H. B. 2714


(By Delegates Amores, Cann, Hunt, Kelley,
Thompson and Kominar)

[Introduced February 10, 1999; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]



A BILL to amend and reenact sections one, two, three and eleven, article twenty-five, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to tax relief for homeowners and renters; providing the same tax relief for persons under sixty-five years of age that is provided for the elderly; providing definitions; computation of relief; and providing effective date.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections one, two, three and eleven, article twenty-five, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:

ARTICLE 25. TAX RELIEF FOR HOMEOWNERS AND RENTERS.
§11-25-1. Declaration of purpose; rule of construction.

This article is enacted to provide general relief for low income citizens who are sixty-five years of age or over and to aid them in providing or maintaining a homestead, by authorizing a claim for relief to be filed with the state tax commissioner and payment thereof of the claim from state funds, the amount of relief to be measured in part by the real property taxes or that portion of rent attributable to real property taxes paid by any such the citizen, and the providing of such declaring this general relief is hereby declared to be a public purpose. This article shall, therefore, be liberally construed.
§11-25-2. Definitions.

When used in this article, unless the context clearly requires a different meaning:
(1) (a) "Claimant" means a person sixty-five years of age or older any person who is filing a claim for the tax relief provided by this article, who was domiciled in this state during any portion of the calendar year preceding the year in which the claimant person is eligible to file a claim for relief under this article and who had a gross household income of not more than five thousand dollars during the calendar year preceding the year in which he or she is eligible to file a claim for relief under this article the claim. If two or more individuals, who otherwise qualify as claimants under this article, occupy a single homestead, such the individuals may determine between themselves as to which individual shall will be the claimant. however, if such If the individuals are unable to agree, the matters shall be referred to the state tax commissioner for determination and his or her decision shall be is final.
(2) (b) "Claimant's spouse" means the spouse of the claimant if such the spouse resides in the homestead during any portion of the calendar year preceding the year in which the claimant is eligible to file a claim for relief under this article.
(3) (c) "Gross household income" means all actual income received by a claimant and the claimant's spouse during the calendar year preceding the year in which he or she is eligible to file a claim for relief under this article. and such The actual income shall be computed by adding to the West Virginia adjusted gross income, as that term is defined in section twelve, article twenty-one of this chapter, of such the claimant and the claimant's spouse all of the following which were actually received by the claimant and claimant's spouse during such the calendar year:
(a) (1) Amount of capital gains excluded from West Virginia adjusted gross income;
(b) (2) Support money;
(c) (3) Nontaxable strike benefits;
(d) (4) Cash public assistance, welfare and relief but not any relief under this article;
(e) (5) Gross amount of any pension or annuity, including railroad retirement benefits;
(f) (6) Social security benefits;
(g) (7) Unemployment compensation benefits;
(h) (8) Veterans disability pensions;
(i) (9) Workers' compensation benefits; and
(j) (10) Private disability insurance benefits.
Gross household income does not include gifts from nongovernmental sources, or surplus foods or other relief in kind supplied by a governmental agency.
(4) (d) "Gross rent" means the total amount of money or its equivalent actually paid by a claimant during a particular calendar year to his or her landlord in a bona fide manner solely for the right of occupancy of a homestead, exclusive of any charges for utilities, services, furniture, furnishings or electrical or other appliances furnished by such the landlord to such the claimant; and if the state tax commissioner determines that the rent charged was excessive for the purposes of this article, he or she may adjust the same rent, for the purposes of this article, to a reasonable amount.
(5) (e) "Homestead" means a single family residential house and the land surrounding such structure the house; or a part of a multidwelling building, multipurpose building or apartment house; or a mobile home which is used as a permanent residence and the land upon which such the mobile home is situate. and It is immaterial for the purposes of this article whether the foregoing are being purchased, are owned or are rented.
(6) (f) "Household" means a claimant, a claimant and the claimant's spouse or a claimant and any other person or persons who resides or reside in a homestead.
(7) (g) "Property taxes" means the amount of the real property taxes, exclusive of any interest or charges for delinquency thereof of the taxes, paid by a claimant on his or her homestead beginning with the calendar year one thousand nine hundred seventy-two, and for any particular calendar year thereafter: Provided, That if a homestead is owned by a claimant and a person or persons, other than the claimant's spouse, as joint tenants or as tenants in common, and such the person or persons owning such the interest in such the homestead do not reside in such the homestead, then for the purposes of this article, the property taxes paid by the claimant shall be prorated according to such the claimant's percentage of ownership of such the homestead: Provided, however, That if the claimant's homestead is a single unit within any multidwelling building, multipurpose building or apartment house, and such the claimant owns the entirety of any such the structure, the property taxes paid by the claimant for the purposes of this article shall be prorated so as to reflect the percentage of value which the claimant's homestead is to the value of the entire structure which is assessed in a single assessment based upon the entire property.
(8) (h) "Rent constituting property taxes" means twelve percent of the gross rent paid by a claimant for the right of occupancy of his or her homestead beginning with the calendar year one thousand nine hundred seventy-two, and for any particular calendar year thereafter.
§11-25-3. Computation of relief; limits; table.

The amount of any claim for relief pursuant to this article shall be calculated as follows:
(a) For taxable years beginning after the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, the percentage required under this article for claimants under the age of sixty- five is the percentage specified in the following table:
Regular Circuit Breaker

If household gross Tax credit equals:
income is:

$10,001 to $14,999 75% of property tax* exceeding
2.5% of household gross income

$15,000 to $19,999 75% of property tax* exceeding
3.0% of household gross income

$20,000 to $24,999 75% of property tax* exceeding
3.5% of household gross income

$25,000 to $30,000 75% of property tax* exceeding
4.0% of household gross income

* or rent paid constituting property tax (12% of rent)
(b) For taxable years beginning after the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, the percentage required under this article for claimants sixty-five years of age or older is the percentage specified in the following table:
Elderly Circuit Breaker

If household gross Tax credit equals the amount of income is: property taxes paid* which is in excess of the following percentage of household gross income:
$10,001 to $14,999 1.0%
$15,000 to $19,999 1.5%
$20,000 to $24,999 2.0%
$25,000 to $30,000 2.5%
* or rent paid constituting property tax (12% of rent)
§11-25-11. Effective date.

The provisions of amendments made to this article shall during the regular session of the Legislature in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine, take effect on the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred seventy-two ninety-nine.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide the same tax relief for homeowners and renters who are under the age of sixty-five that is currently provided for those who are age sixty-five or over.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

§11-25-3 has been completely rewritten; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.