[Adopted 11-29-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-12[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance superseded former
Art. V, Emergency and Municipal Services Tax, adopted 4-5-1967 by
Ord. No. 1967-9, as amended.
The following words and phrases, when used in
this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section,
except where the context or language clearly indicates or requires
a different meaning:
The person or entity appointed by the Board of Commissioners
to collect the tax imposed by this article.
[Added 10-28-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-06]
An individual, partnership, association, corporation, governmental
body, agency or other entity employing one or more persons on a salary,
wage, commission or other compensation basis, including a self-employed
person.
The twelve-month period beginning January 1 and ending December
31 and subsequent twelve-month periods thereafter.
Includes the singular and plural number as well as male,
female and neuter genders.
Any person, male or female, engaged in any occupation, trade
or profession within the Township of Caln.
Any trade, profession, business or undertaking of any type,
kind or character, including services, domestic or other, carried
on or performed within the Township of Caln for which compensation
is charged or received, whether by means of salary, wages, commissions
or fees for services rendered.
The local services tax in the amount of $52 levied by this
article.
The Tax Collection Committee established to govern and oversee
the collection of earned income tax and, at the discretion of the
Board of Commissioners, the local services tax pursuant to the Local
Tax Enabling Act.
[Added 10-28-2010 by Ord.
No. 2010-06]
All the area within the Township of Caln, including the Veterans
Administration Hospital.
The Treasurer of the Township of Caln.
A.
The Township of Caln hereby levies and imposes a local
services tax on each occupation engaged in by individuals within the
Township of Caln beginning with the fiscal year which commences January
1, 2008, and each fiscal year thereafter; provided, however, that
any and all individuals earning less than $12,000 per year from all
sources shall be exempt from payment of said local services tax. This
tax is in addition to all other taxes of any kind or nature heretofore
levied by the Township of Caln.
B.
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 Township’s
Tax Collector, pursuant to rules and regulations 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.
[Amended 10-28-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-06]
C.
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 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.
D.
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 E below.
E.
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.
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 Veterans' 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.
Beginning with the first day of January in each
fiscal year commencing with fiscal year 2008, each occupation, as
hereinbefore defined, engaged in within the Township of Caln is subject
to a local services tax in the amount of $52 per annum, said tax to
be paid by the individual so engaged.
[Amended 10-28-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-06]
Each employer within the Township of Caln, as
well as those employers situated outside the Township of Caln but
who engage in business within the Township of Caln, is hereby charged
with the duty of collection from each of his employees engaged by
him and the said employees performing services within Caln Township
for him the said tax of $52 per annum and making a return and payment
thereof to the Tax Collector. Further, each employer is hereby required
to deduct this tax from each employee in his employ, whether said
employee is paid by salary, wages or commission and whether all such
services or only part thereof are performed within the Township of
Caln. The tax shall be deducted 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 and the forms filed and payment
made to the Tax Collector on a quarterly basis.
[Amended 10-28-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-06]
Each employer shall prepare and file a return
showing a computation of the tax on forms to be supplied to him by
the Tax Collector. If the employer fails to file said return and pay
said tax, whether or not he makes collection thereof from the salary,
wages or commissions paid by him from his employees, the employer
shall be responsible for the payment of the tax in full as though
the tax had originally been levied against him.
[Amended 10-28-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-06]
Each employer shall use his employment records
as of the first day of January in each 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 each year. Supplemental
reports and payment of taxes collected shall be made by each employer
on the following schedule:
[Amended 10-28-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-06]
Each individual who shall have more than one
occupation within the Township of Caln shall be subject to the payment
of this tax on his principal occupation, and his principal employer
shall deduct this tax and deliver to him evidence of deductions on
a form to be furnished to the employer by the Tax Collector, which
form shall be evidence of deduction having been made and, when presented
to any other employer, shall be authority for such employer to not
deduct this tax from the employee’s wages but to include such
employee on his return by setting forth his name, address and the
name and account number of the employer who deducted this tax.
[Amended 10-28-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-06]
All self-employed individuals who perform services
of any type or kind or are engaged in any occupation or profession
within the Township of Caln shall be required to comply with this
article and pay the tax to the Tax Collector on a quarterly basis.
All employers and self-employed individuals
residing or having their place of business outside the Township of
Caln but who perform services of any type or kind or engage in any
occupation or profession within the Township of Caln do, by virtue
thereof, agree to be bound by and subject themselves to the provisions,
penalties and regulations promulgated under this article with the
same force and effect as though they were residents of the Township
of Caln. Further, any individual engaged in an occupation within the
Township of Caln and an employee of a nonresident employer may, for
the purpose of this article, be considered a self-employed person,
and in the event this tax is not paid, the Township shall have the
option of proceeding against either the employer or employee for the
collection of this tax as hereinafter provided.
A.
It shall be the duty of the Tax Collector to accept
and receive payments of this tax and to keep a record thereof showing
the amount received by him from each employer or self-employed person,
together with the date the tax was received.
[Amended 10-28-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-06]
B.
The Treasurer is hereby charged with the administration
and enforcement of this article and is hereby charged and empowered
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 of the payroll
records of any employer subject to this article, and the examination
and correction of any return made in compliance with this article
and any payment alleged or found to be incorrect or as to which overpayment
is claimed or found to have occurred. Any person aggrieved by any
decision of the Treasurer shall have the right of appeal to the Court
of Common Pleas of Chester County as in other cases provided.
C.
The Treasurer is hereby authorized to examine the
books and payroll records of any employer in order to verify the accuracy
of any return made by an employer or, if no return was made, to ascertain
the tax due. Each employer is hereby directed and required to give
the Treasurer the means, facilities and opportunity for such examination.
A.
In the event that any tax under this article remains due or unpaid 30 days after the due dates set forth above in § 141-48, the Township may sue for the recovery of any such tax due or unpaid under this article, together with interest and penalty.
[Amended 10-28-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-06]
B.
If for any reason the tax is not paid when due, interest
at the rate of 6% on the amount of said tax shall be calculated beginning
with the due date of said tax, and a penalty of 10% shall be added
to the flat rate of said tax for nonpayment thereof. Where suit is
brought for the recovery of this tax, the individual liable therefor
shall, in addition, be responsible and liable for the costs of collection.
A.
Whoever makes any false or untrue statement on any
return required by this article, or whoever refuses inspection of
his books, records or accounts in his custody and control setting
forth the number of employees subject to this tax who are in his employment,
or whoever fails or refuses to file any return required by this article,
shall, upon summary conviction before an issuing authority having
jurisdiction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than
$100 for each offense and, in default of payment of said fine, be
imprisoned in Chester County Prison for a period not exceeding 30
days for each offense. It is further provided that the action to enforce
the fine and penalty herein provided may be instituted against any
person in charge of the business of any employer who has failed or
refuses to file a return required by this article.
B.
The continuation of a violation for each successive
day shall constitute a separate offense, and the person or persons
allowing or permitting the continuation of the violation may be punished
as provided above for each separate offense.
The Township shall utilize the funds received
from the tax imposed by this article for the following purposes only:
police, fire and/or medical emergency services; road construction
and/or maintenance; reduction of property taxes; and property tax
relief through the implementation of a homestead and farmstead exclusion.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed
to empower the Township of Caln to levy and collect the tax hereby
imposed on any occupation not within the taxing power of the Township
of Caln under the Constitution of the United States and the laws of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
