(a) All taxes imposed and monies withheld or required to be withheld by employers under the provisions of this Tax Code and remaining unpaid five (5) days after they become due shall bear interest at one and one-half percent (1½%) per month or fraction thereof.
(b) In addition to interest as provided in subsection (a) hereof, penalties are hereby imposed as follows based on the tax remaining unpaid after it becomes due:
(1) For failure to pay taxes due, one and one-half percent (1 ½%) per month of fraction thereof.
(2) Where the taxpayer has failed to file a return by the due date or by the date resulting from extension, a late filing fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00).
(3) Where the taxpayer has failed to file a declaration on which he has estimated and paid a tax equal to or greater than the tax paid for the previous year, or where he has filed a previous return and has failed to file a declaration on which he has estimated and paid a tax equal to or greater than ninety percent (90%) of the actual tax for the current year, or has failed to file a return and paid the total tax on or before the end of the month following the end of the taxable year; ten percent (10%) of the difference between ninety percent (90%) of the actual tax for the year and the amount paid through withholding and declaration.
(4) No penalty or interest shall be charged against a taxpayer for the late payment or nonpayment of estimated tax liability if the taxpayer is an individual who resides in the municipal corporation but was not domiciled there on the first day of January of the current calendar year.
(5) Except in the case of fraud, the penalty shall not exceed fifty percent (50%) of the unpaid tax.
(c) Exceptions. A penalty shall not be assessed on an additional tax assessment made by the Tax Administrator when a return has been filed in good faith and the tax paid thereon within the time prescribed by the Tax Administrator, and provided further that, in the absence of fraud, neither penalty nor interest shall be assessed on any additional tax assessment resulting from a federal audit, providing an amended return is filed and the additional tax is paid within three (3)
months after the final determination of the federal tax liability.
(d) Computed penalties of less than five dollars ($5.00) for a first violation shall not be assessed. However, notification to the taxpayer of a first time violation will be made.
(e) Upon recommendation of the Tax Administrator, the Board of Review may abate penalty or interest, or both, or upon an appeal from the refusal of the Tax Administrator to recommend abatement of penalty and interest concerning an item of income or expense, the Board may nevertheless abate penalty or interest, or both.
(Ord. 2003-78. Passed 12-2-03.)