This article shall be known and may be cited
as the "Local Services Tax Ordinance."
As used in this article, the following words
and phrases shall have the meanings prescribed to them in this section,
except where the context or language clearly indicates or requires
a different meaning:
COLLECTOR
The person, persons, public or private agency, association
and/or corporate entity designated by the Board of Supervisors of
the Township of Pine to collect the tax and to carry out and administer
the provisions of this article.
COMPENSATION
Salaries, wages, commissions, tips, bonuses, fees, gross
receipts or any other income.
EARNED INCOME and NET PROFITS
Shall have the same meaning as those terms are given in § 13
of the Local Tax Enabling Act, Act 511 of 1965 (53 P.S. § 6313), as amended.
EMERGENCY SERVICES
Shall include emergency medical services, police services
and/or fire services.
EMPLOYER
Any person, partnership, limited partnership, unincorporated
association, institution, trust, corporation, governmental agency
or any other body engaged in business or situated in the Township
and employing one or more employees engaged in any occupation, other
than domestic servants.
EXEMPTION CERTIFICATE
An exemption certificate substantially in the form of the
uniform certificate prescribed by the Pennsylvania Department of Community
and Economic Development 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, which exemption certificate has attached to
it a copy of all of 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.
LOCAL SERVICES
Emergency services; road construction and/or maintenance;
reduction of property taxes; and property tax relief through implementation
of a homestead and farmstead exclusion in accordance with 53 Pa.C.S.A.
Chapter 85, Subchapter F.
OCCUPATION
Any livelihood, job, trade, profession, business or enterprise
of any kind, including services, domestic or other, for which any
compensation is received or charged.
TAX
The tax imposed by this article.
TAXPAYER
Any natural person liable for the tax levied by this article.
The tax levied by §
128-66 shall not be imposed upon the following persons:
A. Any person who 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 permanent disability.
B. 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 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.
C. Any natural person whose total earned income and net
profits from all sources within the Township during the taxable year
is less than $12,000.
Every taxpayer who is self-employed, or whose tax for any other reason is not collected under §
128-68 of this article, shall file a return on a form prescribed by the Collector and shall pay a pro-rata share of the tax directly to the Collector within 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter. The pro-rata share of the tax assessed on a taxpayer for a calendar quarter shall be determined by dividing the rate of the tax levied for the calendar year by four.
Both resident and nonresident taxpayers shall,
by virtue of engaging in an occupation within the Township, be subject
to the tax and the provisions of this article.
The Collector shall collect, by suit or otherwise,
all tax, interest, costs, fines and penalties due under this article
and unpaid. If for any reason any tax is not paid when due, interest
at the rate of 6% per year on the amount of unpaid tax and an additional
penalty of 1/2 of 1% of the amount of unpaid tax for each month or
fraction of month during which the tax remains unpaid, shall be added
and collected. Whenever suit is brought for the recovery of unpaid
tax, the taxpayer shall, in addition, be liable for the costs of collection
(including but not limited to attorneys' fees), as well as for interest
and penalties. The Collector may accept payment under protest of the
tax claimed by the Township in any case where any person disputes
the Township's claim for the tax. If a court of competent jurisdiction
thereafter decides that there has been overpayment to the Collector,
the Collector shall refund the amount of the overpayment to the person
who paid under protest.
Any person who has overpaid the tax may obtain
a refund by making a written application for a refund to the Collector
no later than one year after payment of the tax or three years after
the due date for payment of the tax, whichever is later, and satisfactorily
proves to the Collector an entitlement to the refund. Refunds made
within 75 days of a refund request or 75 days after the last day the
employer is required to remit the tax to the Collector for the last
quarter of the calendar year, whichever is later, shall not be subject
to interest imposed under 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 8426. A refund
shall be provided only for an amount overpaid in a calendar year that
exceeds $1.
The Collector shall provide a taxpayer a receipt
of payment of the tax upon request by the taxpayer.
The tax shall not apply to any subject of tax
or person not within the taxing power of the Township under the Constitution
of the United States and the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Any taxpayer may file a petition, in the form
and under the requirements of the Township of Pine Tax Disclosure
Statement, to appeal the assessment, determination or refund of tax. The Township shall prepare, utilize and distribute a tax Disclosure Statement, in the form set forth in Attachment 1 of Chapter
128 of the Code of the Township of Pine, the provisions of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference into this article, which shall, in simple and nontechnical terms, set forth: the rights of taxpayers and obligations of the local taxing authority during an audit or administrative review; the administrative and judicial procedures by which a taxpayer may appeal or seek judicial review of any adverse decision of the local taxing authority; the procedure for filing and processing refund claims and taxpayer complaints; and enforcement procedures. The local taxing authority shall notify (with such notification to be in the form provided by Act 50 of 1998) any taxpayer contacted regarding the assessment, audit, determination, review or collection of an eligible tax of the availability of such Tax Disclosure Statement and shall make copies available to taxpayers upon request at no charge to the taxpayer, including mailing costs.
This article shall continue in force from year
to year without annual reenactment.
The Township's use of the funds derived from
the tax shall be limited to local services, and no less than 25% of
such funds shall be used for emergency services, all as required by
Act 7 of 2007.
Except as set forth hereafter, all ordinances
or parts of ordinances inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed;
provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed to repeal
the imposition and collection of an occupational privilege tax, plus
applicable penalties and interest, for calendar year 2008 and for
all prior calendar years, as the same exists prior to the date of
enactment of the provisions of this article.