This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Local Services
Tax Ordinance."
As used in this article, unless the context indicates clearly
a different meaning, the following words shall have the meanings set
forth below:
COLLECTOR
The person, persons, agency, association and/or corporate
entity designated by the Borough Council of the Borough of Emsworth
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 other income derived from engaging in an occupation.
EARNED INCOME AND NET PROFITS
Shall have the same meaning as those terms are given in § 13
of the Local Tax Enabling Act (53 P.S. § 6913, as amended.
EMERGENCY SERVICES
Emergency services, which 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 and situated within the Borough
employing one or more employees engaged in any occupation.
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
Borough 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 Borough 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.
TAX
The tax imposed by this article.
TAXPAYER
Any natural person liable for the tax levied by this article.
For local services purposes, a tax is hereby levied upon the privilege of engaging in an occupation within the Borough. 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 §
218-74.
The tax levied by §
218-73 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 Borough 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 §
218-75 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 Borough, be subject to the tax
and the provisions of this article.
The Collector, on behalf of the Borough, shall collect and receive
the taxes, 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. 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. The Collector and agents designated by him or her 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
to 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 him or her all means, facilities and opportunity
for the examinations hereby authorized.
The Collector shall collect, by suit or otherwise, all taxes,
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 as well
as for interest and penalties. The Collector may accept payment under
protest of the tax claimed by the Borough in any case where any person
disputes the Borough'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.
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 tax shall be in the following
order: first, the political subdivision in which a person maintains
his or her principal office or is principally employed; second, the
political subdivision in which the person resides and works if the
tax is levied by that political subdivision; third, the political
subdivision in which a person is employed and which imposes the tax
nearest in miles to the person's home. 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.
The Borough Secretary, 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 Borough Secretary or the Collector
shall determine eligibility for refunds to exempt persons and provide
refunds.
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 person not subject to the taxing
power of the Borough under the Constitution of the United States and
the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
This article shall continue in force from year to year without
annual reenactment.
The Borough's use of the funds derived from the tax shall
be limited to local services. No less than 25% of the funds shall
be used for emergency services.
Except as set forth hereafter, all ordinances or parts of ordinances
inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. Nothing herein shall be
construed to repeal the imposition and collection of an occupational
privilege tax, plus applicable penalties and interest, for calendar
year 2009 and all prior calendar years as the same exist prior to
the effective date of this article.