H. B. 2955
(By Delegates Pino, Cann, Brown and Givens)
[Introduced March 21, 2001; referred to the
Committee on Industry and Labor, Economic Development and Small
Business then Finance.]
A BILL to amend chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article twenty-two-b,
relating to exempting start-up businesses founded by West
Virginia college or university graduates from various state,
county and municipal taxes for the first three years of
operation.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding
thereto a new article, designated article twenty-two-b, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 22B. WEST VIRGINIA COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY GRADUATE
INCENTIVE PROGRAM TO ENCOURAGE IN-STATE CREATION OF BUSINESSES.
§18-22B-1. Legislative purpose.
The Legislature finds that West Virginia falls short from
national averages for the percentage of state residents engaged in
entrepreneurial activity. Further, recent evidence indicates that
a high percentage of West Virginia residential youth planning to
attend an institution of higher learning, plan to do so
out-of-state. Finally, the Legislature finds that these adverse
phenomena of lack of entrepreneurial activity and a majority of
in-state
youth planning to go out-of-state for higher learning can
best and most cost-efficiently be addressed by creative tax policy
that creates incentives to both, engage in entrepreneurial activity
and attend and graduate from an in-state institution of higher
learning.
§18-22B-2. Tax incentives for West Virginia graduates of higher
learning conducting state-based private businesses.
Any residential graduate of a state sanctioned institution of
higher education who engages in any lawful business activity as a
sole proprietorship, for the first three years of operation, is
exempt from the payment of business-related personal income tax,
capital gains tax, or any municipal, county or state business and
occupation tax. Any residential graduate of a state sanctioned
institution of higher education who is a stockholder and officer of
a corporation, or general partner in a partnership, or partner in a limited liability company shall be exempt from any business
related corporate, partnership or limited liability company taxes,
capital gains tax, or any municipal, county or state business and
occupation tax to the extent of their proportionate share in the
interests in the corporation, partnership or limited liability
company for the first three years they are involved with the
business entity.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.