[Adopted 12-19-1985 by Ord. No. 779; amended in its entirety 12-21-1991 by Ord. No. 832]
This article shall be known as the "Media 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:
The Borough of Media.
Includes both cash and credit transactions and trade-in transactions
as provided by law.
Any individual, partnership, limited partnership, association,
corporation, trust or other legally recognizable entity, except such
as are wholly exempt from taxation under the Act of December 31, 1965,
P.L. 1257, as amended.[1] Persons exempted from taxation under this article shall
include agencies of the government of the United States or of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or political subdivisions thereof and
nonprofit corporations or associations organized solely and exclusively
for religious, educational or charitable purposes and not conducting
any regular or established business competing commercially with any
person subject to the tax imposed by this article.
Any person who is a dealer in or vendor of goods, wares or
merchandise who is not a wholesale dealer or vendor or a wholesale
and retail dealer or vendor as hereinafter defined.
The person or firm contracted with to collect said tax.
The twelve-month period beginning the 31st day of January
of 1986 and on January 1 of all succeeding years.
Any business that is conducted at one location for less than
60 consecutive calendar days.
Any person who sells to dealers in or vendors of goods, wares
and merchandise and to other persons.
Any person who sells to dealers in or vendors of goods, wares
and merchandise and to no other persons.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 6901
et seq.
For the tax year beginning January 31, 1986,
and for each tax year thereafter, every person desiring to continue
to engage in or hereafter to begin to engage in the business of being
a wholesale dealer or vendor or retail dealer or vendor or wholesale
and retail dealer or vendor at an actual place of business in the
borough shall, on or before the 31st day of January 1986 and by January
15 of each year thereafter or prior to commencing business in such
tax year, make application for registration in each place of business
in the borough, and if such person has no actual place of business
within the borough, then by registration with the Tax Administrator.
Such registration shall be made by the completion of an application
furnished by the Tax Administrator and the payment of $50 for each
person conducting a service. Each application for registration 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 or by the authorized
person of any other legal entity. Each applicant shall receive a certificate
of registration from the Tax Administrator which shall not be assignable.
In the case of loss, defacement or destruction of any certificate,
the person to whom the certificate was issued shall apply to the Tax
Administrator for a new certificate, for which a fee of $10 shall
be charged. Such certificate shall be conspicuously posted at each
place of business within the borough at all times.
A.
A tax to provide revenue for borough purposes is hereby
levied, assessed and imposed upon every person engaging in any of
the following occupations or businesses in the borough at the rate
hereinafter set forth, and such person shall pay a mercantile tax
for the year beginning in January 1, 1986, at such rate, subject to
the exemptions hereinafter set forth.
(1)
Wholesale vendors or dealers of goods, wares and merchandise
of every kind; at the rate of three-fourths of one mill on each dollar
of the gross volume of business transacted by him during the license
year.
(2)
Retail vendors or dealers of 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 three-fourths of one mill on each dollar of the gross volume transacted
by him during the license year.
(3)
Wholesale and retail vendors or dealers of goods,
wares and merchandise of every kind: at the rate of three-fourths
of one mill on each dollar of the gross volume of wholesale business
transacted by him and three-fourths of one mill on each dollar of
the gross volume of retail business transacted by him during the license
year.
[1]
Editor's Note: Sections 3 and 4 of this ordinance
stated as follows:
Section 3. Savings and severability.
a. Nothing contained in the ordinance shall
be construed to empower the borough 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 borough under the Constitution
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
b. If the tax, or any portion thereof, imposed
upon any person under the provisions of this ordinance shall be held
by any court of competent power or jurisdiction to be in violation
of the Constitution of the Untied States or of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania or any other provision of law, the decisions of the court
shall not affect or impair the right to impose the taxes, or the validity
of the taxes or the validity of the taxes so imposed upon other persons
as herein provided.
c. The provisions of this ordinance are severable,
and if any of its provisions shall be held illegal, invalid or unconstitutional,
the decision of the court shall not affect or impair any of the remaining
provisions of this ordinance. It is hereby declared to be the intention
of the Council of the Borough of Media that this ordinance would have
been adopted if such illegal, invalid or unconstitutional provisions
had not been included herein.
Section 4. Effective date.
This Amendatory Ordinance is enacted pursuant
to the authority of the Local Tax Enabling Act, 1965, December 31,
Pamphlet Law 1275, as amended, and as provided by the Local Tax Reform
Act, 1988, December 31, P.L. 1121, No. 145. It shall become effective
on January 1, 2000, and shall continue thereafter unless amended or
repealed.
A.
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.
B.
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby
imposed who has commenced or who commences his business less than
one full year prior to the beginning of the license year shall compute
his annual gross volume of business for such license year upon the
gross volume of business transacted by him during the first month
in business multiplied by 12.
C.
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby
imposed who commences his business subsequent to the beginning of
the license year shall compute his annual gross volume of business
for such license year upon the gross volume of business transacted
by him during the first month of his engaging in business multiplied
by the number of months he engages in business in such license year.
D.
Every person subject to the payment of the tax hereby
imposed who engages in a business temporary, seasonal or itinerant
by its nature shall compute his annual gross volume of business upon
the actual gross amount of business transacted by him during the license
year. The aforementioned shall be required to make a deposit in an
amount determined by the Tax Administrator prior to his engaging in
business.
E.
The Tax Administrator is hereby authorized to accept
payment under protest of the amount of mercantile tax claimed by the
borough in any case where the taxpayer disputes the validity or amount
of the borough's claim for tax. If it is thereafter judicially determined
by a court of competent jurisdiction that the borough has been overpaid,
the amount of the overpayment shall be refunded to the taxpayer. The
provisions of this subsection shall be applicable to cases in which
the facts are similar to those in a case litigated in a court of competent
jurisdiction.
A.
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.
B.
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 mercantile tax by a municipality.
C.
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.
D.
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.
E.
No such tax shall be assessed and collected from any
other person exempt by law from the imposition of this tax.
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.
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 Administrator, with the approval
of the borough, 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 borough shall be taxed hereunder.
If any person is liable for the same tax on
the same subject imposed under the Local Tax Enabling Act, 1965, December
31, P.L. 1257, and its amendments[1] to the borough and one or more political subdivisions
of the state, then and in that event the tax shall be apportioned
by such political subdivisions, but in no event shall the combined
taxes of both subdivisions exceed a maximum rate of tax as fixed by
said Enabling Act permitting the imposition of such taxes.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 6901
et seq.
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 Administrator. Every person making a return shall certify
the correctness thereof by affidavit. Each return shall be documented
by an appropriate schedule to verify its accuracy.
B.
Every person subject to the tax imposed by this article
who commenced his business at least one full year prior to the beginning
of any license year shall, on or before the 15th day of April of each
year, file with the Tax Administrator a return setting forth his name,
his business and 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.
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 15th day of
April of each year, file with the Tax Administrator a return setting
forth his name, his business, business address and such 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.
D.
Every person subject to the tax imposed by this article
who commences business subsequent to the beginning of any license
year shall, within 60 days from date of commencing such business,
file a return with the Tax Administrator setting forth his name, his
business and business address and such information as may be necessary
in arriving at the actual gross amount of business transacted by him
during his first month of business and the amount of the tax due.
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, within seven days from the day he completed such
business, file a return with the Tax Administrator setting forth his
name, his business address and such information as may be necessary
in arriving at the actual gross amount of business transacted by him
during such period and the amount of tax due.
F.
Any person going out of or ceasing to do business
shall, within 14 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, without interest, of any excess
tax paid for the tax year in which business was terminated.
The Tax Administrator shall, upon payment to
him of the mercantile tax, give the person paying the same a receipt
therefor or the Tax Administrator, as the case may be.
[Amended 2-16-1995 by Ord. No. 885]
A.
The mercantile tax levied pursuant to this article
shall be computed on the date on which the taxpayer is required to
file a return as set forth above. The tax so computed shall be paid
in quarterly installments on or before April 30, July 31, October
31 and January 31. If the tax is not paid by the dates set forth,
a penalty of 10% of the tax due shall be added thereto, plus interest
of 11/4% of the tax due for each month or fractional part thereof
from the day it is due and payable until paid. Where suit is brought
for the recovery of tax, penalty or interest, the taxpayer shall be
liable for an additional amount equal to the costs of collection.
B.
The Tax Administrator, or his authorized agent, shall
be authorized to waive interest, or penalty, or both, in whole or
in part, under the following circumstances only:
(1)
Where litigation of the amount of taxes due is pending
or threatened and waiver of interest, or penalty, or both, on past
amounts owed is proposed as part of an overall settlement of the litigation.
(2)
Where the waiver of interest, or penalty, or both,
is part of an agreement under which the entire principal amount of
the taxes due shall be paid to the borough whether litigation is pending
or threatened or not.
On or before April 15 of each year, beginning in 1987, every person subject to the tax hereby imposed shall make a final return to the Collector showing the actual volume of business transacted by the taxpayer during the preceding license year. Such final return shall state the amount of gross volume of business as set forth in the first tax return, § 267-49, Returns, the amount of tax paid since the filing of the first tax return and the amount of tax due upon the final computation. Each final return shall be documented by an appropriate schedule to verify the accuracy thereof.
[Amended 11-19-1992 by Ord. No. 846; 8-15-1996 by Ord. No. 907]
A.
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 mercantile tax 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 pay a civil penalty of not more than $600 for each offense plus
costs of collection, including attorney's fees.
B.
Each day on which such person violated this article
will be considered as a separate offense and subject to penalty as
aforeprovided.
A.
The Tax Administrator is charged with the duties of
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 Administrator and his duly appointed Deputies
shall recommend to the Councilmen of the Borough of Media rules and
regulations relating to any matter pertaining to the collection, 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 be charged with enforcing the provisions of this article and any
rules and/or regulations promulgated pursuant hereto.
C.
In the event that the person to be assessed neglects
or refuses to make a return, then in such case the Tax Administrator
or his duly appointed Deputies shall assess said person or persons
on such an amount of whole or gross volume of business as said Tax
Administrator or his Deputies deem reasonable and appropriate. In
all cases of assessment the Tax Administrator 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 mercantile tax imposed or levied.
D.
The taxpayer shall maintain such records and books
or accounts as will enable him to make a true and accurate return
in accordance with the provisions of this 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 Administrator or his Deputies
to verify all transactions. The Tax Administrator or his Deputies
are hereby authorized to examine the books, papers and records of
any person or persons subject to or supposed 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 Administrator
shall have the right to appeal to the Court of Common Pleas, as in
other cases.
Any information gained by the Tax Administrator
or any other official, agent or employee of the borough 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 and not
for any other purpose.
A.
The Tax Administrator or his duly appointed Deputies
shall have the power, in the name of the borough, to institute proceedings
against any and all persons who violate the provisions of this article.
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 the interest and penalties herein imposed.
A.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed
to empower the borough 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 borough under the 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 law, the decision of the court shall not affect
or impair the right to impose the taxes or the validity of the taxes
or the validity of the taxes so imposed upon other persons as herein
provided.
This article is enacted pursuant to the authority
of the Local Tax Enabling Act, 1965, December 31, P.L. 1257, as amended,
and as provided by the Local Tax Reform Act, 1988, December 13, P.L.
1121, No. 145.[1] It shall become effective on the earliest date permitted
by the Acts and shall continue thereafter unless amended or repealed.
In the alternative, Ordinance No. 779 is reenacted pursuant to the
authority of the Local Tax Enabling Act, 1965, December 31, P.L. 1257,
as amended and as provided by the Local Tax Reform Act, 1988, December
13, P.L. 1121, No. 145, effective on the earliest date permitted by
the Acts, and shall continue thereafter unless amended or repealed.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 6901
et seq.
