(a) In accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by the Director of the Department of Taxation, each employer within or doing business within the City shall deduct at the time of the payment of salary, wage, commission or other compensation, the tax of two percent of the gross salaries, wages, commissions or other compensation earned and received, earned and accrued or earned and deferred due by the employer to employees and shall, on or before the fifteenth day of the month following the close of each month, make a return detailing the wages paid and the tax deducted, and pay to the Director the amount of taxes so deducted. Whenever the fifteenth day of the month falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the payment shall not be considered late if paid on the next business day following such weekend or holiday. Such returns shall be on a form or forms prescribed by or acceptable to the Director and shall be subject to rules and regulations prescribed therefor by the Director. Such employer shall be liable for the payment of the tax required to be deducted and withheld, whether or not such taxes have in fact been withheld. Nothing in this section prohibits an employer from withholding tax on a basis greater than qualifying wages. Nothing in this section prohibits an employer from paying on a basis more frequent than monthly.
(b) Such employer, in collecting such tax, shall be deemed to hold the same, until payment is made by such employer to the City, as a trustee for the benefit of the City and any such tax collected by such employer from his employees shall, until the same is paid to the City, be deemed a trust fund in the hands of such employer.
(c) The Director of the Department of Taxation may authorize any employer to file returns and remit the tax withheld on a quarterly basis provided that such authorization does not jeopardize the interest of the City. Quarterly payments will normally be approved for employers whose annual city income tax return shows that taxes withheld for Brook Park averaged less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) per month.
(d) Any employer who wishes to file and remit on a quarterly basis may request the authority for quarterly filing from the Director of the Department of Taxation. Such request must be in writing, stating the employer's name, the City of Brook Park account number, the address to which tax documents should be mailed, the estimated amount of tax to be withheld each quarter and the name, title, address and telephone number of the person responsible for complying with the withholding requirements of this chapter. The Director of the Department of Taxation is hereby authorized to provide for this request in conjunction with the annual reconciliation of wages as provided in Section 1713.02(h), below. If the request is approved, the taxpayer shall be authorized to make payment on or before the last day of the month following the end of the calendar quarters ending March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31.
(e) An employer is not required to make any withholding with respect to an individual's disqualifying disposition of an incentive stock option if, at the time of the disqualifying disposition, the individual is not an employee of the corporation with respect to whose stock the option has been issued.
(f) (1) An employee is not relieved from liability for a tax by the failure of the employer to withhold the tax as required by a municipal corporation or by an employer's exemption from the requirement to withhold the tax.
(2) The failure of an employer to remit the tax withheld to the City of Brook Park, Department of Taxation, relieves the employee from liability for that tax unless the employee colluded with the employer in connection with the failure to remit the tax.
(g) Every employer required to deduct and withhold any amount under this chapter shall make payment by electronic funds transfer pursuant to subsection (k) hereof. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as relieving an employer from complying with subsection (k) hereof or by election to pay through the Ohio Business Gateway (OBG). Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as relieving an employer from complying with subsections (k) and (l) hereof.
(h) On or before January 31 of each year beginning with the year 1975, each employer shall file a withholding return setting forth the names and addresses of all employees from whose compensation the tax was withheld during the preceding calendar year and the amount of the tax withheld from his employees and such other information as may be required by the Director. All payments not subject to withholding shall be reported on a form required by the Director.
(i) The Director, for good cause, may require immediate returns and payments to be submitted to his office.
(j) (1) Every manager is deemed to be a trustee of the City in collecting and holding the tax required under this Title to be withheld, and the funds so collected by such withholding are deemed to be trust funds. Every manager is liable directly to the City for payment of such trust, whether actually collected by such employer or not. Any tax deducted and withheld is to be considered paid to the City whether or not the employer actually remits the tax to the City, for purposes of determining employee payments or credits.
(2) All managers shall be personally liable to the extent of the tax, interest and penalty, jointly and severally, for failure to file the employer's return or to pay the employer's tax, interest and penalty as required under this Title.
(3) No change in structure by an employer, including a fundamental change, discharges its managers from liability for the employees' or manager's failure to remit funds held in trust, to file a tax return or to pay taxes.
(k) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the payment of taxes by electronic funds transfer or though the Ohio Business Gateway (OBG) does not affect an employer's obligation to file the returns as required under this section. The Director of Taxation may adopt rules governing the format for filing the returns under this section by employers who remit undeposited taxes by electronic funds transfer or though the OBG. The rules may permit the filing of returns at less frequent intervals than required by subsection (a) hereof if the Director of Taxation determines that remittance by electronic funds transfer or though the OBG warrants less frequent filing of returns.
(l) (1) The Director of Taxation shall adopt rules governing the remittance of taxes by electronic funds transfer as required under this chapter. The rules shall govern the modes of electronic funds transfer and under what circumstances each mode is acceptable, the content and format of electronic funds transfers, the coordination of payment by electronic funds transfer and the filing of associated tax reports and returns, and any other matter that in the opinion of the Director of Taxation facilitates payment by electronic funds transfer. The Director of Taxation may grant an exemption to an employer from the duty to make payment by electronic funds transfer, upon application, for such exemption by the employer and the employer's demonstration to the Director of Taxation that the requirement to make payment by electronic fund transfer will impose a substantial hardship upon the employer. The Director of Taxation may implement means of acknowledging, upon the request of a taxpayer, receipt of tax remittances made by electronic funds transfer, and may adopt rules governing acknowledgments. The cost of acknowledging receipt of electronic remittances shall be paid by the person requesting acknowledgment.
(2) Employers using the Ohio Business Gateway for remittance of taxes must notify the Director of their intended use of the OBG, in writing by certified mail, at least 30 days prior to terminating electronic funds transfer. However, nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as voiding the timelines required by subsections (a), (c) or (d) above.
(Ord. 8492-1998. Passed 10-20-98; Ord. 9051-2003. Passed 12-16-03.)
(m) Every contract on behalf of the City for works or improvements of the City shall contain the following provisions:
The contractor further agrees that all City income taxes due and payable under Chapter 1705 of the City of Brook Park Codified Ordinances shall be withheld by the contractor pursuant to Section 1713.02(a) through (l) and further agrees that any of its subcontractors shall be required to withhold income taxes as set forth in Chapter 1705.
(n) An individual, association, corporation or other entity licensed by the State of Ohio or the City of Brook Park and registered to engage in the business of construction, remodeling or repair work in the City shall obtain a Contractor Tax Registration Certificate issued by the Department of Taxation prior to beginning any work. An individual, association, corporation or other entity engaged in the business of construction, remodeling or repair work in the City on any commercial or industrial project, or any residential project in excess of seven thousand, five hundred dollars ($7,500) and who will perform construction, remodeling or repair work in the City shall obtain a Contractor Tax Registration Certificate issued by the Department of Taxation prior to beginning construction work.
The Department of Taxation will issue a Contractor Tax Registration Certificate, which the contractor shall file with the Building Department. Failure to possess a valid Certificate shall be cause for suspension of work by the Department of Taxation prior to the construction work commencing and/or during the performance of the construction work. Proof of possession of a valid Certificate shall be necessary to commence or resume suspended construction work. The Contractor Tax Registration Certificate may be revoked by the Department of Taxation for failure by the contractor to remain current in the filing of required tax documents, for failure to remain current in the required payment of taxes and for failure to comply with Chapter 1705 and Section 1713.02(a) through (l) of this Title and with the provisions of Chapter 1711 and Section 1713.01.
(Ord. 8750-2000. Passed 12-5-00; Ord. 9051-2003. Passed 12-16-03; Ord. 9347-2006. Passed 12-19-06.)