[Adopted 5-9-1978 by Ord. No. 78-1]
This article shall be known as the "Business
Privilege Tax and Mercantile Tax Ordinance."
The following words and phrases, when used in
this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section,
except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Any activity carried on or exercised for gain or profit in
the Township of Hanover, County of Northampton, including, but not
limited to, the sale of merchandise or other tangible personalty or
the performance of services. As to those taxpayers having their principal
place of business within the Township of Hanover, County of Northampton,
business shall include all activities carried on within the Township
of Hanover, County of Northampton, as well as those carried on outside
of the Township of Hanover, County of Northampton. As to those taxpayers
which do not have a place of business within the Township of Hanover,
County of Northampton, there shall be included only those activities
carried on within the Township of Hanover, County of Northampton.
As to those taxpayers having a place of business other than principal
one, within the Township of Hanover, County of Northampton, business
shall include all activities carried on within the Township and those
carried on outside the Township attributable to the place of business
within the Township.
The calendar year.
Any individual, partnership, limited partnership, association,
firm or corporation. Whenever used in any clause prescribing or imposing
a penalty, the term "person" as applied to associations shall mean
the partners or members thereof, and as applied to corporations, the
officers thereof.
The person appointed, from time to time, by resolution of
the Hanover Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, to administer
and collect the Hanover Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Business Privilege Tax and Mercantile Tax.
[Added 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 11-13]
A person subject to the payment of the tax imposed by this
article.
The calendar year.
The Township of Hanover, County of Northampton.[1]
[1]
Editor’s Note: The former definition of "Treasurer,"
which immediately followed this definition, was repealed 12-20-2011
by Ord. No. 11-13. See now the definition of "Tax Collector."
There is hereby levied for the tax year 1978
and annually thereafter a tax for general revenue purposes on the
privilege of doing business as herein defined in the Township of Hanover,
County of Northampton, as follows:
A.
Rate and basis of tax. The rate of tax on every dollar
of the whole or gross volume of business transacted within the territorial
limits of the Township of Hanover, County of Northampton, shall be
calculated as follows:
(1)
On receipts attributable to the performance of services
the rate shall be 11/2 mills or $1.50 per $1,000 of gross volume of
business.
(2)
On receipts attributable to wholesale sales of merchandise,
the rate shall be one mill or $1 per $1,000 of gross volume of business.
(3)
On receipts attributable to retail sales of merchandise,
the rate shall be 11/2 mills or $1.50 per $1,000 of gross volume of
business.
B.
Computation of volume of business.
(1)
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby
imposed who has commenced his business prior to the full calendar
year prior to the tax year shall compute his annual estimated gross
volume of business upon the actual gross amount of business transacted
by him during said immediately preceding calendar year.
(2)
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby
imposed who has commenced or who commences his business before the
beginning of the tax year but after the beginning of the full calendar
year prior to the tax year, shall compute his estimated annual gross
volume of business for the tax year upon the gross volume of business
transacted by him during the prior calendar year, taking the monthly
average during said period and multiplying the same by 12. In the
event that he shall be in business fewer than 90 days in the prior
calendar year, he shall be permitted to use sufficient days in calendar
year in which the tax year begins to equal 90 successive days after
commencement of business, to take a monthly average thereon, and to
multiply the average by 12.
(3)
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby
imposed who has commenced or commences his business subsequent to
the beginning of the tax year, if there shall be less than three months
from the commencement of his business to the end of the tax year,
shall compute his annual gross volume of business upon the actual
gross amount of business transacted by him during the tax year; if
there shall be more than three months from the commencement of his
business to the end of the tax year, he shall compute his estimated
gross volume of business for such tax year upon the gross volume of
business transacted by him during the period from the commencement
of his business to the end of the tax year, taking the monthly average
during the first three months of business and multiplying the same
by the number of months from the commencement of business to the end
of the tax year.
(4)
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby
imposed who engages in a business temporary, seasonal, or itinerant
by nature shall compute his estimated gross amount of business to
be transacted by him for the period said person engages in such temporary,
seasonal or itinerant business within the Township by a method to
be determined by the Tax Collector.
[Amended 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 11-13]
(5)
The Tax Collector is hereby authorized to accept payment
under protest of the amount of business privilege tax claimed by the
Township in any case where the taxpayer disputes the validity or amount
of the Township's claim for tax. If it is thereafter judicially determined
by a court of competent jurisdiction that the Township has been overpaid,
the amount of the overpayment shall be refunded to the taxpayer. The
provisions of this section shall be applicable to cases in which the
facts are similar to those in a case litigated in a court of competent
jurisdiction.
[Amended 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 11-13]
C.
Persons, business and receipt exempted.
(1)
Persons and businesses. Persons employed for a wage
or salary, nonprofit corporations or associations organized for religious,
charitable or educational purposes, agencies of the government of
the United States or of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the business
of any political subdivision, or of any authority created or organized
under and pursuant to any act of assembly are exempt from the provisions
of this article.
(2)
No such tax shall be assessed and collected on a privilege,
transaction, subject, or occupation which is subject to a state tax
or license fee, and which tax or license fee has been held by the
courts of Pennsylvania to be the basis for exemption from the imposition
of a business privilege or mercantile tax by a municipality.
(3)
Utilities. No such tax shall be assessed and collected
on the gross receipts from utility service of any person or company
whose rates of service are fixed and regulated by the Pennsylvania
Public Utility Commission; or on any public utility service rendered
by any such person or company or on any privilege or transaction involving
the rendering of any such public utility service.
(4)
State tax on tangible property. No such tax shall
be assessed and collected on the privilege of employing such tangible
property as is subject to a state tax except on sales of admission
to places of amusement or on sales or other transfers of title or
possession of property.
(5)
Production and manufacture. No such tax shall be assessed
and collected on goods, articles, and products, or on by-products
of manufacture, or on minerals, timber, natural resources, and farm
products, manufactured, produced, or grown in the Township of Hanover,
County of Northampton, or on the preparation or processing thereof
for use or market, or on any privilege, act or transaction related
to the business of manufacturing, the production, preparation or processing
of minerals, timber and natural resources or farm products, by manufacturers,
by producers, and by farmers with respect to the goods, articles and
products of their own manufacture, production or growth, or any privilege,
act or transaction relating to the business of processing by-products
of manufacturer, or on the transportation, loading, unloading, or
dumping or storage of such goods, articles, products or by-products.
D.
Determination of gross or whole volume of business.
Gross or whole volume of business upon which the tax hereunder is
computed shall include the gross consideration credited or received
for or on account of sales made and/or services rendered, subject
only to the following allowable deductions and exemptions:
(1)
The dollar volume of business transacted by wholesale
and retail dealers derived from the resale of goods, wares, and merchandise
taken by any dealer as trade-in or as part payment for other goods,
wares and merchandise, except to the extent that the resale price
exceeds the trade-in allowance.
(2)
Refunds, credits, or allowances given by a taxpayer
to a purchaser on account of defects in goods, wares or merchandise
sold, or on account of goods, wares or merchandise returned.
(3)
Any commissions paid by a broker to another broker
on account of a purchase or sales contract initiated, executed or
cleared with such other broker.
(4)
Bad debts, where the deduction is also taken in the
same year for federal income taxation purposes.
(5)
Taxes collected as agent for the United States of
America, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the Township of Hanover,
County of Northampton.
E.
Partial exemptions. Where gross or whole volume of
business in its entirety cannot be subjected to the tax imposed by
this article by reason of the provisions of the Constitution of the
United States, or any other provision of law, the Tax Collector under
the direction of the Board of Supervisors shall establish rules and
regulations and methods of allocation and evaluation so that only
that part of the gross or whole volume of business which is properly
attributable and allowable to doing business in the Township shall
be taxed hereunder.
[Amended 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 11-13]
F.
Rate when same tax is imposed by two taxing bodies.
If any person is liable for the same tax on the same subject imposed
under the Local Tax Enabling Act, 1965, December 31, Pamphlet Law
1257,[1] and its amendments, to the Township and one or more political
subdivisions of the state, then and in that event the tax shall be
apportioned by such percentage as may be agreed upon by such political
subdivisions, but, in no event, shall the combined taxes of both subdivisions
exceed a maximum rate of tax as fixed by the said Enabling Act permitting
the imposition of such taxes.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 6901
et seq.
G.
Records. The taxpayer, to obtain the foregoing enumerated
exclusions and deductions, shall keep books and records of his business
so as to show clearly, accurately, and separately the amount of such
sales and services as are excluded from the tax and the amounts of
such sales and services which he is entitled to deduct from the gross
volume of business as hereinbefore provided.
A.
Every return shall be made upon a form furnished by
the Tax Collector. Every person making a return shall certify the
correctness thereof by affidavit.
[Amended 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 11-13]
B.
Every person subject to the tax imposed by this article
who commenced his business on or before January 1 of the full calendar
year previous to the beginning of any tax year shall on or before
the first Monday of May of the tax year file with the Tax Collector
a return setting forth his name, his business, business address and
such other information as may be necessary in arriving at the actual
gross amount of business transacted by him during the preceding calendar
year, and the amount of the tax due.
[Amended 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 11-13]
C.
Every person subject to the tax imposed by this article
who has commenced his business less than one full year prior to the
beginning of any license year shall on or before the first Monday
of May of the license year file with the Tax Collector a return setting
forth his name, his business, business address, and such other information
as may be necessary in arriving at the actual gross amount of business
transacted by him during the first month of business and the amount
of the tax due.
[Amended 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 11-13]
D.
Every person subject to the tax imposed by this article who commences business subsequent to the beginning of any tax year shall within 100 days from date of commencing such business file a return with the Tax Collector setting forth his name, his business and business address, and such information as may be necessary in arriving at the estimated or actual gross amount of business transacted by him as calculated under § 163-15B(3) hereof and the amount of the tax due.
[Amended 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 11-13]
E.
Every person subject to the payment of the tax imposed by this article who engages in a business temporary, seasonal or itinerant by its nature shall at the time application is made for the business privilege license file a return with the Tax Collector setting forth his name, his business, his business address and such information as may be necessary in arriving at the estimated gross amount of business to be transacted by him as calculated in accordance with § 163-15B(4).
[Amended 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 11-13]
F.
Any person going out of or ceasing to do business
shall, within seven days from the date of ceasing to do business,
file a return showing the actual gross volume of business conducted
and done by such person during that tax year in which said person
ceased doing business, and pay the tax due as computed thereon at
the rate herein provided for at the time of filing said return. If
such tax has been previously paid based upon estimated gross receipts,
the taxpayer shall be entitled to a refund of any excess tax paid
for the tax year in which business was terminated.
G.
Payment of tax and penalties for late payment. The
business privilege tax levied pursuant to this article shall be due
and payable on the date on which the taxpayer is required to file
a return as set forth above, and if the same is not paid on said date,
a penalty of 5% per month or fractional part of a month shall be added
until paid.
[Amended 2-12-2002 by Ord. No. 02-01; 12-20-2011 by Ord. No.
11-13]
H.
Receipt. The Tax Collector shall, upon payment to
him of the business privilege tax, give the person paying the same
a receipt therefor.
[Amended 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 11-13]
[Amended 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 11-13]
After the effective date of this article, any
person desiring to conduct or to continue to conduct any business,
as herein defined, within the Township of Hanover, County of Northampton,
shall file with the Tax Collector an application for a business privilege
license and shall pay a fee, as established from time to time by resolution
of the Board of Supervisors, for the initial license and for each
renewal thereof. The license issued shall be conspicuously posted
in the place of business for which such license is issued, and shall
remain in effect for the license year or fraction of year for which
said license was issued. In cases where more than one place of business
is conducted, a separate license shall be issued for each place of
business. Any taxpayer who is in default in payment of tax due hereunder
shall be refused a license until such tax is paid in full.
[Amended 2-12-2002 by Ord. No. 02-01]
Any person who shall conduct, transact or engage
in any of the businesses subject to the tax imposed by this article,
without having first secured a business privilege license for the
year, or any person who shall fail to file a tax return as required
by the provisions of this article, or any person who shall willfully
file a false return, 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. Further, the appropriate officers
or agents of the Township are hereby authorized to seek equitable
relief, including injunction, to enforce compliance herewith.
Each day on which such person violated the article
may be considered as a separate offense and punishable as such as
aforeprovided.
[Amended 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 11-13]
A.
The Tax Collector is charged with the duties of collecting
and receiving the taxes, fines, and penalties imposed by this article.
It shall be his duty to keep a record showing the amount received
by him from each person paying the tax and the date of such receipt.
B.
The Tax Collector and his duly appointed deputies
under the direction of the Board of Supervisors are hereby empowered
with the approval of the Board of Supervisors 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 and correction of returns, and payments alleged
or found to be incorrect, or as to which an overpayment is claimed
or found to have occurred, and charged with enforcing the provisions
of this article and any rules and/or regulations promulgated pursuant
hereto.
C.
In the event the person to be assessed neglects or
refuses to make a return, then in such case the Tax Collectorr or
his duly appointed deputies shall assess said person or persons on
such an amount of whole or gross volume of business as the said Tax
Collector or his deputies deem reasonable and appropriate. In all
cases of assessment, the Tax Collector or his duly appointed deputies
shall give the parties assessed a notice in which shall be stated
the trade, business, occupation or class, and the amount of the business
privilege tax imposed or levied.
D.
The taxpayer shall maintain such records and books
of account as will enable him to make a true and accurate return in
accordance with the provisions of the article. Such accounts and records
must disclose in detail the gross receipts and other data pertaining
to the taxpayer's gross volume of business, and must be sufficiently
complete to enable the Tax Collector or his deputies to verify all
transactions. The Tax Collector or his deputies are hereby authorized
to examine the books, papers and records of any person or persons
subject to or supposed to be subject to the tax imposed by this article,
in order to verify the accuracy of the return made or, if no return
was made, ascertain the tax due.
E.
Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Tax Collector
shall have the right to appeal to the Court of Common Pleas, as in
other cases.
[Amended 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 11-13]
Any information gained by the Tax Collector
or any other official, agent or employee of the Township as a result
of any returns, investigations, hearings, or verifications required
or authorized by this article shall be confidential, except in accordance
with proper judicial order or as otherwise provided by law.
A.
The Tax Collector or his duly appointed deputies shall
have the power in the name of the Tax Collector to institute proceedings
against any and all persons who violate the provisions of this article.
[Amended 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 11-13]
B.
If for any reason the tax is not paid when due and
suit is brought for the recovery of any such tax, the person liable
therefor shall, in addition, be liable for the costs of collection
and interest and penalties herein imposed.
A.
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 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.
B.
If the tax, or any portion thereof, imposed upon any
person under the provisions of this article shall be held by any court
of competent power or jurisdiction to be in violation of the Constitution
of the United States or of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any
other provision of the law, the decisions of the court shall not affect
or impair the right to impose the taxes, or the validity of the taxes
so imposed upon other persons as herein provided.
