[Adopted 10-21-1968 by Ord.
No. 557; amended in its entirety 1-21-2008 by Ord.
No. 902]
EARNED INCOME — Compensation as this term is defined
in Section 13 (relating to income taxes) of the Local Tax Enabling Act, the
Act of December 31, 1965, P.L. 1257, No. 511, § 13, as amended,
53 P.S. § 6913, as amended.
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.
The net income from the operation of a business, profession, or other
activity, as this term is defined in Section 13 (relating to earned income
taxes) of the Local Tax Enabling Act, the Act of December 31, 1965, P.L. 1257,
No. 511, § 13, as amended.
Any trade, profession, business or undertaking of any type, kind
or character, including services, domestic or other, carried on or performed
within the corporate limits of the political subdivision for which compensation
is charged or received, whether by means of salary, wages, commission or fees
for services rendered.
The period from January 1 until December 31 in any year; a calendar
year.
The following persons are exempt from the local services tax:
A.Â
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 services 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.Â
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.
C.Â
Any person whose total earned income and net profits
from all sources within the Borough is less than $12,000 for the calendar
year in which the local services tax is levied.
A.Â
A person seeking to claim an exemption from the local
services tax may annually file an exemption certificate with the Borough and
with the person's employer affirming that the person reasonably expects
to receive earned income and net profits from all sources with the Borough
of less than $12,000 in the calendar year for which the exemption certificate
is filed.
A.Â
The local services tax shall be collected by the employer
of the person subject to the tax in accordance with the terms of the Local
Tax Enabling Act, as may from time to time be amended.
B.Â
Each employer shall file a return and remit the local
services tax to the Borough within 30 days after the end of each quarter of
a calendar year. The return showing the computation of the tax shall be on
a form to be supplied to the employer by the local services tax collector.
C.Â
Each self-employed individual who perform services of
any type or kind or engages in any occupation or profession within a primary
place of employment with the political subdivision shall file a return and
shall pay the pro rata portion of the tax due to the local services tax collector
within 30 days after the end of each quarter of a calendar year. The return
showing the computation of the tax shall be on a form to be supplied by the
local services tax collector.
The Borough shall establish regulations for the processing of refund
claims for overpaid local services taxes for any calendar year. Refunds are
not subject to interest if made within 75 days of either a written refund
request or January 30 of the year after the tax is paid, whichever is later.
No refund shall be due where the overpayment is $1 or less.
A.Â
B.Â
A municipality shall use no less than 25% of the funds
derived from the local services tax for emergency services.
A.Â
In the event that any tax under this article remains
due or unpaid 30 days after the due dates above set forth, the local services
tax collector may sue for the recovery of any such tax due or unpaid under
this article, together with interest and penalty.
B.Â
If for any reason the tax is not paid when due, interest
at the rate of 6% on the amount of said tax shall be calculated, beginning
with the due date of said tax, and a penalty of 10% shall be added to the
flat rate of said tax for nonpayment thereof. Where suit is brought for the
recovery of this tax, the person liable therefor shall, in addition, be responsible
and liable for the costs of collection, including reasonable attorneys'
fees.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this article, upon
being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding, shall pay a
fine of not less than $400 and not more than $600, plus all court costs, including
reasonable attorneys' fees, incurred by the Borough in the enforcement
of this article. No judgment shall be imposed until the date of the determination
of the violation by the District Justice and/or Court. If the defendant neither
pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Borough 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 Borough are hereby authorized to seek equitable relief, including
injunction, to enforce compliance herewith.
A.Â
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed
to empower the Borough to levy and collect the tax hereby imposed if it is
not within the taxing power of the Borough under the Constitution of the United
States and the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B.Â
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.
C.Â
If any section, paragraph, subsection, clause or provision
of this article shall be declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to
be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of this article as
a whole.
