Senate Bill No. 710
(By Senators Guills and Unger)
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[Introduced March 23, 2009; referred to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §11-15-9l, relating
to exempting church or religious organization retail sales of
clothing and clothing accessories from the consumers sales
tax; and authorizing the Tax Commissioner to designate the
exemption as a per se exemption.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §11-15-9l, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 15. CONSUMERS SALES AND SERVICE TAX.
§11-15-9l. Exemption for Sales of clothing and clothing
accessories by churches or religious
organizations.
Sales of clothing and clothing accessories by churches or religious organizations that are exempt from federal income taxes
under Section 501(c)(3) or Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, are exempt from the tax imposed
under this article and article fifteen-a of this chapter:
Provided, That the sole purpose of the sale is to obtain revenue
for the functions and activities of the church or religious
organization and the revenue obtained is exempt from federal income
tax and actually expended for that purpose
: Provided, however,
That the clothing and clothing accessories sold are acquired or
obtained by donation only, without compensation, remuneration or
consideration to the donor. The Tax Commissioner may, by rule,
specify the exemption authorized in this section to be a "per se"
exemption for which exemption certificates are not required.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt from the consumers
sales tax and use tax any sales of donated clothing or clothing
accessories sold at retail to the public by churches or religious
organizations that are exempt from federal income taxes under
Section 501(c)(3) or Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, as amended. The bill also authorizes the Tax Commissioner
to designate, by rule, the exemption as a per se exemption, thus
obviating the need for exemption certificates.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.