[Adopted 1-7-2005 by Ord. No. 05-02[1]; amended in its entirety 12-6-2007 by Ord. No. 07-06]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance superseded former Art. II, Occupational Privilege Tax, adopted 11-19-1992 by Ord. No. 92-04, as amended.
Definitions of terms used in the Code of the Township of West Brandywine are set forth in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article III, Terminology.
A. 
A tax is levied at the amount of $52 per year for any of the following purposes:
(1) 
Police, fire, medical or emergency services;
(2) 
Road construction and/or maintenance;
(3) 
Real estate tax reduction; or
(4) 
Property tax relief through the implementation of a homestead or farmstead exclusion.
B. 
The taxes levied under Subsection A shall be imposed upon:
(1) 
All nonresidents who hold an occupation in West Brandywine Township; and
(2) 
All residents who hold an occupation in West Brandywine Township.
A. 
Any and all individuals earning less than $12,000 per year from all sources shall be exempt from payment of the local services tax.
B. 
A person seeking to claim an exemption from the local services tax may annually file an exemption certificate with the Township and with the person's 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 calendar year for which the exemption certificate is filed. The Township shall provide a copy of the tax exemption certificate to the Tax Collector. Upon receipt of the exemption certificate and until otherwise instructed by the person or the Township, 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.
C. 
If a person claims an exemption from the local services tax for a given calendar year, 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 pursuant to the procedure specified in Subsection D below.
D. 
If a person who claimed an exemption for a given calendar year from the local services tax thereafter becomes subject to the tax for that calendar year, 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 that the person is subject to the tax, a lump sum equal to the amount of tax that was not withheld from the person due to the claim of exemption, 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 clause is subsequently severed in that calendar year, the person shall be liable for any outstanding balance of tax due.
E. 
Any individual who has paid a local services tax for a calendar year may, between January 1 and April 15 of the next succeeding calendar year, file an application for a rebate, and said individual shall be entitled to a rebate, provided that an application is timely filed and provided that it is proven to the satisfaction of the Tax Collector that the individual earned income in the calendar year for which the rebate is sought in an amount less than $12,000.
F. 
Additionally, the following persons shall be exempt from the local services tax:
(1) 
Any person who has served in any war or armed conflict in which the United States of America 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 that has been declared by the Veteran's Administration or its successor to be a total one-hundred-percent-permanent disability; and
(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.
Every employer who employs one or more persons on salary, wage, commission or other compensation basis whose earnings are subject to the tax imposed by this article shall deduct the amount of tax levied by this article from the salaries, wages, or compensation paid to the employee, which deduction shall be made at a maximum rate of $1 per week with the employer being required to withhold the tax on the frequency of the employee's payroll schedule with payments made to the Tax Collector on a quarterly basis.
Each employer shall use his employment records from the first day of January of each fiscal year for determining the number of employees from whom said tax shall be deducted and paid over to the Tax Collector on or before April 30 of the each year. Supplemental reports and payment of taxes collected shall be made by each employer on the following schedule:
A. 
For employees hired April 1 through June 30: pay tax and file report by July 31.
B. 
For employees hired July 1 to September 30: file report and pay tax before October 31.
C. 
For employees hired October 1 through December 31: pay tax and file report on or before January 31 of the following year.
This article and the tax herein levied shall be effective January 1, 2008, and on a continuing annual basis, unless the rate of said tax is subsequently changed.