Senate Bill No. 534
(By Senator Manchin)
____________
[Introduced March 22, 1993; referred to the Committee
on Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend article three, chapter seventeen-a of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
four-a, relating to original and renewal of registration;
issuance of certificates of title; car rental companies; and
transaction fees.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article three, chapter seventeen-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section four-
a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ORIGINAL AND RENEWAL OF REGISTRATION; ISSUANCE OF
CERTIFICATES OF TITLE.
§17A-3-4a. Car rental companies; transaction fee.
(a) In order to permit recovery of the fee imposed by
section three-a privilege tax in direct relation to the actual
use of rental vehicles in West Virginia, a rental transaction fee
is hereby imposed upon the renter of any rental passenger vehiclethat is rented in West Virginia by any person, firm, corporation
or business entity in the business of renting passenger vehicles
for periods of less than thirty days to another person, firm,
corporation or business entity. A rental passenger vehicle is
defined as a motor vehicle that carries no more than fifteen
passengers and is provided without a driver.
(b) The fee imposed by this section shall be an amount equal
to six percent of the rental payment, or portion thereof, subject
to the consumers sales tax imposed by chapter eleven, and shall
be collected by the rental business that rents the vehicle.
(c) The fees collected by the rental business in excess of
the privilege tax paid under section three-a during the state
fiscal year shall be remitted to the tax commissioner no later
than sixty days after the end of the state fiscal year.
(d) The rental business shall disclose on a form prescribed
by the commissioner no later than sixty days after the end of the
state fiscal year; the amount of transaction fee collected and
the amount of the West Virginia privilege tax paid during the
year. The commissioner may audit the rental companies and to
impose interest and penalty charges for late payments of excess
fee collections.
(e) Each rental contract provided to the person, firm,
corporation or business entity that rents a vehicle shall have a
disclosure as to the nature, amount and purpose of the
transaction fee in the rental contract.
-------------
(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize a rental
car transaction fee to permit recovery of vehicle privilege tax
payments in direct relation to the actual use of rental vehicles
in West Virginia. This will ensure competitive, high quality
rental car service, promote tourism, prevent a reduction in
present rental car privilege tax revenues and enhance revenues
paid with respect to additional rental vehicles acquired and
placed into service in West Virginia as a result of the new
privilege tax recovery procedure.)