FISCAL NOTE



FUND(S):

General Revenue Fund

Sources of Revenue:

General Fund

Legislation creates:

Neither Program nor Fund



Fiscal Note Summary


Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.


The stated purpose of this bill is to gradually repeal the business franchise tax. Although the initial language indicates a seven-year repeal, this bill as written would presumably eliminate the Business Franchise Tax by a six-year repeal. Passage of this bill would result in a decline in the General Revenue Fund as shown in the table below. Although the tax is abolished for tax years beginning on or after July 1, 2012, current collection patterns indicate some residual collections would occur up to three years later. General Revenue Fund FY2008 ($5.0 million) FY2009 ($20.0 million) FY2010 ($39.0 million) FY2011 ($59.0 million) FY2012 ($80.0 million) FY2013 ($107.0 million) FY2014 ($136.0 million) FY2015 ($145.0 million) FY2016 ($150.0+ million) Additional administrative costs to the Tax Department associated with this bill would be roughly $35,500 in the next fiscal year and about $25,500 each fiscal year thereafter due to notifying taxpayers of the changes and programming costs.



Fiscal Note Detail


Effect of Proposal Fiscal Year
2006
Increase/Decrease
(use"-")
2007
Increase/Decrease
(use"-")
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation)
1. Estmated Total Cost 0 35,500 25,500
Personal Services 0 0 0
Current Expenses 0 24,500 24,500
Repairs and Alterations 0 0 0
Assets 0 0 0
Other 0 11,000 1,000
2. Estimated Total Revenues 0 -5,000,000 -107,000,000


Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):


Although the initial language indicates a seven-year repeal, this bill as written would presumably eliminate the Business Franchise Tax by a six-year repeal. Passage of this bill would result in a decline in the General Revenue Fund as shown in the table below. Although the tax is abolished for tax years beginning on or after July 1, 2012, current collection patterns indicate some residual collections would occur up to three years later. General Revenue Fund FY2008 ($5.0 million) FY2009 ($20.0 million) FY2010 ($39.0 million) FY2011 ($59.0 million) FY2012 ($80.0 million) FY2013 ($107.0 million) FY2014 ($136.0 million) FY2015 ($145.0 million) FY2016 ($150.0+ million) Additional administrative costs to the Tax Department associated with this bill would be $35,500 in the next fiscal year and $24,500 each fiscal year thereafter due to notifying taxpayers of the changes and programming costs.



Memorandum


The stated purpose of this bill is to gradually repeal the business franchise tax. The bill sets two different tax rates on July 1, 2012, which would be administratively problematic for the Department. In §11-23-6(b)(4), the bill states that “On or after the first day of July, two thousand seven, the amount of tax due under this article shall be reduced at the beginning of each tax year by ten hundredths of one percent of the value of the tax base as determined under this article.” The next sentence states that “On or after the first day of July, two thousand twelve, there shall be no tax due under this article.” As a result, the bill reflects both a 0.1 percent Business Franchise rate on July 1, 2012 and a complete repeal of Business Franchise Tax on July 1, 2012.



    Person submitting Fiscal Note: Mark Muchow
    Email Address: kpetry@tax.state.wv.us