[Adopted 12-5-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-08]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Township
of Schuylkill Local Services Tax Ordinance."
This article is enacted under the authority of the Local Tax
Enabling Act, as amended by Act No. 7 of 2007.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 6924.101 et seq.
The purpose of this article is to provide revenue for police,
fire and emergency services; road construction and maintenance; the
reduction of property taxes and for such other purposes as may be
specified for such tax from time to time by the laws of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
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, public employee or private agency designated
by Schuylkill Township to collect and administer the tax herein imposed.
The Department of Community and Economic Development of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Compensation as determined under Section 303 of the Act of March 4, 1971 (P.L. 6, No. 2), known as the "Tax Reform Code of 1971," and regulations in 61 Pa. Code Pt. I, Subpt. B, Art. V (relating to personal income tax) not including, however, wages or compensation paid to individuals on active military service. Employee business expenses are allowable deductions as determined under Article III of the Tax Reform Code of 1971. Any housing allowance provided to a member of the clergy shall not be taxable as earned income.
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.
Indicates 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 corporate limits of Schuylkill Township.
The net income from the operation of a business, profession, or other activity (except from corporations), determined under Section 303 of the Act of March 4, 1971 (P.L. 6, No. 2), known as the "Tax Reform Code of 1971," and regulations in 61 Pa. Code Pt. I, Subpt. B, Art. V (relating to personal income tax). The term does not include income which is not paid for services provided and which is in the nature of earnings from an investment. For taxpayers engaged in the business, profession or activity of farming the term shall not include:
Any interest generated from monetary accounts or investment
instrument of the farming business;
Any gain on the sale of farming machinery;
Any gain on the sale of livestock held 12 months or more for
draft, breeding or dairy purposes; and
Any gain on the sale of other capital assets of the farm.
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 Schuylkill Township for
which compensation is charged or received, whether by means of salary,
wages, commission or fees for services rendered.
The area within the corporate limits of the Township of Schuylkill.
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.
The local services tax at the rate fixed in § 328-19 of this article.
The period from January 1 until December 31 in any year;
a calendar year.
A.
The Township
of Schuylkill hereby levies and imposes on every individual engaging
in an occupation with the jurisdictional limits of the Township of
Schuylkill a tax in the amount of $52 per annum, beginning the first
day of January 2008 and continuing on a calendar basis annually thereafter,
until modified or repealed by subsequent ordinance.
B.
This tax
may be used solely for the following purposes as the same may be allocated
by the Township of Schuylkill from time to time:
(1)
Emergency
services, which shall include emergency medical services; police services
and/or fire services;
(2)
Road
construction and/or maintenance;
(3)
Reduction
of property taxes; or
(4)
Property
tax relief through implementation of a homestead and farmstead exclusion
in accordance with 53 Pa.C.S.A. Ch. 85, Subch. F (relating to homestead
property exclusion).
C.
Schuylkill
Township shall use no less than 25% of the funds derived from the
tax for emergency services.
D.
This tax
is in addition to all other taxes of any kind or nature heretofore
levied by the political subdivision. 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.
A.
Exemption. Any person whose total earned income and net profits from
all sources within the political subdivision is less than $12,000
for any calendar year in which the tax is levied is exempt from the
payment of the tax for that calendar year. In addition, the following
persons are exempt from payment of the tax:
(1)
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 disability.
(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. For the 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.
B.
Procedure to claim exemption.
(1)
A person seeking to claim an exemption from the local services tax may annually file an exemption certificate with Schuylkill Township and with the person's employer affirming that the person reasonably expects to receive earned income and net profits from all sources within Schuylkill Township of less than $12,000 in the calendar year for which the exemption certificate is filed. In the event the political subdivision utilizes a tax collection officer, it shall provide a copy of the exemption certificate to that officer. 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 Schuylkill Township 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 Schuylkill Township or except as required by Subsection B(2), 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 Schuylkill Township.
(2)
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 Schuylkill Township that the person has received earned income and net profits from all sources within Schuylkill 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 municipality 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 B(3).
(3)
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(2), 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(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 Schuylkill Township may pursue collection under this article.
C.
Refunds. The Township of Schuylkill, 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 Township of Schuylkill
or the Collector shall determine eligibility for exemption and provide
refunds to exempt persons.
A.
Each employer within Schuylkill Township, as well as those employers
situated outside Schuylkill Township but who engage in business within
Schuylkill Township, is hereby charged with the duty of collecting
the tax from each of his employees engaged by him or performing for
him within Schuylkill Township 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 political subdivision.
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 one-hundredth 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 subsection, "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 political subdivision 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 political subdivision 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 § 328-20B of this article and this section 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.
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.
Each employer shall use his employment and payroll records from
the first day of January to March 31 each year for determining the
number of employees from whom said tax shall be deducted and paid
over to the Collector on or before April 30 of the same calendar year.
Supplemental reports shall be made by each employer on July 30, October
30 and January 31 for new employees as reflected on his employment
and payroll records from April 1 to June 30, July 1 to September 30
and October 1 to December 31, and payments on these supplemental reports
shall be made on July 30, October 30 and January 31, respectively.
Each self-employed individual who has earned income or realizes
net profit, as those terms are defined herein, within the political
subdivision shall be required to comply with this article and pay
the tax due to the Collector on or before the 30th day following the
end of each quarter.
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.
All employers and self-employed individuals residing or having
their places of business outside of Schuylkill Township but who perform
services of any type or kind or engage in any occupation or profession
within Schuylkill Township 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 Schuylkill Township. Further, any individual
engaged in an occupation within Schuylkill Township and an employee
of a nonresidential employer may, for the purpose of this article,
be considered a self-employed person, and in the event his or her
tax is not paid, Schuylkill 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 Collector to accept and receive payments
of this tax and 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. It shall be the duty of the Collector to
accept and keep a record of the information submitted by employers
relating to the number of employees subject to the tax, the number
of employees exempt from the tax, the employee exemption certificates
and refunds of the tax paid to individuals and employers.
B.
The Collector is hereby charged with the administration and enforcement
of this article and is hereby charged and empowered, subject to municipal
approval, 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 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 after exhausting any administrative
remedies, 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.
B.
If for any reason the tax is not paid when due, interest at the rate
of 6% on the amount of such tax shall be calculated beginning with
the due date of the tax and a penalty of 5% shall be added to the
flat rate of such tax for nonpayment thereof. Where suit is brought
for the recovery of this tax or other appropriate remedy undertaken,
the individual liable therefor shall, in addition, be responsible
and liable for the costs of collection.
Whoever makes any false or untrue statement on any return required
by this article, or whoever refuses inspection of the 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 be guilty of a violation and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600 and costs of prosecution,
and, in default of payment of such fine and costs, to imprisonment
for not more than 30 days. The action to enforce the penalty herein
prescribed may be instituted against any person in charge of the business
of any employer who shall have failed or who refuses to file a return
required by this article.
A.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed to empower the
political subdivision to levy and collect the tax hereby imposed on
any occupation not within the taxing power of the political subdivision
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.
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 occupation
privilege tax, plus applicable penalties and interest, for calendar
year 2005 and all prior calendar years, or of an emergency and municipal
services tax, plus applicable penalties and interest, for calendar
years 2006 and 2007, as the same exist prior to this amendment.
This article shall become effective in accordance with applicable
law, with the repeal of previous occupational privilege and emergency
and municipal services tax ordinances, effective January 1, 2008.
