As used in this Article
III, unless the context indicates clearly a different meaning, the following words shall have the meanings set forth below:
COLLECTOR
Person designated by the Borough for the collection of local
services tax imposed by the 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 Section
13 of the Local Tax Enabling Act, Act 511 of 1965 (53 P.S. § 6313).
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 or situated within the Borough
employing one or more employees engaged in any occupation, other than
domestic servants.
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,
Part VII, Subpart C, 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 levied by §
130-26 of this article.
TAXPAYER
Any natural person liable for the tax levied by §
130-26 of 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
III, subject to the exemptions set forth in §
130-27 of this article.
The tax levied by §
130-26 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 municipality during the taxable year is not
in excess of $12,000.
Every taxpayer who is self-employed, or whose tax for any other reason is not collected under §
130-28 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
III.
The Borough Council, by resolution duly adopted, shall appoint the Collector. The Collector, on behalf of the Borough, shall collect and receive the taxes, interest, fines and penalties imposed by this Article
III, and shall maintain records showing interest, fines and penalties imposed by this Article
III, 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
III, 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 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 him 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
III 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, shall, in addition to the interest and penalties set forth herein, the employer and/or taxpayer not remitting the tax shall be liable for the costs of collection, including but not limited to attorney's fees and costs incurred. 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.
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 that he is entitled 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 municipality under the Constitution
of the United States and the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
This Article
III shall continue in force from year to year without annual reenactment.
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 conviction before any Justice of the Peace or District Justice,
be sentenced to pay a fine or not more than $300 and costs of such
proceedings for each offense, and in default of payment of aid fine,
be imprisoned in the Delaware County Prison for a period not exceeding
30 days for each offense. The continuation of such 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. 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
or any employer who has failed or refuses to file a return required
by this article.