H. B. 4362
(By Delegates Cowles, Duke, Overington,
Blair, C. Miller, Sobonya,
J. Miller)
[Introduced
February 5, 2010
; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §11-22-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to eliminating the state excise tax
on the privilege of transferring real property; imposing a new
county excise tax for transferring real property; and
providing that the tax may be used by a county for it's own
purposes and for jail fees incurred by that county.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-22-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, 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, is subject to pay
for, and in respect to the transaction or any part thereof, a
state
county excise tax upon the privilege of transferring title to real estate at the rate of $1.10 for each $500 value or fraction thereof
as represented by the document as defined in section one of this
article. The
state county tax is payable at the time of delivery,
acceptance or presenting for recording of the document.
This
county excise tax is to be used by that county for county purposes
and for any jail costs incurred by that county. In addition to the
state county excise tax described in this subsection, there is
assessed a fee of $20 upon the privilege of transferring real
estate for consideration. The clerk of the county commission shall
collect the additional $20 fee before recording a transfer of title
to real estate and shall deposit the moneys from the additional
fees into the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund as
provided in article eighteen-d, chapter thirty-one of this code.
The moneys collected from this additional fee shall be segregated
from other funds in the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund
and shall be accounted for separately. Not more than ten percent
of these additional moneys may be expended by the West Virginia
Affordable Housing Trust Fund to defray administrative and
operating costs and expenses actually incurred by the West Virginia
Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The Housing Development Fund, as
fiscal agent of the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund,
shall publish monthly on the Internet site an accounting of all
revenue deposited into the fund during the month and a full
disclosure of all expenditures from the fund including the group
receiving funds, their location and any contractor awarded the construction contract. Additionally, the West Virginia Affordable
Housing Trust Fund is to provide an annual report to the Joint
Committee on Government and Finance before December 1, 2007, and
each year thereafter.
(b) Effective January 1, 1968, and thereafter, there is
imposed an additional county excise tax for the privilege of
transferring title to real estate at the rate of $0.55 for each
$500 value or fraction thereof as represented by such document as
defined in section one of this article, which county tax shall be
payable at the time of delivery, acceptance or presenting for
recording of such document:
Provided, That after July 1, 1989, 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 tax shall be paid by
the grantor therein unless the grantee accepts the document 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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the state
excise tax on the privilege of transferring real property. The bill
imposes a new county excise tax for transferring real property. The
bill also provides that the tax may used by the counties and for
county jail fees.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.