H. B. 2086
(By Delegate Azinger)
[Introduced February 9, 2005; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §11-15-3 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to a gradual elimination of the
food sales tax; and, increasing the sales tax on other items
from six percent to six and one-half percent.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-15-3 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15. CONSUMERS SALES AND SERVICE TAX.
§11-15-3. Amount of tax; allocation of tax and transfers.
(a) Vendor to collect. -- For the privilege of selling
tangible personal property or custom software and for the privilege
of furnishing certain selected services defined in sections two and
eight of this article, the vendor shall collect from the purchaser
the tax as provided under this article and article fifteen-b of this chapter, and shall pay the amount of tax to the Tax
Commissioner in accordance with the provisions of this article or
article fifteen-b of this chapter.
(b) Amount of tax. -- The general consumer sales and service
tax imposed by this article shall be at the rate of six and one-
half cents on the dollar of sales or services, excluding gasoline
and special fuel sales, which remain taxable at the rate of five
cents on the dollar of sales.
(c) Calculation tax on fractional parts of a dollar until
January 1, 2004. -- There shall be no tax on sales where the
monetary consideration is five cents or less. The amount of the
tax shall be computed as follows:
(1) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from six
cents to sixteen cents, both inclusive, one cent.
(2) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from
seventeen cents to thirty-three cents, both inclusive, two cents.
(3) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from
thirty-four cents to fifty cents, both inclusive, three cents.
(4) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from
fifty-one cents to sixty-seven cents, both inclusive, four cents.
(5) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from
sixty-eight cents to eighty-four cents, both inclusive, five cents.
(6) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from
eighty-five cents to one dollar, both inclusive, six and one-half cents.
(7) If the sale price is in excess of one dollar, six and
one-half cents on each whole dollar of sale price, and upon any
fractional part of a dollar in excess of whole dollars as follows:
One cent on the fractional part of the dollar if less than
seventeen cents; two cents on the fractional part of the dollar if
in excess of sixteen cents but less than thirty-four cents; three
cents on the fractional part of the dollar if in excess of
thirty-three cents but less than fifty-one cents; four cents on the
fractional part of the dollar if in excess of fifty cents but less
than sixty-eight cents; five cents on the fractional part of the
dollar if in excess of sixty-seven cents but less than eighty-five
cents; and six and one-half cents on the fractional part of the
dollar if in excess of eighty-four cents. For example, the tax on
sales from one dollar and one cent to one dollar and sixteen cents,
both inclusive, seven and one-half cents; on sales from one dollar
and seventeen cents to one dollar and thirty-three cents, both
inclusive, eight and one-half cents; on sales from one dollar and
thirty-four cents to one dollar and fifty cents, both inclusive,
nine and one-half cents; on sales from one dollar and fifty-one
cents to one dollar and sixty-seven cents, both inclusive, ten and
one-half cents; on sales from one dollar and sixty-eight cents to
one dollar and eighty-four cents, both inclusive, eleven and
one-half cents and on sales from one dollar and eighty-five cents to two dollars, both inclusive, twelve thirteen cents: Provided,
That beginning the first day of January, two thousand four, tax due
under this article shall be calculated as provided in subsection
(d) of this subsection and this subsection (c) does not apply to
sales made after the thirty-first day of December, two thousand
three.
(d) Calculation of tax on fractional parts of a dollar after
December 31, 2003. -- Beginning the first day of January, two
thousand four, the tax computation under subsection (b) of this
section shall be carried to the third decimal place, and the tax
rounded up to the next whole cent whenever the third decimal place
is greater than four and rounded down to the lower whole cent
whenever the third decimal place is four or less. The vendor may
elect to compute the tax due on a transaction on a per item basis
or on an invoice basis provided the method used is consistently
used during the reporting period.
(e) No aggregation of separate sales transactions, exception
for coin-operated devices. -- Separate sales, such as daily or
weekly deliveries, shall not be aggregated for the purpose of
computation of the tax even though the sales are aggregated in the
billing or payment therefor. Notwithstanding any other provision
of this article, coin-operated amusement and vending machine sales
shall be aggregated for the purpose of computation of this tax.
(f) Rate of tax on certain mobile homes. -- Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary, after the
thirty-first day of December, two thousand three, the tax levied on
sales of mobile homes to be used by the owner thereof as his or her
principal year-round residence and dwelling shall be an amount
equal to six percent of fifty percent of the sales price.
(g) Construction; custom software. -- After the thirty-first
day of December, two thousand three, whenever the words "tangible
personal property" or "property" appear in this article, the same
shall also include the words "custom software".
(h) Computation of tax on sales of gasoline and special fuel.
-- The method of computation of tax provided in this section does
not apply to sales of gasoline and special fuel.
(i) Food shall be exempt from consumer sales tax according to
the following schedule:
(1) On and after the first day of July, two thousand five, the
consumer sales tax on food shall be reduced to three percent;
(2) On and after the first day of July, two thousand six, the
consumer sales tax on food shall be reduced to two percent;
(3) On and after the first day of July, two thousand seven,
the consumer sales tax on food shall be reduced to one percent; and
(4) On and after the first day of July, two thousand eight,
the consumer sales tax on food shall be eliminated and food shall
be exempt from taxation under this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to reduce sales tax on food
to 3% on July 1, 2005, and then by a penny a year for the next
three years until the tax is finally eliminated. It also increases
the sales tax on all other sales from 6% to 6½%.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.