[Adopted 5-10-1966 by Ord. No. 24]
A. 
The following words or phrases, when used in this article shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
ASSOCIATION
Any partnership, limited partnership or other form of unincorporated enterprise owned, operated or conducted by two or more persons.
BOARD
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of Bethel, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
DEED
Any instrument or writing, excepting a mortgage, testamentary writing, or lease, whereby any real property, or any interest therein, is granted, bargained, sold, transferred, conveyed, assigned, vested, delivered or accepted.
PERSON
Every natural person, co-partnership, association or corporation. Whenever used in any clause prescribing or imposing a penalty, the term "person," as applied to co-partnerships or associations, shall mean the partners or members thereof, and as applied to corporations shall mean the officers and directors thereof.
TAKING POSSESSION
The transaction, or the act, or the exercise of the privilege, of taking actual possession by the transferee of the real property involved in the transfer. Taking actual possession, within the meaning of this definition, shall include, but shall not be limited to, entry upon said real property by the transferee, his agent, tenant, licensee, or by any other person for the transferee, or the attornment to the transferee by a tenant in possession, or the exercise by the transferee of any of the incidents of ownership, or the transferee's compliance with or assumption of any of the responsibilities of ownership, including, but not limited to, the act of paying real estate taxes, each and all of which shall be deemed to occur at the site of the said real property regardless of where the deed making the transfer is made, executed, delivered, accepted or recorded, or where actual settlement on such transfer takes place.
TAX
The tax levied, assessed and imposed by this article.
TAX COLLECTOR OR COLLECTOR
The person elected or designated by the Township Supervisors to collect or receive the taxes imposed by this article.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Bethel, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
TRANSFER
The transfer for value by deed of real property, or of any interest in real property, situate wholly or in part within the boundaries of the Township, regardless of where the instruments making the transfer are made, executed, delivered, accepted or recorded, or where the actual settlement on such transfer takes place. Transfers by lease, will or by the intestate laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are expressly excluded from this definition.
TRANSFEREE
The person who is the grantee in the deed.
TRANSFEROR
The person who is the grantor in the deed.
VALUE
The gross sale price of the real property, or any interest therein, involved in the transfer, which shall be the sum of the actual cash paid, the market value of any property exchanged, the amount of obligations reduced, cancelled or satisfied, the amount of purchase money or other obligations made or given, if any, and the amount due on all liens, mortgages and other encumbrances under and subject to which the transfer is made.
B. 
The singular shall include the plural and the masculine shall include the feminine and the neuter.
This article shall be cited as the "Township of Bethel Real Estate Transfer Tax Ordinance," and the tax herein and hereby imposed shall be designated as the "Township of Bethel Real Estate Transfer Tax."
A. 
An excise tax to provide revenue for general Township purposes is hereby imposed upon every transfer, except as otherwise provided in this article, at the rate of 1% of the value of the real property, or of any interest therein, transferred. Where the transfer involves real property situate partly within and partly without the boundaries of the Township, the tax hereby levied shall be only on that part of the value as apportioned to the part of said real property situate within the boundaries of the Township.
B. 
An excise tax to provide revenue for general Township purposes is hereby imposed upon taking possession, except as otherwise provided in this article, at the rate of 1% of the value of the real property, or of any interest therein, involved in the transfer, unless the tax imposed by Subsection A hereof shall have been paid. Where the real property involved in the transfer is situate partly within and partly without the boundaries of the Township, the tax hereby levied shall be only on that part of the value as apportioned to the part of the said real property situate within the boundaries of the Township.
A. 
The tax imposed by § 408-12A hereof shall be due from and paid by the transferor.
B. 
The tax imposed by § 408-12B hereof shall be due from and paid by the transferee if the transferor, for any reason, shall not pay the tax imposed by § 408-12A hereof, and the transferee shall remain liable until the tax, penalty and interest have been discharged or paid according to the provisions of this article.
On and after the effective date of this article, every transferor or his agent in any transfer taxable hereunder, shall, prior to the delivery or acceptance of the deed, place thereon a certificate signed by him or for him by a title insurance company, licensed real estate broker or attorney at law, which shall set forth the value of the real property transferred, the amount of real estate transfer tax imposed hereby, that the same has been paid, and the date of payment. No transferee or his agent shall offer for recording or record, any deed in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, which deed does not contain said certificate nor unless the tax hereby imposed shall first have been paid.
A. 
No tax shall be due under the provisions of this article if the transfer is from a corporation, association, trust, community chest or foundation organized exclusively for charitable, religious or educational purposes, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private person.
B. 
No tax shall be due under the provisions of this article if the transfer is from or to the United States of America, or from or to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or from or to any county, city, township, borough, school district or institution district.
C. 
No tax shall be due under the provisions of this article on a transfer or a taking of possession for no value from agent to principal or principal's nominee involving real property heretofore purchased with the funds of the principal if a tax under this article was paid on the prior transfer or taking of possession to or by the agent.
D. 
No tax shall be due under the provisions of this article on a transfer between husband and wife or on a transfer between persons who were previously husband and wife but who have since been divorced, provided such transfer is made within three months of the date of the granting of the final decree in divorce, and the property or interest therein subject to such transfer was acquired by the husband and wife or husband or wife prior to the granting of the final decree in divorce.
E. 
No tax shall be due under the provisions of this article on a transfer between parent and child or the spouse of such a child or between parent and trustee for the benefit of a child or the spouse of such child.
F. 
No tax shall be due under the provisions of this article on correctional deeds without consideration.
A. 
The tax imposed by § 408-12A hereof shall become due and payable by the transferor at the time of the delivery of the deed, and in any instance where the transferor or his agent does not pay the tax at the time of the delivery of the deed, the tax imposed by § 408-12B hereof shall become due and payable by the transferee at the time of acceptance of the deed by the transferee or his agent.
B. 
The tax imposed by § 408-12A, or the tax imposed by § 408-12B hereof, shall be paid to the Collector and either the transferor or the transferee, whoever shall pay the tax, shall file with the Collector, on forms to be prescribed and prepared by the Collector, a record of the transfer, in triplicate, setting forth the true, complete and actual value of the real property and such other information as the Collector may require. The report shall be signed by either the transferor or the transferee or be signed for one of them by a title insurance company, licensed real estate broker or attorney at law.
C. 
On and after the effective date of this article, every person who is a transferee in any deed involving the transfer of real estate situate wholly or partly within the boundaries of the Township where the transfer of such real estate is not taxable under the provisions of this article, shall file with the Collector a report of the conveyance or transfer, in triplicate, setting forth the facts required in Subsection B of this section.
A. 
The tax imposed by § 408-12A or the tax imposed by § 408-12B hereof, together with interest and penalties, if any, shall be paid to the Tax Collector, who is hereby charged with the collection thereof.
B. 
The Tax Collector shall collect on behalf of the Township, and for the use and benefit of the Township all taxes, interest and penalties received, collected or recovered hereunder, and pay over the same to the Township. All payments made by the Collector to the Township shall be accompanied by an accurate written report of the collections transmitted.
C. 
The Collector is authorized and empowered to prescribe, adopt and promulgate rules, regulations and forms relating to any matter or thing pertaining to the administration and enforcement of this article and the collection of the tax, interest and penalties hereby imposed, subject to the approval of the Board.
All taxes imposed by this article not paid within 10 days after the due date shall bear interest from the due date at the rate of 1/2% per month until paid, and in addition, a penalty of 10% of the tax is hereby imposed for failure to pay said tax within 10 days after the due date.
All taxes, interest and penalties imposed by this article shall be recovered as other debts of like character are now by law recoverable.
The tax, together with interest and penalties, hereby imposed, when due and unpaid, shall be a lien upon the real property which is the subject of the transfer, within the boundaries of the Township, said lien to be effective as of the date when the tax becomes due hereunder, and to continue until discharged by payment or as provided by law. The Solicitor of the Township is hereby authorized and empowered to file a lien or claim, or otherwise proceed according to law, for the collection of any unpaid tax, interest or penalty hereunder.
It shall be unlawful for any person falsely or fraudulently to do any act or make any return, statement, or certificate under this article, or to fail to pay the tax, interest and penalty, if any, imposed by this article.
Any person who shall fail, neglect or refuse to comply with any of the provisions of this article, in addition to any other penalty herein provided, upon summary conviction before a Magisterial District Judge, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not to exceed $300 and costs of prosecution for each and every offense, and further shall be required to pay the amount of the tax, together with all interest and penalties, which should have been paid under the terms of this article, or to undergo imprisonment for not more than 30 days for the nonpayment of the same within 10 days from the imposition thereof.
The tax levied under this article shall become effective five days after adoption, subject, however, to the provisions of the Act of June 25, 1947, P.L. 1145, its supplements and amendments, and/or Act 511, enacted December 31, 1965,[1] as to when this tax is effective, where another political subdivision has levied a like tax, and the said tax shall be imposed for the fiscal year of the Township, beginning the first Monday of January 1966.
[1]
Editor's Note: See now 53 P.S. § 6924.101 et seq.