H. B. 2016
(By Delegate Compton)
[Introduced February 14, 2001; referred 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 waiver of the
privilege tax on the registration of certain motor vehicles
that are purchased outside West Virginia.
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; tax for
privilege of certification of title; exceptions; fee on payments for leased vehicles; penalty for
false swearing.
(a) Certificates of registration of any vehicle or
registration plates for the vehicle, whether original issues or
duplicates, may not be issued or furnished by the division of
motor vehicles or any other officer or agent 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 in either an electronic or
paper format. 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 requires. The application
shall be signed and sworn to by the applicant. A duly certified
copy of the division's electronic record of a certificate of
title shall be admissible in any civil, criminal or
administrative proceeding in this state as evidence of ownership.
(b) A tax is 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 of the vehicle 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
of the vehicle 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 is 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 of the vehicle 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
vehicles registered at a gross weight of fifty-five thousand
pounds or more, or to the titling of Class C 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 vehicles in excess of fifty-five thousand pounds and Class C
semitrailers, full trailers, pole trailers and converter gear
does 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 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 of this state, 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 of this state, 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
is not 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.
(11)The tax imposed by this section does not apply to any
passenger vehicle offered for rent in the normal course of
business by a daily passenger rental car business as licensed
under the provisions of article six-d of this chapter. For
purposes of this section, a daily passenger car means a Class A
motor vehicle having a gross weight of eight thousand pounds or
less and is registered in this state or any other state. In lieu
of the tax imposed by this section, there is hereby imposed a tax of not less than one dollar nor more than one dollar and fifty
cents for each day or part of the rental period. The
commissioner shall propose an emergency rule in accordance with
the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this
code to establish this tax.
(12) 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:
(A) Was not a resident of West Virginia at the time the
applicant acquired the vehicle;
(B) Relocates within the state as a resident citizen; and
(C) Applies for a certificate of registration within the
time limitations prescribed in subsection (a), section one-a of
this article.
(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) 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, or any person, while acting as an
agent of the division of motor vehicles, issues a vehicle
registration without first collecting the fees and taxes or fails to perform any other duty required by this chapter to be
performed before a vehicle registration is issued is on the first
offense guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or be confined
in the county or regional jail for a period not to exceed six
months or, in the discretion of the court, both fined and
confined. 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 a correctional facility for not
less than one year nor more than five years or, in the discretion
of the court, both fined and imprisoned.
(e) 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 the person returns to this
state or the date his or her dependent returns to this state,
whichever is later.
(f) 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 confined in the county or
regional jail for not more than one year or, both fined and
confined. For each subsequent offense, the fine may be increased
to not more than two thousand dollars, with confinement in the
county or regional jail not more than one year or, both fined and
confined.
(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.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, whenever reference is made to the application for or
issuance of any title or the recordation or release of any lien,
it shall be understood to include includes the application,
transmission, recordation, transfer of ownership and storage of
information in an electronic format.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to waive, for new residents
of West Virginia, the privilege tax on the registration of their
motor vehicles that were purchased outside West Virginia.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.