The Horsham Township Council, for the purpose of providing revenue
for local services, including but not limited to emergency services,
road maintenance and construction, reductions in property taxes and
property tax relief, does hereby impose on each adult resident and
nonresident employed and/or engaged in an occupation within the jurisdiction
of Horsham Township a local services tax at a flat rate which said
tax shall be in addition to all other taxes levied and assessed by
the Township pursuant to any other laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Beginning on the effective date of this article, each adult
resident or nonresident employed within the boundaries of Horsham
Township shall be required to pay an annual local services tax in
an amount of $52.
The local services tax shall not be subject to the imposition
of the Local Tax Enabling Act discount and penalty provisions in regard to the levy
and collection of this local services tax.
The notice of tax due from the Township Manager or other individual
or entity authorized by Council to collect the tax shall constitute
his warrant for the collection of the tax as hereby assessed. Each
employer within Horsham Township shall cooperate with the Township
in identifying those people employed within the Township.
The following persons shall be exempt from the local services
tax:
A. Any person who served in any war or armed conflict in which the United
States was engaged and honorably discharged or released under honorable
circumstances from active duty, 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 100% 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.
C. Any person who earns less than $12,000 in earned income and net profits
from all sources within Horsham Township for the calendar year in
which the local services tax is levied.
(1) A person seeking to claim an exemption from the local services tax
may annually file an exemption certificate with Horsham Township,
any individual or entity authorized by Council to collect the local
services tax, and with the person's employer affirming that the
person reasonably expects to receive earned income and net profits
from all sources within Horsham Township of less than $12,000 in the
calendar year for which the exemption certificate is filed. 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 Horsham Township
for the year prior to the fiscal year for which the employee is requesting
to be exempted from the local services tax. Upon receipt of the exemption
certificate and until otherwise instructed by Horsham 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. Employers shall ensure that the exemption certificate
forms, which are provided by the Department of Community and Economic
Development, are readily available to employees at all times and shall
furnish each new employee with a form at the time of hiring. For purposes
of this section, earned income and net profits shall have the same
meanings as in Section 13 of the Local Tax Enabling Act, as amended,
53 P.S. § 6913, as amended.
(2) With respect to a person who claimed an exemption for a given calendar year from the local services tax, upon notification to an employer by the person or by Horsham 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 under Subsection
C(3) below.
(3) If a person who claimed an exemption for a given calendar year from the local services tax becomes subject to the tax for the calendar year under Subsection
C(2) above, 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
C(2), 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 subsection is subsequently severed in that calendar year, the person shall be liable for any outstanding balance of tax due, and the Township may pursue collection under this article.
A person claiming the right to a refund for the local services
tax shall follow the regulations governing refunds in accordance with
53 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 8425 and 8426, as amended, and/or any
Township ordinance or resolution governing said refunds.
Any resident or nonresident who fails or refuses to pay the
local services tax or to render accurate information to an assessor
concerning the status of their employment or age shall, upon conviction
thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600 and, in
default of payment, to imprisonment for a term not to exceed 30 days.
The Township and any other individual or entity authorized by Council
to collect the local services tax may also proceed with all other
available remedies, including but not limited to filing an action
for the recovery of any tax due or unpaid under this article, together
with interest and penalty.
This article shall become effective on January 1, 2010.