H. B. 4467
(By Delegate Beane)
[Introduced February 13, 2002
; referred to the
Committee on Banking and Insurance then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section six, article forty-three,
chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
insurance tax returns and the payment of quarterly insurance
premium taxes.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section six, article forty-three, chapter thirty-three of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 43. INSURANCE TAX PROCEDURES ACT.
§33-43-6. Returns.
(a) Any person who is subject to a tax in a given taxable year
shall file a return for that tax and that taxable year, even if the person has no tax liability for that taxable year.
(1) Each return shall be filed by the applicable filing date.
The commissioner at his or her discretion may accept a return after
the filing date.
(2) Should a taxpayer file more than one return for the same
tax, only the return last filed shall be effective. The
commissioner at his or her discretion may approve the withdrawal of
a return by the taxpayer.
(b) Each return shall be executed by the taxpayer in a manner
prescribed by the commissioner. Each return so executed shall
constitute a sworn statement by the signatory that to the best of
his or her knowledge and belief, the information provided in the
return or in any supporting materials which accompany the return is
true and accurate.
(c) All returns shall be prepared on forms prescribed by the
commissioner. If no form has been prescribed for a particular tax,
the return may be in a form chosen by the taxpayer but shall
clearly set forth the following information:
The taxpayer's name, address and telephone number; the
identification number used by the taxpayer in filing federal income
tax returns; the tax and taxable year to which the return applies; and all information used to calculate the tax liability of the
taxpayer.
(d) For purposes of this article, a return is not regarded as
filed if:
(1) It is not filed by the applicable filing date, unless the
commissioner accepts the return; or
(2) It has not been received by the commissioner; or
(3) It has not been properly executed by the taxpayer; or
(4) It is not in the proper form; or
(5) It is incomplete or inaccurate in any material respect; or
(6) It is not accompanied by supporting material required by
the commissioner; or
(7) It is withdrawn by the taxpayer with the approval of the
commissioner; or
(8) It is not accompanied by the payment for any tax due.
(e) If a tax is to be paid in installments, the taxpayer shall
file an appropriate return for each period for which an installment
payment is calculated, even if the taxpayer is not required to make
an installment payment for that period. The returns shall satisfy
all requirements established for annual returns by this section
except that the filing date for an installment return is the date prescribed for the installment payment for the period described by
the return. Failure of a taxpayer to make quarterly payments, if
required, of at least one fourth of the total tax paid during the
preceding calendar year or eighty percent of the actual tax for the
current calendar year is considered the same as a failure or
refusal to pay the estimated taxes and subjects the taxpayer to the
penalties provided in this article.
(f) If a taxpayer has failed to file a return by the
applicable filing date, or has filed a false or fraudulent return,
the commissioner may use any information which is available to him
or her to determine the taxpayer's tax liability: Provided, That
a determination of tax liability by the commissioner pursuant to
this subsection does not relieve the taxpayer of the duty to file
a true, accurate and complete return and does not reduce or
preclude any penalty based upon the taxpayer's failure to file.
(g) A taxpayer to whom a credit has been issued may apply the
credit as payment for any like tax due to be remitted by the
taxpayer upon written notice to the commissioner stating the amount
of the credit to be so applied.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish criteria used to determine whether an insurance company has failed to make
prorata or reasonable amounts of estimated quarterly payments of
insurance premium taxes.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.