ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 569
(Senators Plymale, Jenkins and Kessler, original sponsors)
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[Passed March 8, 2007; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact §11-15-18b of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend said code by adding
thereto a new section, designated §11-24-43a; and to amend
said code by adding thereto two new sections, designated §17-
16B-7a and §17-16B-7b, all relating to dedicating up to four
million three hundred thousand dollars from annual collections
of the corporation net income tax for construction,
reconstruction, maintenance and repair of railways, the
construction of railway-related structures and payment of
principal and interest on state bonds issued for railway
purposes, as approved by the West Virginia Public Port
Authority; creating the Special Railroad and Intermodal
Enhancement Fund into which those funds are deposited and from
which expenditures are made under the administration of the West Virginia Public Port Authority; providing administrative
procedures for the State Tax Commissioner's deposit of those
funds; providing an expiration date for the deposit of those
funds; and directing a study relating to the feasibility of
the planning, development, construction and operation of the
intermodal facility at Prichard, West Virginia.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-15-18b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; that said code be amended by
adding thereto a new section, designated §11-24-43a; and that said
code be amended by adding thereto two new sections, designated §17-
16B-7a and §17-16B-7b, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 11. TAXATION.
ARTICLE 15. CONSUMERS SALES AND SERVICE TAX.
§11-15-18b. Tax on motor fuel effective the first day of January,
two thousand four.
(a)
General. -- Effective the first day of January, two
thousand four, all sales of motor fuel subject to the flat rate of
the tax imposed by section five, article fourteen-c of this chapter
are subject to the tax imposed by this article which shall comprise
the variable component of the tax imposed by said section and be
collected and remitted at the time the tax imposed by said section
is remitted. Sales of motor fuel upon which the tax imposed by this
article has been paid shall not thereafter be again taxed under the provisions of this article. This section is construed so that all
gallons of motor fuel sold and delivered, or delivered, in this
state are taxed one time.
(b)
Measure of tax. -- The measure of tax imposed by this
article on sales of motor fuel is the average wholesale price as
defined and determined in section five, article fourteen-c of this
chapter. For purposes of maintaining revenue for highways, and
recognizing that the tax imposed by this article is generally
imposed on gross proceeds from sales to ultimate consumers, whereas
the tax on motor fuel herein is imposed on the average wholesale
price of the motor fuel; in no case, for the purposes of taxation
under this article, shall the average wholesale price be determined
to be less than ninety-seven cents per gallon of motor fuel for all
gallons of motor fuel sold during the reporting period,
notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary.
(c)
Definitions. -- For purposes of this article, the terms
"gasoline" and "special fuel" are defined as provided in section
two, article fourteen-c of this chapter. Other terms used in this
section have the same meaning as when used in a similar context in
said article.
(d)
Tax return and tax due. -- The tax imposed by this article
on sales of motor fuel shall be paid by each taxpayer on or before
the last day of the calendar month by check, bank draft, certified
check or money order payable to the Tax Commissioner for the amount of tax due for the preceding month, notwithstanding any provision
of this article to the contrary:
Provided, That the commissioner
may require all or certain taxpayers to file tax returns and
payments electronically. The return required by the commissioner
shall accompany the payment of tax:
Provided,
however, That if no
tax is due, the return required by the commissioner shall be
completed and filed on or before the last day of the month.
(e)
Compliance. -- To facilitate ease of administration and
compliance by taxpayers, the Tax Commissioner shall require persons
liable for the tax imposed by this article on sales of motor fuel
to file a combined return and make a combined payment of the tax
due under this article on sales of motor fuel and the tax due under
article fourteen-c of this chapter on motor fuel. In order to
encourage use of a combined return each month and the making of a
single payment each month for both taxes, the due date of the
return and tax due under said article is the last day of each
month, notwithstanding any provision in said article to the
contrary.
(f) Dedication of tax. -- All tax collected under the
provisions of this section, after deducting the amount of any
refunds lawfully paid, shall be deposited in the Road Fund in the
State Treasurer's office and used only for the purpose of
construction, reconstruction, maintenance and repair of highways
and payment of principal and interest on state bonds issued for highway purposes: Provided, That notwithstanding any provision to
the contrary, any tax collected on the sale of aviation fuel after
deducting the amount of any refunds lawfully paid shall be
deposited in the State Treasurer's office and transferred to the
State Aeronautical Commission to be used for the purpose of
matching federal funds available for the reconstruction,
maintenance and repair of public airports and airport runways.
(g) Construction. -- This section is not construed as taxing
any sale of motor fuel which this state is prohibited from taxing
under the constitution of this state or the constitution or laws of
the United States.
(h) Effective date. -- The provisions of this section take
effect on the first day of January, two thousand four. The
provisions of this section enacted during the two thousand seven
Legislative session take effect on the first day of January, two
thousand eight.
ARTICLE 24. CORPORATION NET INCOME TAX.
§11-24-43a. Dedication of tax proceeds to railways.
(a) Beginning the first day of January, two thousand eight,
there is hereby dedicated an annual amount of up to four million
three hundred thousand dollars from annual collections of the tax
imposed by this article for the purpose of construction,
reconstruction, maintenance and repair of railways, the
construction of railway-related structures and payment of principal and interest on state bonds issued for railway purposes, as
approved by the West Virginia Public Port Authority.
(b) For purposes of administering the deposits required by
this subdivision, after the thirty-first day of December, two
thousand seven, from the taxes imposed by this section and paid to
the Tax Commissioner in each quarter of the year, after deducting
the amount of any refunds lawfully paid and any administrative
costs authorized by this code, the Tax Commissioner shall pay into
the Special Railroad and Intermodal Enhancement Fund provided for
in section seven-a, article sixteen-b, chapter seventeen of this
code an amount equal to at least one million seventy-five thousand
dollars. In any quarter where the collections are less than the
amount required to be paid into the Special Railroad and Intermodal
Enhancement Fund, or where the total amount paid in any year will
be less than four million three hundred thousand dollars, the
difference shall be paid from amounts available from collections in
succeeding quarters until paid in full. Notwithstanding any
provision of this section to the contrary, the total amount to be
deposited into the Special Railroad and Intermodal Enhancement Fund
for the year two thousand sixteen shall not exceed two million one
hundred fifty thousand dollars.
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the
contrary, all provisions of this section relating to requiring the
deposit of moneys in the Special Railroad and Intermodal Enhancement Fund shall expire at the end of the thirtieth day of
June, two thousand sixteen.
CHAPTER 17. ROADS AND HIGHWAYS.
ARTICLE 16B. PUBLIC PORT AUTHORITY.
§17-16B-7a. Special Railroad and Intermodal Enhancement Fund;
purposes.
There is hereby established in the State Treasury a Special
Railroad and Intermodal Enhancement Fund, which shall consist of
all amounts deposited into the fund pursuant to section forty-
three-a, article twenty-four, chapter eleven of this code. The
Special Railroad and Intermodal Enhancement Fund shall be
administered by the West Virginia Public Port Authority. The money
deposited in the fund shall be used only for the purpose of
construction, reconstruction, maintenance and repair of railways,
the construction of railway-related structures and payment of
principal and interest on state bonds issued for railway purposes,
as approved by the West Virginia Public Port Authority.
§17-16B-7b. Study of feasibility intermodal facility at Prichard,
West Virginia.
The West Virginia Public Port Authority shall conduct a study
relating to the feasibility of the planning, development,
construction and operation of the intermodal facility at Prichard,
West Virginia, to determine whether the same is sustainable.