[Adopted 3-11-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-01]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Local Services Tax Ordinance."
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
COMPENSATION
Salaries, wages, commissions, tips, bonuses, fees, gross receipts, or any other earned income.
EMPLOYER
Any person, partnership, limited partnership, unincorporated association, institution, trust, corporation, governmental agency, or any other body engaged in business or situated in the Township of Blair, employing one or more employees engaged in any occupation other than domestic servants.
OCCUPATION
Any livelihood, job, trade, profession, business, or enterprise of any kind, including services, domestic or other, for which monetary compensation is received or charged.
TAX COLLECTOR
Blair County Tax Collection Bureau.
[Amended 1-7-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-01]
TAXPAYER
Any natural person liable for the tax levied by this article.
There is hereby imposed, assessed and levied a tax of $52 per calendar year commencing with the calendar year beginning January 1, 2008, and each calendar year thereafter, for the purpose of a local services tax against each individual whose place of employment during each calendar year, commencing with the calendar year beginning January 1, 2008, is in the Township of Blair, Blair County, Pennsylvania.
A. 
Any individual whose total income from all sources is less than $12,000 per year shall be exempt from the payment of the local services tax.
B. 
Up-front exemption. In order to receive an up-front exemption, employees must file an annual up-front exemption form [provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED)] with Blair Township and the employee's employer. The exemption certificate would verify that the employee reasonably expects to receive earned income and net profits of less than $12,000 from all sources within the Township of Blair for the calendar year for which the exemption certificate is filed. A copy of the employee's last pay stubs or W-2 forms from employment within Blair Township for the year prior to the calendar year for which the employee is requesting an exemption must be attached to the exemption certificate.
C. 
Military exemption. Members of a reserve component of the Armed Forces called to duty and honorably discharged veterans who served in any war or armed conflict who are blind, paraplegic, or a double or quadruple amputee as a result of military service or who are 100% disabled from a service-connected disability are exempt from payment of the LST.
The tax hereby imposed is for general revenue purposes. Said revenue may be used only for the following purposes: police, fire or emergency services; road construction or maintenance; or for the reduction of property taxes.
A. 
Each employer shall register with the Tax Collector the employer's name, address and other information the Tax Collector may require within 15 days after the effective date of this article or within 15 days after first becoming an employer.
B. 
The local services tax (LST) must be assessed and collected on a pro rata basis determined by the number of payroll period established by and employer for a calendar year. The pro rata share of the tax assessed on each taxpayer for a payroll period is calculated by dividing the combined rate of the LST by the number of payroll periods established by the employer for the calendar year. When calculating the pro rata share, employers are required to round down to the nearest one-hundredth of a dollar. For instance, a $52 tax would be collected at $1 per week for taxpayers paid weekly or at $4.33 per month for taxpayers paid monthly.
C. 
Two or more employers. Employers are only required to withhold the LST on a payroll period basis for those payroll periods in which the taxpayer is employed. When two or more employers employ a taxpayer in a payroll period, an employer is not required to withhold the LST if the taxpayer provides a pay stub from his/her principal employer accompanied by an employee statement of principal employment on a form provided by DCED that the pay stub is from the taxpayer's principal employer and that the taxpayer will notify the employer of any change in employment.
D. 
Concurrent employment. If a taxpayer has two or more jobs in different political subdivisions during a payroll period, the priority of claim to collect the LST is as follows:
(1) 
Where the taxpayer maintains his or her principal office or is principally employed;
(2) 
Where the taxpayer resides and works; and
(3) 
Where the taxpayer is employed that is nearest in miles to the taxpayer's home.
E. 
Employers are relieved of liability for the tax if they fail to withhold tax due to incorrect information provided by the taxpayer regarding the taxpayer's principal employer of if the employer complies with the provisions establishing the collection of the tax on a payroll period basis. The failure of any employer to deduct the tax shall not relieve the employee from the duty to file a return and pay the tax. Any employer who fails to deduct the tax as required by this section, or who fails to pay such tax to the Tax Collector, shall be liable for such tax in full, without deduction of the commission hereinafter provided, as though the tax had originally been levied against such employer.
F. 
Remittance. Employers must remit withheld taxes to the designated Tax Collector (the Secretary/Treasurer of the Township of Blair) within 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter.
G. 
Any employer who discontinues business or ceases operation before December 31 of any year during which this tax is in effect, shall file the return hereinabove required and pay the tax to the Tax Collector within 15 days after discontinuing business or ceasing operations.
Every taxpayer who is self-employed or whose tax for any other reason is not collected under § 362-27 of this article shall file a return on a form prescribed by the Tax Collector and shall pay the tax directly to said collector. The LST should be prorated and paid by self-employed individuals on a quarterly basis, as if their payroll period is a calendar quarter.
Both residents and nonresident taxpayers shall, by virtue of engaging in an occupation within the Township of Blair, be subject to the tax and the provisions of this article.
The total LST paid by any taxpayer in a calendar year remains limited to $52, regardless of the number of political subdivisions in which an individual works during the year. Taxpayers are not subject to the payment of the LST at more than one place of employment during a payroll period. The situs for payment is the place of employment on the first day the taxpayer becomes subject to the tax during each payroll period. Upon request, Blair Township will provide a taxpayer with a receipt for payment of the tax. Blair Township may also require the taxpayer to provide a receipt from another municipality if the taxpayer claims payment in that municipality.
The Tax Collector shall collect and receive the taxes, interests, fines and penalties imposed by this article and shall maintain records showing the amounts received and the dates such amounts were received. The Tax Collector shall prescribe and enforce regulations relating to any matter pertaining to the administration of this article. The Tax Collectors and agents designated by him may examine the records of any employer and/or supposed employer or of any 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 Tax Collector and any agent designated by him all means, facilities and opportunity for the examinations hereby authorized.
The Tax Collector shall collect by suit or otherwise all taxes, interests, 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 6.0% per year on the amount of unpaid taxes and an additional penalty of 1/2 of 1% of the amount of the 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 Tax Collector may accept payment under protest of the tax claimed by the Township of Blair in any case where any person disputes the Township's claim for the tax. If a court of competent jurisdiction thereafter decides that there has been overpayment to the Tax Collector, the Tax Collector shall refund the amount of the overpayment to the person who paid under protest. Any action instituted for such judicial determination shall be instituted within two years of the last day of the period for which the tax is disputed or claim made. All refunds shall be made in conformity with the procedure prescribed by the Township of Blair.
An employer or taxpayer who makes a false or untrue statement on any return required by this article, who refuses inspection of his records in his custody and control selling forth his employees subject to this tax, who fails or refuses to file a return required by this article, or who violates any other provisions of this article shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township before a Magisterial District Judge, pay a fine of not more than $600, plus all court costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred by the Township in the enforcement of this article. No judgment shall be imposed until the date of the determination of the violation by the Magisterial District Judge. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Township may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable Rules of Civil Procedure. Each day a violation exists shall constitute a separate offense. Further, the appropriate officers or agents of the Township are hereby authorized to seek equitable relief, including injunction, to enforce compliance herewith.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
This article shall take effect upon its adoption and shall be in effect for the 2008 calendar year and shall continue on a calendar year basis thereafter without annual reenactment.