Senate Bill No. 431

(By Senators Harrison and Weeks)

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[Introduced February 3, 2003; referred to the Committee on Finance.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article fourteen, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to reducing by five cents the excise tax on all gasoline and special fuel sold in this state.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article fourteen, 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 14. GASOLINE AND SPECIAL FUEL EXCISE TAX.
§11-14-3. Imposition of tax.
There is hereby levied an excise tax of fifteen and one-half cents per gallon on all gasoline or special fuel, which tax shall be computed in accordance with the appropriate measure of tax as hereinafter prescribed in this article: Provided, That beginning the first day of May, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, the tax levied by this article shall be twenty and one-half cents per gallon: Provided, however, That on and after the first day of August, two thousand seven three, the tax levied by this article shall be fifteen and one-half cents per gallon.
Beginning on the fifteenth day of January, two thousand three, and every fifteenth day of January thereafter, the tax commissioner shall submit to the Legislature an annual report identifying the amount of revenue collected from the imposition of the tax imposed by this section in each county of this state via sales at each individual retail gas pump during the preceding fiscal year. Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, all information individually made available to the tax commissioner by a taxpayer that is utilized in the preparation of the report to the Legislature required by this section is confidential and may not be disclosed to any person in any manner inconsistent with any law of this state protecting the confidentiality of taxpayer returns filed pursuant to this article.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to lower the excise tax on all fuels sold in this state by $0.05.

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