individual is requesting to be exempted from the tax.
(2)
Upon receipt of the exemption certificate and until instructed otherwise instructed by the Township or except as set forth in Subsection C(3) below, the employer shall not withhold the tax from the individual during the remainder of the fiscal year for which the exemption certificate applies.
(3)
With respect to an individual who claimed an exemption for a given fiscal year from the tax, upon notification to an employer by the individual or the Township that the individual has received earned income and net profits from all sources within the Township equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that fiscal year, or upon an employer's payment to the individual of earned income within the Township in an amount equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that fiscal year, an employer shall withhold the tax form the individual pursuant to Subsection C(4) below.
(4)
If an individual who claimed an exemption for a given fiscal year from the tax becomes subject to the tax for the fiscal year pursuant to Subsection C(3) above, the employer shall withhold the tax for the remainder of the fiscal year. The employer shall withhold from the individual, for the first payroll period after receipt of the notification under Subsection C(3) above, a lump sum equal to the amount of Tax that was not withheld from the individual during the fiscal year due to the exemption claimed, plus the per-payroll amount due for that first payroll period. The amount of tax withheld for payroll period for the remaining payroll periods in that fiscal year shall be the same amount withheld for other employees. In the event the employment of an individual subject to the withholding of tax pursuant to this subsection is subsequently severed in that fiscal year, the individual shall be liable for any outstanding balance of tax due, and the Township may pursue collection of the same in accordance with this article.
A.
It shall be the duty of the Tax Officer 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 Tax Officer is hereby charged with the administration
and enforcement of this article and is hereby charged and empowered
to prescribe, adopt, promulgate 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, and any payment
alleged or found to be incorrect, or as to which overpayment is claimed
or found to have occurred, or any payment made by a taxpayer who is
engaged in a business or occupation within the corporate limits of
the Township from which he derives less than $12,000 per year. Any
person aggrieved by a decision of the Tax Officer shall have the right
to appeal to the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County, as in
other cases provided.
C.
The Tax Officer 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 Tax Officer the means, facilities and opportunity for such examination.
D.
The Tax Officer shall provide an individual a receipt
of payment of the tax upon request by the individual.
[Added 12-11-2007 by Ord. No. 07-18]
E.
The Township shall adopt regulations for the processing
of refund claims for overpaid tax for any fiscal year. 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
fiscal year, whichever is later, shall not be subject to interest
imposed under 53 Pa. C.S.A. § 8426. The Township shall only
provide refunds for amounts overpaid in a fiscal year that exceed
$1.
[Added 12-11-2007 by Ord. No. 07-18]
A.
In the event that any tax under this article remains
due or unpaid 30 days after the due dates above set forth, the Tax
Officer 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 6% on the amount of said tax shall be calculated, beginning
with the due date of said tax, and a penalty of 5% shall be added
to the flat rate of said tax for nonpayment thereof. Where suit is
brought for the recovery of this tax, the individual liable therefor
shall, in addition, be responsible and liable for the costs of collection.
Whosoever 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 setting
forth the number of employees subject to his tax who are in his employment,
or whoever fails or refuses to file any return required by this article,
shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding
commenced by the Township before a District Justice, pay a fine of
not less than $100 nor more than $600, plus all court costs, including
reasonable attorney's fees, incurred by the Township in the enforcement
of this article. No judgment shall be imposed until the date of the
determination of the violation by the District Justice. If the defendant
neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Township may enforce
the judgment pursuant to the applicable Rules of Civil Procedure.
Each day a violation exists shall constitute a separate offense. Further,
the appropriate officers or agents of the Township are hereby authorized
to seek equitable relief, including injunction, to enforce compliance
herewith. 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 refuses to
file a return required by this article.
