H. B. 2606
(By Delegates Beach and Yeager)
[Introduced January 14, 1998; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article thirteen-l,
relating to allowing a tax credit of two hundred fifty
dollars for taxpayers engaged in new mine operations for
each of its full-time hourly employees in a low seam coal
operations mined after the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-seven.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article thirteen-l, to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 13L. TAX CREDIT FOR NEW LOW SEAM COAL OPERATIONS AFTER JULY 1, 1997.
§11-13L-1. Legislative purpose.
The Legislature finds that production of coal is very
important to the economy of this state, and that a sound economy
is in the public interest and promotes the general welfare of the
people of this state. In order to encourage capital investment
in this state, through the mining of new low seam coal or the
expansion or revitalization of existing coal mining facilities
that mine low seam coal after the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-seven, thereby increasing employment and
economic development, there is hereby provided a tax credit for
each full-time hourly employee in a low seam coal operation that
begins operation after the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-seven
. For the purposes of this article, (1)
"full time hourly employee" means an employee who works eighteen
hundred hours a year or two hundred hours during a calendar or
fiscal year, and (2) "low seam coal" means a seam less than
thirty-six inches in depth.
§11-13L-2. Credit allowed; amount and duration of credit;
recapture of credit and effective date.
(a) There shall be allowed to eligible taxpayers a credit
against the taxes imposed in articles twenty-one, twenty-three
and twenty-four of this chapter. For the purpose of this article, "eligible taxpayer" means a person, firm, partnership,
corporation or other entity engaged in the production, extraction
and severance of new low seam coal mined after the first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, in this state that
employs full-time hourly employees. This credit shall be in an
amount equal to two hundred fifty dollars for each full-time
hourly employee in this state.
(b) The credit set forth in this article shall apply to
personal income tax liabilities, corporation net income tax
liabilities and business franchise tax liabilities arising after
the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven.
§11-13L-3. Application of credit; limitation of credit; tax
commissioner to promulgate forms and legislative rule; notice of credit.
(a) The credit allowed in this article shall be first
applied to a taxpayer's business franchise tax liability, and
then to either the taxpayer's personal income tax liability or
corporation net income tax liability, as the case may be.
(b) The credit allowed in this article may not exceed the
total tax liability for all state taxes for a given tax year and,
if the tax credit exceeds the taxpayer's total tax liability, no
refund is allowed. No carryover to a subsequent taxable year or
carry back to a prior taxable year is allowed for the amount of any unused portion of this credit.
(c) The state tax commissioner shall propose legislative
rules to be promulgated pursuant to chapter twenty-nine-a of this
code regarding the applicability, method of claiming of the
credit, recapture of the credit and documentation necessary to
claim the credit herein allowed.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow a tax credit of
two hundred fifty dollars for each full-time hourly employee of
a new mining operation mining low seam coal after the first day
of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.