[1]
Editor's Note: The former title of Art. III,
Emergency and Municipal Services Tax, was amended to Local Services
Tax 10-25-2010 by Ord. No. 1341-2010.
A.
CITY OF COATESVILLE
COLLECTOR
CORPORATION
DCED
DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
EARNED INCOME
EMPLOYER
FISCAL YEAR
INDIVIDUAL
NET PROFITS
NONRESIDENT
OCCUPATION
PERSON
RESIDENT
SALARIES, WAGES, COMMISSIONS AND OTHER COMPENSATION
TAX
TAXPAYER
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 area within the corporate limits of the City of Coatesville.
The person, public employee or private agency designated
by the City of Coatesville to collect and administer the tax herein
imposed.
[Added 10-25-2010 by Ord. No. 1341-2010]
Any corporation or joint-stock association, organized under
the laws of the United States, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or
any other state, territory, or foreign country or dependency.
[Added 12-22-2005 by Ord. No. 1265-2005]
The Department of Community and Economic Development of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
[Added 10-25-2010 by Ord. No. 1341-2010]
The Director of Finance under whose direction this tax shall
be enforced.
The Director of Finance of the City of Coatesville.
Compensation as this term is defined in Section 13 of the
Local Tax Enabling Act, the Act of Dec. 31, 1965, P.L. 1257, § 13,
as amended, 53 P.S. § 6913, as amended.
[Added 10-25-2010 by Ord. No. 1341-2010]
An individual, partnership, association, limited liability
corporation, limited liability partnership, 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.
[Amended 10-25-2010 by Ord. No. 1341-2010]
The twelve-month period beginning January 1 and ending December
31.[1]
Any person, male or female, engaged in any occupation, trade
or profession within the corporate limits of the City of Coatesville.
[Added 10-25-2010 by Ord. No. 1341-2010]
The net income from the operation of a business, profession,
or other activity, as this term is defined in Section 13 of the Local
Tax Enabling Act, the Act of Dec. 31, 1965, P.L. 1257, § 13,
as amended, 53 P.S. § 6913, as amended.
[Added 10-25-2010 by Ord. No. 1341-2010]
An individual, fiduciary, partnership, or other entity domiciled
outside the City of Coatesville.
[Added 12-22-2005 by Ord. No. 1265-2005]
Any trade, profession, business or undertaking of any type,
kind or character, including services, domestic or other, earned on
or performed within the corporate limits of the City of Coatesville
for which compensation is charged or received; whether by means of
salary, wages, commission or fees for services rendered.
[Amended 10-25-2010 by Ord. No. 1341-2010]
A natural person, partnership, association, corporation or
fiduciary. Whenever used in any clause prescribing or imposing a
penalty, the term “person” as applied to associations
shall mean the partners or members thereof, and as applied to corporations,
the officers thereof.
[Added 12-22-2005 by Ord. No. 1265-2005]
An individual, partnership, association or other entity domiciled
in the City of Coatesville.
[Added 12-22-2005 by Ord. No. 1265-2005]
Includes salaries, wages, commissions, bonuses, incentive
payments, fees and tips that may accrue or be received by an individual
for services rendered, whether directly or through an agent and whether
in cash or in property, but shall not include periodic payments for
sick or disability benefits and those commonly recognized as old-age
benefits, retirement pay, or pensions to be paid to persons retired
from service after reaching a specific age or after a stated period
of employment; public assistance or unemployment compensation payments;
nor any wages or compensation paid by the United States to any person
for active service in the Army, Navy or Air Force of the United States
or any bonus or additional compensation paid by the United States
or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any other state for such service.
[Added 12-22-2005 by Ord. No. 1265-2005]
The local services tax levied by this article.
[Amended 5-28-1996 by Ord. No. 1012-96; 12-22-2005 by Ord. No. 1265-2005; 10-25-2010 by Ord. No.
1341-2010]
a person required hereunder to file a return on earnings
or net profits or to pay a tax thereon. The singular shall include
the plural and the masculine shall include the feminine and the neuter.
[Added 12-22-2005 by Ord. No. 1265-2005]
[1]
Editor's Note: The former definition of "individual,"
which immediately followed this definition, was repealed 12-22-2005
by Ord. No. 1265-2005.
B.
"He," "his" or "him" shall mean the singular and plural
number as well as male, female and neuter gender.
[Amended 12-22-2005 by Ord. No. 1265-2005; 10-25-2010 by Ord. No.
1341-2010]
A.
B.
Use of funds.
(1)
The local services tax revenue is restricted for the following uses:
(a)
Emergency services, which shall include emergency medical services,
police services and/or fire services;
(b)
Road construction and/or maintenance;
(c)
Reduction of property taxes; and/or
(d)
Property tax relief through implementation of a homestead and
farmstead exclusion in accordance with 53 Pa.C.S. Ch. 85 Subch. F.
(2)
The City of Coatesville shall use no less than 25% of the funds derived
from the local services tax for emergency services.
[Added 10-25-2010 by Ord. No. 1341-2010]
A.
The following persons shall be exempt from the local services tax:
(1)
Any person whose total earned income and net profits from all
sources within the City of Coatesville is less than $12,000 for the
fiscal year in which the local services tax is levied.
(2)
Any person who has 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.
(3)
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 the purposes of this Subsection A(3), "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.
B.
Refunds. The Director, in consultation with the collector and DCED,
shall establish procedures for the processing of refund claims for
any tax paid by any person who is eligible for exemption, which procedures
shall be in accord with provisions of the General Municipal Law relating
to refunds of overpayments and interest on overpayments. Refunds made
within 75 days of a refund request or 75 days after the last day the
employer is required to remit the tax for the last quarter of the
calendar year, whichever is later, shall not be subject to interest.
No refunds shall be made for amounts overpaid in a calendar year that
do not exceed $1. The Director or the collector shall determine eligibility
for exemption and provide refunds to exempt persons.
Each occupation, as hereinbefore defined, engaged
in within the corporate limits of the City of Coatesville is subject
to a local services tax in the amount of $52 per annum. A person subject
to the local services tax shall be assessed a pro rata share of the
tax for each payroll period in which the person is engaging in an
occupation, determined by dividing the combined rate of the local
services tax levied for the calendar year by the number of payroll
periods in which the individual is subject to the tax. The tax shall
be no more than $52 on each person for each calendar year, irrespective
of the number of political subdivisions within which a person may
be employed.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance provided that the tax imposed
by this ordinance would be effective 1-1-2011 and all calendar years
thereafter unless repealed or modified by ordinance of the City.
[Added 10-25-2010 by Ord. No. 1341-2010[1]]
A.
A person seeking to claim an exemption from the local services tax may annually file an exemption certificate with the City of Coatesville and with the person's employer affirming that the person reasonably expects to receive earned income and net profits from all sources within the City of Coatesville of less than $12,000 in the calendar year for which the exemption certificate is filed. The City of Coatesville shall provide a copy of the exemption certificate to the Director or the City's authorized/designated collection agency or collector. The exemption certificate shall have attached to it a copy of all the employee's last pay stubs or W-2 forms from employment within the City of Coatesville for the year prior to the fiscal year for which the employee is requesting to be exempted from the tax. Upon receipt of the exemption certificate and until otherwise instructed by the City of Coatesville or except as required by Subsection B, 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. Employers shall ensure that the exemption certificate forms are readily available to employees at all times and shall furnish each new employee with a form at the time of hiring. The exemption certificate form shall be the uniform form provided by the City of Coatesville.
B.
With respect to a person who claimed an exemption for a given calendar year from the tax, upon notification to an employer by the person or by the City of Coatesville that the person has received earned income and net profits from all sources within the City of Coatesville subdivision 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 City of Coatesville 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 under Subsection C.
C.
If a person who claimed an exemption for a given calendar year from the tax becomes subject to the tax for the calendar year under Subsection B, 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 under Subsection B, a lump sum equal to the amount of tax that was not withheld from the person due to the exemption claimed by the person under this subsection, 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, and the City of Coatesville may pursue collection under this article.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former § 203-16,
Duties of employers, as amended.
[Amended 5-28-1996 by Ord. No. 1012-96; 9-9-1996 by Ord. No. 1033-96; 10-25-2010 by Ord. No. 1341-2010]
A.
Each employer within the City of Coatesville, as well as those employers
situated outside the City of Coatesville but who engage in business
within the City of Coatesville, is hereby charged with the duty of
collecting the tax from each of his employees engaged by him or performing
for him within the City of Coatesville and making a return and payment
thereof to the collector. Further, each employer is hereby authorized
to deduct this tax for each employee in his or her employ, whether
said employee is paid by salary, wage or commission and whether or
not all such services are performed within the City of Coatesville.
B.
A person subject to the tax shall be assessed by the employer a pro rata share of the tax for each payroll period in which the person is engaging in an occupation. The pro rata share of the tax assessed on the person 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, an employer shall round down the amount of the tax collected each payroll period to the nearest 1/100 of a dollar. Collection of the tax shall be made on a payroll period basis for each payroll period in which the person is engaging in an occupation, except as provided in Subsection D of this section. For purposes of this paragraph, combined rate shall mean the aggregate annual rate of the tax levied by the school district and the municipality.
C.
No person shall be subject to the payment of the local services tax
by more than one political subdivision during each payroll period.
D.
In the case of concurrent employment, an employer shall refrain from
withholding the tax 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 withheld
and a statement from the employee that the pay statement is from the
employee's principal employer and the employee will notify other employers
of a change in principal place of employment within two weeks of its
occurrence. The employee's statement shall be provided on the form
approved by DCED.
E.
The tax shall be no more than $52 on each person for each calendar
year, irrespective of the number of political subdivisions within
which a person may be employed. The Director shall provide a taxpayer
a receipt of payment upon request by the taxpayer.
F.
No employer shall be held liable for failure to withhold the tax or for the payment of the withheld tax money to the City of Coatesville if the failure to withhold taxes 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. Further, an employer shall not be liable for payment of the local services tax in an amount exceeding the amount withheld by the employer if the employer complies with the provisions of § 203-16 of this article and remits the amount so withheld in accordance with this article.
G.
Employers shall be required to remit the local services taxes 30
days after the end of each quarter of a calendar year.
H.
Each employer shall prepare and file a return showing a computation
of the tax on forms to be supplied to the employer by the collector.
If an employer fails to file the return and pay the tax, whether or
not the employer makes collection thereof from the salary, wages or
commissions paid by him or her to an employee, except as provided
hereafter in this article, the employer shall be responsible for the
payment of the tax in full as though the tax had been originally levied
against the employer.
[Amended 12-11-1995 by Ord. No. 1009-95; 10-25-2010 by Ord. No. 1341-2010]
In each tax year, each employer shall use his
or her employment records to determine the number of employees from
whom such tax shall be deducted and paid over to the collector on
or before the 30th day following the end of each calendar quarter
of each such tax year.
[Amended 12-22-2005 by Ord. No. 1265-2005; 10-25-2010 by Ord. No.
1341-2010]
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
working in more than one political subdivision during a payroll period,
the priority of claim to collect the local services 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.
[Amended 12-11-1995 by Ord. No. 1009-95; 10-25-2010 by Ord. No. 1341-2010]
All self-employed individuals who perform services
of any type or kind, engaged in any occupation or profession within
the City of Coatesville, shall be required to comply with this article
and pay the pro rata portion of the tax due to the collector on or
before the 30th day following the end of each quarter.
All employers and residing or self-employed
individuals having their place of business outside of the City of
Coatesville but who perform services of any type or kind or engage
in any occupation or profession within the City of Coatesville 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
City of Coatesville. Further, any individual engaged in an occupation
within the City of Coatesville and an employee of a nonresident employer
may, for the purpose of this article, be considered a self-employed
person, and in the event that this tax is not paid, the City shall
have the option of proceeding against either the employer or employee
for the collection of this tax as hereinafter provided.
[Amended 9-9-1996 by Ord. No. 1033-96; 10-25-2010 by Ord. No. 1341-2010]
A.
It shall be the duty of the collector to accept and
receive payments of this tax and to keep a record thereof showing
the amount received by him or her from each employer or self-employed
person, together with the date the tax was received.
B.
The collector 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 of the examination of the payroll
records of any employer subject to this article, 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 collector shall have the right to appeal to the Court
of Common Pleas of Chester County as in other cases provided.
C.
The collector 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 collector 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 above set forth, the collector
may sue for the recovery of any such tax due or unpaid under this
article, together with interest and penalty.
[Amended 9-9-1996 by Ord. No. 1033-96; 10-25-2010 by Ord. No. 1341-2010]
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 5% 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.
[Amended 5-28-1996 by Ord. No. 1012-96]
Whoever makes any false or untrue statement
on any return required by this article, or who refuses inspection
of his or her books, records or accounts in his or her custody and
control setting forth the number of employees subject to this tax
who are in his or her employment, or whoever fails or refuses to file
any return required by this article, shall, upon summary conviction,
be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600 or be imprisoned
in Chester County Prison for a period not exceeding 90 days, or both
such fine and imprisonment, 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 for this
article.
[Amended 9-9-1996 by Ord. No. 1033-96]
A.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed
to empower the City of Coatesville to levy and collect tax hereby
imposed on any occupation not within the taxing power of the City
under the Constitution of the United States and the laws of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
B.
If the tax hereby imposed under the provisions of
this article shall be held by any court of competent jurisdiction
to be in violation of the Constitution of the United States or of
the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as to any individual,
the decision of the court shall not affect or impair the right to
impose or collect said tax, or the validity of the tax so imposed,
on other persons or individuals as herein provided.
