Senate Bill No. 172

(By Senator Sprouse)

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[Introduced January 17, 2003; referred to the Committee on Finance.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article fifteen, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the consumers sales tax; and rolling back the sales tax on food by one-half percent per year until the sales tax on food is eliminated.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article fifteen, 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 15. CONSUMERS SALES AND SERVICE TAX.

§11-15-3. Amount of tax; allocation of tax and transfers.

(a) For the privilege of selling tangible personal property and of dispensing certain selected services defined in sections two and eight of this article, the vendor shall collect from the purchaser the tax as provided under this article, and shall pay the amount of tax to the tax commissioner in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(b) Beginning on the first day of March, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, the general consumer sales and service tax imposed by this article shall be at the rate of six cents on the dollar of sales or services, excluding gasoline and special fuel sales, which remain taxable at the rate of five cents on the dollar of sales.
(c) Beginning on the first day of January, two thousand four, and on that date each year thereafter, the general consumer sales and service tax imposed by this article on food shall be reduced at a rate of one-half cent on the dollar of sales or services until this tax on food is eliminated. The tax commissioner shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to implement this subsection and to ensure that effective the first day of January, two thousand fifteen, the sales or services taxes imposed on food is eliminated.
(c) (d) There shall be no tax on sales where the monetary consideration is five cents or less. The amount of the tax shall be computed as follows:
(1) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from six cents to sixteen cents, both inclusive, one cent.
(2) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from seventeen cents to thirty-three cents, both inclusive, two cents.
(3) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from thirty-four cents to fifty cents, both inclusive, three cents.
(4) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from fifty-one cents to sixty-seven cents, both inclusive, four cents.
(5) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from sixty-eight cents to eighty-four cents, both inclusive, five cents.
(6) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from eighty-five cents to one dollar, both inclusive, six cents.
(7) If the sale price is in excess of one dollar, six cents on each whole dollar of sale price, and upon any fractional part of a dollar in excess of whole dollars as follows: One cent on the fractional part of the dollar if less than seventeen cents; two cents on the fractional part of the dollar if in excess of sixteen cents but less than thirty-four cents; three cents on the fractional part of the dollar if in excess of thirty-three cents but less than fifty-one cents; four cents on the fractional part of the dollar if in excess of fifty cents but less than sixty-eight cents; five cents on the fractional part of the dollar if in excess of sixty-seven cents but less than eighty-five cents; and six cents on the fractional part of the dollar if in excess of eighty-four cents. For example, the tax on sales from one dollar and one cent to one dollar and sixteen cents, both inclusive, seven cents; on sales from one dollar and seventeen cents to one dollar and thirty-three cents, both inclusive, eight cents; on sales from one dollar and thirty-four cents to one dollar and fifty cents, both inclusive, nine cents; on sales from one dollar and fifty-one cents to one dollar and sixty-seven cents, both inclusive, ten cents; on sales from one dollar and sixty-eight cents to one dollar and eighty-four cents, both inclusive, eleven cents and on sales from one dollar and eighty-five cents to two dollars, both inclusive, twelve cents.
(d) (e) Separate sales, such as daily or weekly deliveries, shall may not be aggregated for the purpose of computation of the tax even though such the sales are aggregated in the billing or payment therefor. Notwithstanding any other provision, coin-operated amusement and vending machine sales shall be aggregated for the purpose of computation of this tax.
(e) (f) Of the taxes collected under the provisions of this article, one sixth of such the taxes collected for the period subsequent to the thirty-first day of May, one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight prior to the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, and not attributable to or resulting from the repeal of section eleven of this article or attributable to tax on purchases of gasoline and special fuel, shall be reasonably allocated, with allowance for refunds and net of reasonable costs of administration, to and deposited by the tax commissioner in the special account created in the treasury by section eight-a, article four-b, chapter twenty-three of this code, not to exceed the amount sufficient for making timely repayment of the principal and interest under the first payment due, by the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, in repayment for the moneys previously transferred from such the pneumoconiosis fund.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to roll back the sales tax on food by one half of one percent per year until the sales tax on food is eliminated.

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