(1) Definitions. In this Section the following definitions shall apply:
(a) Commissioner. Revenue Commissioner.
(b) Person. Any individual, limited partnership, partnership, association or corporation. Whenever used in a clause prescribing or imposing a fine or imprisonment or both, the term "person" as applied to "limited partnership" or "partnership", shall mean such individual or individuals who, under the bylaws of such clubs, shall have jurisdiction over the possession and sale of liquor therein.
(c) Purchaser. A person who acquires liquor or malt and brewed beverages through sale at retail.
(d) Sale. Any transfer at retail for consideration in any manner or by any means whatsoever of liquor and malt and brewed beverages, but the term shall not include any transaction which is subject to tax by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania under the Tax Reform Code of 1971.
(e) Tax Year. The fiscal year of the school district commencing July first of any calendar year and ending June 30 of the following calendar year.
(f) Vendor. Any person maintaining a place of business in the School District of Philadelphia and licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to sell or dispense liquor or malt and brewed beverages, the sale of which is subject to the tax authorized by this Section, but not including an employee who in the ordinary scope of employment renders services to his employer in exchange for wages or salaries.
(2) Imposition of the Tax. The Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia is authorized to impose a tax for general public school purposes upon sales at retail in the District of liquor and malt and brewed beverages which are sold or dispensed during Tax Year 1994, or any part thereof, and for each tax year thereafter, by any hotel, restaurant, or club, or other person licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to sell or dispense liquor or malt or brewed beverages. The rate of the tax to be fixed by the Board of Education for Tax Year 1993, and for each tax year thereafter, shall be levied at the rate of ten percent (10%) of the sale price.
(3) Collection of the Tax.
(a) Every vendor shall collect the tax as agent for the Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia from the purchaser at the time of making the sale and shall remit the tax to the Commissioner.
(b) Any vendor required under this Section to collect tax from another person, who shall fail to collect the proper amount of tax, shall be liable for the full amount of the tax which he should have collected, and in addition shall be subject to any other remedies at law or in equity.
(4) Returns and Payments of the Tax. The vendor who collects the tax authorized under this Section shall file a monthly report of taxes collected and pay that amount at the time the return is filed to the Commissioner within twenty-five (25) days after the last day of any month for which the return is filed. Forms for the return shall be provided by the Commissioner. The failure of any vendor to procure or receive any report form shall not excuse him from making a return and paying the taxes collected.
(5) General Provisions.
(a) The Commissioner is hereby authorized to examine the books and records of every vendor in order to verify the accuracy of the return and of the payment of the tax authorized by this Section. Every vendor is hereby directed and required to give to the Commissioner or any authorized representative of the Commissioner the means, facilities and opportunities for such examinations.
(b) The Commissioner is hereby charged with the enforcement of the provisions of this Section and is hereby authorized to promulgate regulations governing the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this Section.
(6) Review and Appeal. The Commissioner shall provide a method of appeal from any assessments by the Commissioner, and shall provide for review of petitions of waiver of interest and penalty, compromise and refund of any tax authorized under this Section. The methods and procedure for review and appeals shall be the same as those governing reviews and appeals with respect to other local taxes.
(a) Any vendor who willfully fails or refuses to appear before the Commissioner in person with his books, records or accounts for examination when required by the Commissioner to do so, or to permit inspection of the books, records or accounts in his custody or control when required by the Commissioner; or who willfully makes any false or untrue statement on his or her return; or who willfully fails or refuses to file a return required by this Section or to collect and pay over to the Revenue Commissioner any tax imposed herein shall be liable to pay a fine of three hundred dollars ($300).
(b) Repeat Offenders. Any person who, on more than one occasion, fails to keep or make any record, return or report required by this Section, or keeps or makes any false or fraudulent record, return or report, or who shall refuse the Commissioner or other duly authorized representative of the Commissioner to examine his books and records in order to verify the accuracy of his payment of the tax authorized by this Section, shall be guilty of a separate offense of Repeat Violation, and for each such Repeat Violation, shall be subject to a fine of not more than three hundred dollars ($300), or imprisonment for not more than ninety (90) days, or both. A person shall be guilty of a Repeat Violation regardless whether the second or subsequent violation occurs before or after a judicial finding of a first or previous violation. Each violation, after the first, shall constitute a separate Repeat Violation offense.
(c) Any vendor who fails to pay the taxes collected on or before the last date prescribed for payment shall be liable to pay a penalty of one percent (1%) per month or fraction thereof on such tax from the time the tax became due and interest at the rate of one-half of one percent (0.5%) per month or fraction thereof. The penalties and interest provided for in this Section shall be added to the tax assessed and collected at the same time, in the same manner, and as a part of the tax.
The penalty and interest on unpaid taxes imposed by this Section shall be paid to the School District of Philadelphia for school purposes.
(d) It shall be the duty of the Commissioner to sue for the recovery of all taxes due hereunder not paid when due. Any suit to recover any tax, together with interest and penalties, authorized hereunder, from any vendor, shall be begun within six (6) years after such tax is due or within six (6) years after a return has been filed, whichever date is later; but this limitation shall not apply:
(.1) Where a vendor has failed to file a report required under the provisions of this act.
(.2) Where an examination of a return filed by a vendor and of other evidence relating to such return reveals a fraudulent evasion of taxes or a substantial understatement of sales at retail taxed hereunder. 392
Where suit is brought for the recovery of any such tax the vendor shall be liable for, and it shall be the duty of the Commissioner to collect, in addition to the tax assessed against such vendor, the costs of such collection and the interest and penalties provided hereunder.
Notes
| 390 | Former Section 19-1805 repealed and this Section added, 1994 Ordinances, p. 791. Section 4 of the Ordinance provides that it is to take effect January 1, 1995. |
| 391 | Amended, Bill No. 758 (approved July 24, 1995), 1995 Ordinances, p. 1081. Enrolled bill erroneously numbered this as subsection (8); renumbered by Code editor. |
| 392 | Amended, Bill No. 120822 (approved April 17, 2013). |