Senate Bill No. 546
(By Senators Dugan, Scott, Love, Fanning, Chafin, White,
Helmick, Ross, Sharpe and Schoonover)
____________
[Introduced February 13, 1998; referred to the
Committee on Transportation; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article three, chapter
seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to removing the
privilege tax on certificates of title for motor vehicles.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article three, chapter seventeen-a of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ORIGINAL AND RENEWAL OF REGISTRATION; ISSUANCE OF
CERTIFICATES OF TITLE.
§17A-3-4. Application for certificate of title; penalty for false swearing.
(a) Certificates of registration of any vehicle or
registration plates therefor, whether original issues or
duplicates, may not be issued or furnished by the division of
motor vehicles or any other officer charged with the duty, unless
the applicant therefor already has received, or at the same time
makes application for and is granted, an official certificate of
title of the vehicle. The application shall be upon a blank form
to be furnished by the division of motor vehicles and shall
contain a full description of the vehicle, which description
shall contain a manufacturer's serial or identification number or
other number as determined by the commissioner and any
distinguishing marks, together with a statement of the
applicant's title and of any liens or encumbrances upon the
vehicle, the names and addresses of the holders of the liens and
any other information as the division of motor vehicles may
require. The application shall be signed and sworn to by the
applicant.
(b) A tax is hereby imposed upon the privilege of effecting
the certification of title of each vehicle in the amount equal to
five percent of the value of the motor vehicle at the time of the
certification, to be assessed as follows:
(1) If the vehicle is new, the actual purchase price or
consideration to the purchaser thereof is the value of the
vehicle. If the vehicle is a used or secondhand vehicle, the present market value at time of transfer or purchase is the value
thereof for the purposes of this section: Provided, That so much
of the purchase price or consideration as is represented by the
exchange of other vehicles on which the tax imposed by this
section has been paid by the purchaser shall be deducted from the
total actual price or consideration paid for the vehicle, whether
the vehicle be new or secondhand. If the vehicle is acquired
through gift, or by any manner whatsoever, unless specifically
exempted in this section, the present market value of the vehicle
at the time of the gift or transfer is the value thereof for the
purposes of this section.
(2) No certificate of title for any vehicle may be issued to
any applicant unless the applicant has paid to the division of
motor vehicles the tax imposed by this section which is five
percent of the true and actual value of the vehicle whether the
vehicle is acquired through purchase, by gift or by any other
manner whatsoever except gifts between husband and wife or
between parents and children: Provided, That the husband or
wife, or the parents or children previously have paid the tax on
the vehicles transferred to the state of West Virginia.
(3) The division of motor vehicles may issue a certificate
of registration and title to an applicant if the applicant
provides sufficient proof to the division of motor vehicles that
the applicant has paid the taxes and fees required by this section to a motor vehicle dealership that has gone out of
business or has filed bankruptcy proceedings in the United States
bankruptcy court and the taxes and fees so required to be paid by
the applicant have not been sent to the division by the motor
vehicle dealership or have been impounded due to the bankruptcy
proceedings: Provided, That the applicant makes an affidavit of
the same and assigns all rights to claims for money the applicant
may have against the motor vehicle dealership to the division of
motor vehicles.
(4) The division of motor vehicles shall issue a certificate
of registration and title to an applicant without payment of the
tax imposed by this section if the applicant is a corporation,
partnership or limited liability company transferring the vehicle
to another corporation, partnership or limited liability company
when the entities involved in the transfer are members of the
same controlled group and the transferring entity has previously
paid the tax on the vehicle transferred. For the purposes of
this section, control means ownership, directly or indirectly, of
stock or equity interests possessing fifty percent or more of the
total combined voting power of all classes of the stock of a
corporation or equity interests of a partnership or limited
liability company entitled to vote or ownership, directly or
indirectly, of stock or equity interests possessing fifty percent
or more of the value of the corporation, partnership or limited liability company.
(5) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to
vehicles to be registered as Class H vehicles or Class M
vehicles, as defined in section one, article ten of this chapter,
which are used or to be used in interstate commerce. Nor does
the tax imposed by this section apply to the titling of Class B,
Class K or Class E vehicles registered at a gross weight of
fifty-five thousand pounds or more, or to the titling of Class C
or Class L semitrailers, full trailers, pole trailers and
converter gear: Provided, That if an owner of a vehicle has
previously titled the vehicle at a declared gross weight of
fifty-five thousand pounds or more and the title was issued
without the payment of the tax imposed by this section, then
before the owner may obtain registration for the vehicle at a
gross weight less than fifty-five thousand pounds, the owner
shall surrender to the commissioner the exempted registration,
the exempted certificate of title, and pay the tax imposed by
this section based upon the current market value of the vehicle:
Provided, however, That notwithstanding the provisions of section
nine, article fifteen, chapter eleven of this code, the exemption
from tax under this section for Class B, Class K or Class E
vehicles in excess of fifty-five thousand pounds and Class C or
Class L semitrailers, full trailers, pole trailers and converter
gear may not subject the sale or purchase of the vehicles to the consumers sales tax.
(6) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to
titling of vehicles leased by residents of West Virginia. A tax
is hereby imposed upon the monthly payments for the lease of any
motor vehicle leased by a resident of West Virginia, which tax is
equal to five percent of the amount of the monthly payment,
applied to each payment, and continuing for the entire term of
the initial lease period. The tax shall be remitted to the
division of motor vehicles on a monthly basis by the lessor of
the vehicle.
(7) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to
titling of vehicles by a registered dealer of this state for
resale only, nor does the tax imposed by this section apply to
titling of vehicles by this state or any political subdivision
thereof, or by any volunteer fire department or duly chartered
rescue or ambulance squad organized and incorporated under the
laws of the state of West Virginia as a nonprofit corporation for
protection of life or property. The total amount of revenue
collected by reason of this tax shall be paid into the state road
fund and expended by the commissioner of highways for matching
federal funds allocated for West Virginia. In addition to the
tax, there is a charge of five dollars for each original
certificate of title or duplicate certificate of title so issued:
Provided, That this state or any political subdivision thereof, or any volunteer fire department, or duly chartered rescue squad
is exempt from payment of the charge.
(8) The certificate is good for the life of the vehicle, so
long as the vehicle is owned or held by the original holder of
the certificate, and need not be renewed annually, or any other
time, except as provided in this section.
(9) If, by will or direct inheritance, a person becomes the
owner of a motor vehicle and the tax imposed by this section
previously has been paid, to the division of motor vehicles, on
that vehicle, he or she is not required to pay the tax.
(10) A person who has paid the tax imposed by this section
may not be required to pay the tax a second time for the same
motor vehicle, but is required to pay a charge of five dollars
for the certificate of retitle of that motor vehicle, except that
the tax shall be paid by the person when the title to the vehicle
has been transferred either in this or another state from the
person to another person and transferred back to the person.
(c) Notwithstanding any provisions of this code to the
contrary, the owners of trailers, semitrailers, recreational
vehicles and other vehicles not subject to the certificate of
title tax prior to the enactment of this chapter are subject to
the privilege tax imposed by this section: Provided, That the
certification of title of any recreational vehicle owned by the
applicant on the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, is not subject to the tax imposed by this section:
Provided, however, That mobile homes, manufactured homes, modular
homes and similar nonmotive propelled vehicles, except
recreational vehicles and house trailers, susceptible of being
moved upon the highways but primarily designed for habitation and
occupancy, rather than for transporting persons or property, or
any vehicle operated on a nonprofit basis and used exclusively
for the transportation of mentally retarded or physically
handicapped children when the application for certificate of
registration for the vehicle is accompanied by an affidavit
stating that the vehicle will be operated on a nonprofit basis
and used exclusively for the transportation of mentally retarded
and physically handicapped children, are not subject to the tax
imposed by this section, but are taxable under the provisions of
articles fifteen and fifteen-a, chapter eleven of this code.
(d) (b) Any person making any affidavit required under any
provision of this section, who knowingly swears falsely, or any
person who counsels, advises, aids or abets another in the
commission of false swearing is on the first offense guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more
than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned in the county or
regional jail for a period not to exceed six months or, in the
discretion of the court, both fined and imprisoned. For a second
or any subsequent conviction within five years, that person is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined
not more than five thousand dollars or be imprisoned in the
penitentiary for not less than one year nor more than five years
or, in the discretion of the court, fined and imprisoned.
(e) (c) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this
section, any person in the military stationed outside West
Virginia, or his or her dependents who possess a motor vehicle
with valid registration, are exempt from the provisions of this
article for a period of nine months from the date that that
person returns to this state or the date his or her dependent
returns to this state, whichever is later.
(f) (d) After the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-seven, no person may transfer, purchase or sell a
factory-built home without a certificate of title issued by the
commissioner in accordance with the provisions of this article:
(1) Any person who fails to provide a certificate of title
upon the transfer, purchase or sale of a factory-built home is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall for
the first offense be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor
more than one thousand dollars, or be imprisoned in the county or
regional jail for not more than one year or, both fined and
imprisoned. For each subsequent offense, the fine may be
increased to not more than two thousand dollars, with
imprisonment in the county or regional jail not more than one year or, both fined and imprisoned.
(2) Failure of the seller to transfer a certificate of title
upon sale or transfer of the factory-built home gives rise to a
cause of action, upon prosecution thereof, and allows for the
recovery of damages, costs and reasonable attorney fees.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the privilege
tax on certificates of title for motor vehicles.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.