[Adopted 11-17-2008 by Ord. No. 346[1]]
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:
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.
Salaries, wages, commissions, tips, bonuses, fees, gross
receipts or any other income.
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[1]), as amended.
Shall include emergency medical services, police services
and/or fire services.
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.
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.
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.[2]
Any livelihood, job, trade, profession, business or enterprise
of any kind, including services, domestic or other, for which any
compensation is received or charged.
The tax imposed by this article.
Any natural person liable for the tax levied by this article.
The Township of Pine.
A.
For local services purposes, a tax is hereby levied upon the privilege of engaging in an occupation within the Township. Each natural person who exercises such privilege for any length of time in any year shall be assessed and shall pay the tax in the amount equal to the pro-rata share of the annual amount of $52 in accordance with the provisions of this article, subject to the exemptions set forth in § 128-67 of this article.
B.
Any tax validly imposed by any school district on
the privilege of engaging in an occupation within the Township in
accordance with Act 7 of 2007 shall be deducted from the amount of
the tax imposed 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.
A.
Every employer shall, within 15 days after the effective
date of this article or within 15 days of first becoming an employer
thereafter, register with the Collector the employer's name, address
and such other information as the Collector may require.
B.
As to each taxpayer employed for any length of time
during any payroll period of an employer during the calendar year,
each employer shall deduct a pro-rata share of the tax from compensation
payable to the taxpayer with respect to such payroll period. The pro-rata
share of the tax assessed on a taxpayer for a payroll period shall
be determined by dividing the rate of the tax levied for the calendar
year by the number of payroll periods established by the employer
for the calendar year. For purposes of determining the pro-rata share
of the tax, an employer shall round down the amount of tax deducted
for each payroll period to the nearest 1/100 of a dollar. Each employer
shall file a return on a form prescribed by the Collector and pay
the Collector the full amount of all such taxes deducted during a
calendar quarter within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter.
C.
Any employer who discontinues business or ceases operation
before December 31 of any year shall, within 15 days after discontinuing
business or ceasing operation, file the return hereinabove required
and pay the tax to the Collector.
D.
The failure of any employer to deduct the tax shall
not relieve the employee from the duty to file a return and pay the
tax. Any employer who fails to deduct the tax as required by this
section or who fails to pay such tax to the Collector, shall be liable
for such tax in full as though the tax had originally been levied
against such employer. No employer shall be liable for failure to
deduct the tax if the failure to deduct the tax 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.
E.
The employer shall not deduct the tax but shall maintain adequate records concerning the employees in the cases described in Subsection E(1) and (2) below.
(1)
In the case of concurrent employment, 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 deducted, and a statement from the employee that
the pay statement is from the employee's principal employer and that
the employee will notify other employers of a change in the principal
place of employment within two weeks of its occurrence.
(2)
In the case of an employee claiming the exemption set forth at § 128-67C, if the employee has provided an exemption certificate to the employer, the Collector has not otherwise instructed the employer, the employer has not received notification from the person who claimed the exemption or from the Collector 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, and the employer has not paid to the person earned income within the Township in an amount equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that calendar year.
(3)
The employer shall file with the Collector a copy of each exemption certificate, including attachments, received by the employer no later than the end of the first payroll period as to which the employee claims the exemption set forth at § 128-67C.
(4)
If a person has claimed the exemption under § 128-67C for a given calendar year from the tax but either the employer has received notification from the person who claimed the exemption or from the Collector 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 the employer has paid to the person earned income within the Township in an amount equal to or in excess of $12,000 in that calendar year, then the employer shall withhold the tax for the remainder of that calendar year and the employer shall withhold from the person, for the first payroll period after receipt of the notification described above or for the first payroll period after payments described above have been made, a lump sum equal to the amount of tax that was not withheld from the person due to the exemption claimed by the person, 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 § 128-68E(4) is subsequently severed in that calendar year, the person shall be liable for any outstanding balance of tax due and the Collector may pursue collection under this article.
(5)
Each employer shall ensure that exemption certificate
forms are readily available to employees at all times and shall furnish
each new employee with an exemption certificate form at the time of
hiring.
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.
A.
The Collector, on behalf of the Township, shall collect
and receive the tax, interest, fines and penalties imposed by this
article and shall maintain records showing interest, fines and penalties
imposed by this article and shall maintain records showing the amounts
received and the dates such amounts were received.
B.
The Collector shall prescribe and issue all forms
necessary for the administration of the tax and may adopt and enforce
regulations relating to any matter pertaining to the administration
of this article, including, but not limited to, requirements for collection
through employers, requirements for evidence and records, and provisions
for the examination and correction of returns.
C.
The Collector and agents designated by the Collector
may examine the records of any employer or supposed employer or of
any taxpayer or supposed taxpayer in order to ascertain the tax due
or verify the accuracy of any return. Every employer or supposed employer
and every taxpayer or supposed taxpayer shall give the Collector and
any agent designated by the Collector all means, facilities and opportunity
for the examinations hereby authorized.
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.
A.
The situs of the tax shall be the place of employment
on the first day the person becomes subject to the tax during each
payroll period. In the event a person is engaged in more than one
occupation, that is, concurrent employment, or an occupation which
requires the person work in more than one political subdivision during
a payroll period, the priority of claim to collect the tax shall be
in the following order:
(1)
First, the political subdivision in which a person
maintains his or her principal office or is principally employed;
(2)
Second, the political subdivision in which the person
resides and works if the tax is levied by that political subdivision;
(3)
Third, the political subdivision in which a person
is employed and which imposes the tax nearest in miles to the person's
home.
B.
In case of dispute, a tax receipt of the taxing authority
for that calendar year declaring that the taxpayer has made prior
payment constitutes prima facie certification of payment to all other
political subdivisions.
A.
Any person, firm or corporation or entity who violates
a provision of this article or who fails to comply therewith or with
any of the requirements thereof shall, upon being found liable therefor
in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township, pay a
civil penalty of not less than $100 nor more than $300 for each violation,
plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the Township
in the enforcement proceedings. The civil enforcement proceeding shall
be initiated by complaint or by such other means as may be provided
by the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Pa.R.C.P. No. 51 et seq.
B.
A separate offense shall arise for each day or portion
thereof in which a violation is found to exist or for each section
of this article found to have been violated. All fines and penalties
collected for violation of this article shall be paid to the Township's
Treasurer.
C.
The Township may also commence appropriate actions
in equity, at law or other, to prevent, restrain, correct, enjoin
or abate violations of this article.
D.
The initial determination of a violation of this article
and the service of notice of violation are hereby delegated to the
Township Manager, the Collector and their designees and to any other
officer or agent that the Township Manager or the Board of Supervisors
of the Township shall deem appropriate.
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,[1] 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.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Pa.R.C.P. No. 51 et seq.
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.
