H. B. 2702
(By Delegates H. White, Hrutkay
and R. M. Thompson)
[Introduced
January 27, 2003
; referred to the
Committee on Banking and Insurance then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article thirty-two,
chapter thirty-three of the code of
West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to tax
on premiums collected from risk retention groups.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article thirty-two, 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 32. RISK RETENTION ACT.
§33-32-5. Tax on Premiums Collected.
(a) Each risk retention group shall pay to the commissioner,
on the first day of March of each year, a tax at the rate of two
percent of the taxable premiums on policies or contracts of
insurance covering property or risks in this state and on risk and
property situated elsewhere upon which no premium tax is otherwise paid during the previous year. Each risk retention group shall
also be subject to the additional premium taxes levied by sections
fourteen-a and fourteen-d of article three of this chapter. and
the examination assessment fee levied by section nine [§ 33-2-9] of
article two of this chapter.
(b) The taxes provided for in this section shall constitute
all taxes collectible under the laws of this state from any risk
retention group, and no other premium tax or other taxes shall be
levied or collected from any risk retention group by the state or
any county, city or municipality within this state, except ad
valorem taxes. Each risk retention group shall be subject to the
same interests, additions, fines and penalties for nonpayment as
are generally applicable to insurers.
(c) To the extent that a risk retention group utilizes
insurance agents, each agent shall keep a complete and separate
record of all policies procured from each risk retention group,
which record shall be open to examination by the commissioner, as
provided in section nine, article two of this chapter. These
records shall, for each policy and each kind of insurance provided
thereunder, include the following.
(1) The limit of liability;
(2) The time period covered;
(3) The effective date;
(4) The name of the risk retention group which issued the
policy;
(5) The gross premium charged; and
(6) The amount of return premiums, if any.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the
examination assessment fee on risk retention groups which is in
violation of limitations placed on state regulation under the
Federal Product Liability Risk Retention Act of 1981, 15 U.S.C.
§3901 et seq.
Strike-through indicates language that would be stricken from
the present law.