H. B. 2894


(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegates Trump,

Canterbury, Faircloth and Blair)


[Introduced February 7, 2003; referred to the

Committee on Political Subdivisions then Finance.]




A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article twenty-two, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to providing that the state excise tax upon the privilege of transferring title to real property shall, after the first day of July, two thousand three, convert to a county excise tax paid to the county in which it is collected.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article twenty-two, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 22. EXCISE TAX ON PRIVILEGE OF TRANSFERRING REAL PROPERTY.
§11-22-2. Rate of tax; when and by whom payable; additional county tax.

(a) Every person who delivers, accepts or presents for recording any document, or in whose behalf any document is delivered, accepted or presented for recording, shall be subject to pay for and in respect to the transaction or any part thereof, a state excise tax upon the privilege of transferring title to real estate at the rate of one dollar and ten cents for each five hundred dollars' value or fraction thereof as represented by such document as defined in section one hereof, which state tax shall be payable at the time of delivery, acceptance or presenting for recording of such document.
Effective the first day of January, first, one thousand nine hundred sixty-eight and thereafter, there is hereby imposed an additional county excise tax for the privilege of transferring title to real estate at the rate of fifty-five cents for each five hundred dollars' value or fraction thereof as represented by such document as defined in section one hereof, which county tax shall be payable at the time of delivery, acceptance or presenting for recording of such document: Provided, That after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, the county may increase said excise tax to an amount equal to the state excise tax. The additional tax hereby imposed is declared to be a county tax and to be used for county purposes: Provided, however, That only one such state tax and one such county tax shall be paid on any one document and shall be collected in the county where the document is first admitted to record, and the same shall be paid by the grantor therein unless the grantee accepts the same without such tax having been paid, in which event such tax shall be paid by the grantee: Provided further, That on any transfer of real property from a trustee or a county clerk transferring real estate sold for taxes, such tax shall be paid by the grantee.
The county excise tax imposed under this section may not be increased in any county unless the increase is approved by a majority vote of the members of the county commission of such county. Any county commission intending to increase the excise tax imposed in its county shall publish a notice of its intention to increase such tax not less than thirty days nor more than sixty days prior to the meeting at which such increase will be considered, such notice to be published as a Class I legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area shall be the county in which such county commission is located.
 (b) On and after the first day of July, two thousand three, the state excise tax upon the privilege of transferring title to real estate at the rate of one dollar and ten cents for each five hundred dollars' value or fraction thereof referred to in subsection (a) shall become and thereafter be, a county excise tax, and no portion thereof may be paid to the state, but instead shall remain as a tax inuring to the benefit of the county where the tax is collected.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that the state excise tax upon the privilege of transferring title to real property shall, after the first day of July, two thousand three, convert to a county excise tax paid to the county in which it is collected.

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