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 provide a tax incentive to dental practitioners to perform dental services at no cost to indigent patients as defined. This bill creates a decreasing modification to federal adjusted gross income for Personal Income Tax filers (or to federal taxable income for Corporation Net Income Tax filers), of up to $15,000 of the defined dollar value of any dental services provided to indigent patients at no cost. As written, this bill defines indigent patient “as a West Virginia resident whose income is one hundred fifty percent or more below the federal poverty level, and who has no insurance coverage for dental care.” It is our interpretation that in order to qualify as indigent, as specified in the bill, a person would only qualify if they had negative income in excess of $5,000 (i.e., poverty level income less 150 percent of poverty level income). Additionally, the bill specifies that the proposed modification is for tax years “beginning on or after January 1, 2010.” Assuming that the bill would be amended to define an indigent patient as “a West Virginia resident whose income is no greater than one hundred fifty percent of the federal poverty guideline for the number of individuals in the family unit,” passage of this bill would reduce General Revenue Fund collections by approximately $300,000 per year beginning in Fiscal Year 2011. There would be no additional administrative costs to the State Tax Department resulting from the passage of this bill.



Fiscal Note Detail


Effect of Proposal Fiscal Year
2010
Increase/Decrease
(use"-")
2011
Increase/Decrease
(use"-")
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation)
1. Estmated Total Cost 0 0 0
Personal Services 0 0 0
Current Expenses 0 0 0
Repairs and Alterations 0 0 0
Assets 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0
2. Estimated Total Revenues 0 -300,000 -300,000


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


This bill creates a decreasing modification to federal adjusted gross income for Personal Income Tax filers (or to federal taxable income for Corporation Net Income Tax filers), of up to $15,000 of the defined dollar value of any dental services provided to indigent patients at no cost. There are 849 active, licensed West Virginia dentists and approximately 35% or 297 participate in free clinic programs. The estimated average federal adjusted gross income for WV dentists is $180,000. If 297 dentists claim the full $15,000 modification on their Personal Income Tax or Corporation Net Income Tax for the tax year “beginning on or after January 1, 2010" there would be a $300,000 reduction in taxes collected and attributed to the General Revenue Fund.



Memorandum


The stated purpose of this bill is to provide a tax incentive to dental practitioners to perform dental services at no cost to indigent patients as defined. As written, this bill defines indigent patient “as a West Virginia resident whose income is one hundred fifty percent or more below the federal poverty level, and who has no insurance coverage for dental care.” Since this would appear to only apply to persons with negative income, the proposed bill may not have the intended impact. Additionally, the bill specifies that the proposed modification is for tax years beginning “on or after January 1, 2010.” The preferred phrase is “on and after.”



    Person submitting Fiscal Note: Mark Muchow
    Email Address: kerri.r.petry@wv.gov