Introduced Version
House Bill 3014 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 3014
(By Delegates Caputo and Pethtel)
[Introduced March 21, 2013; referred to the
Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §11-21-12 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §20-7-1 of said
code, all relating to pension benefits exempt from state
income taxation; and including Division of Natural Resources
police in the class of law-enforcement officers exempted.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-21-12 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §20-7-1 of said code be amended
and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 11. TAXATION.
ARTICLE 21. PERSONAL INCOME TAX.
§11-21-12. West Virginia adjusted gross income of resident
individual.
(a) General. -- The West Virginia adjusted gross income of a resident individual means his or her federal adjusted gross income
as defined in the laws of the United States for the taxable year
with the modifications specified in this section.
(b) Modifications increasing federal adjusted gross income. --
There shall be added to federal adjusted gross income unless
already included therein the following items:
(1) Interest income on obligations of any state other than
this state or of a political subdivision of any other state unless
created by compact or agreement to which this state is a party;
(2) Interest or dividend income on obligations or securities
of any authority, commission or instrumentality of the United
States, which the laws of the United States exempt from federal
income tax but not from state income taxes;
(3) Any deduction allowed when determining federal adjusted
gross income for federal income tax purposes for the taxable year
that is not allowed as a deduction under this article for the
taxable year;
(4) Interest on indebtedness incurred or continued to purchase
or carry obligations or securities the income from which is exempt
from tax under this article, to the extent deductible in
determining federal adjusted gross income;
(5) Interest on a depository institution tax-exempt savings
certificate which is allowed as an exclusion from federal gross
income under Section 128 of the Internal Revenue Code, for the federal taxable year;
(6) The amount of a lump sum distribution for which the
taxpayer has elected under Section 402(e) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as amended, to be separately taxed for federal income
tax purposes; and
(7) Amounts withdrawn from a medical savings account
established by or for an individual under section twenty, article
fifteen, chapter thirty-three of this code or section fifteen,
article sixteen of said chapter that are used for a purpose other
than payment of medical expenses, as defined in those sections.
(c) Modifications reducing federal adjusted gross income. --
There shall be subtracted from federal adjusted gross income to the
extent included therein:
(1) Interest income on obligations of the United States and
its possessions to the extent includable in gross income for
federal income tax purposes;
(2) Interest or dividend income on obligations or securities
of any authority, commission or instrumentality of the United
States or of the State of West Virginia to the extent includable in
gross income for federal income tax purposes but exempt from state
income taxes under the laws of the United States or of the State of
West Virginia, including federal interest or dividends paid to
shareholders of a regulated investment company, under Section 852
of the Internal Revenue Code for taxable years ending after June 30, 1987;
(3) Any amount included in federal adjusted gross income for
federal income tax purposes for the taxable year that is not
included in federal adjusted gross income under this article for
the taxable year;
(4) The amount of any refund or credit for overpayment of
income taxes imposed by this state, or any other taxing
jurisdiction, to the extent properly included in gross income for
federal income tax purposes;
(5) Annuities, retirement allowances, returns of contributions
and any other benefit received under the West Virginia Public
Employees Retirement System, the West Virginia State Teachers
Retirement System and all forms of military retirement, including
regular Armed Forces, Reserves and National Guard, including any
survivorship annuities derived therefrom, to the extent includable
in gross income for federal income tax purposes: Provided, That
notwithstanding any provisions in this code to the contrary this
modification shall be limited to the first $2,000 of benefits
received under the West Virginia Public Employees Retirement
System, the West Virginia State Teachers Retirement System and,
including any survivorship annuities derived therefrom, to the
extent includable in gross income for federal income tax purposes
for taxable years beginning after December 31, 1986; and the first
$2,000 of benefits received under any federal retirement system to which Title 4 U.S.C. §111 applies: Provided, however, That the
total modification under this paragraph shall not exceed $2,000 per
person receiving retirement benefits and this limitation shall
apply to all returns or amended returns filed after December 31,
1988;
(6) Retirement income received in the form of pensions and
annuities after December 31, 1979, under any West Virginia police,
West Virginia Firemen's Retirement System or the West Virginia
State Police Death, Disability and Retirement Fund, the West
Virginia State Police Retirement System, or the West Virginia
Deputy Sheriff Retirement System, or the West Virginia Public
Employees Retirement System if paid to police officers retired from
the Department of Natural Resources, including those formerly
classified as conservation officers, including any survivorship
annuities derived from any of these programs, to the extent
includable in gross income for federal income tax purposes;
(7) (A) For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2000,
and ending prior to January 1, 2003, an amount equal to two percent
multiplied by the number of years of active duty in the Armed
Forces of the United States of America with the product thereof
multiplied by the first $30,000 of military retirement income,
including retirement income from the regular Armed Forces, Reserves
and National Guard paid by the United States or by this state after
December 31, 2000, including any survivorship annuities, to the extent included in gross income for federal income tax purposes for
the taxable year.
(B) For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2002, the
first $20,000 of military retirement income, including retirement
income from the regular Armed Forces, Reserves and National Guard
paid by the United States or by this state after December 31, 2002,
including any survivorship annuities, to the extent included in
gross income for federal income tax purposes for the taxable year.
(C) In the event that any of the provisions of this
subdivision are found by a court of competent jurisdiction to
violate either the Constitution of this state or of the United
States, or is held to be extended to persons other than specified
in this subdivision, this subdivision shall become null and void by
operation of law.
(8) Federal adjusted gross income in the amount of $8,000
received from any source after December 31, 1986, by any person who
has attained the age of sixty-five on or before the last day of the
taxable year, or by any person certified by proper authority as
permanently and totally disabled, regardless of age, on or before
the last day of the taxable year, to the extent includable in
federal adjusted gross income for federal tax purposes: Provided,
That if a person has a medical certification from a prior year and
he or she is still permanently and totally disabled, a copy of the
original certificate is acceptable as proof of disability. A copy of the form filed for the federal disability income tax exclusion
is acceptable: Provided, however, That:
(i) Where the total modification under subdivisions (1), (2),
(5), (6) and (7) of this subsection is $8,000 per person or more,
no deduction shall be allowed under this subdivision; and
(ii) Where the total modification under subdivisions (1), (2),
(5), (6) and (7) of this subsection is less than $8,000 per person,
the total modification allowed under this subdivision for all gross
income received by that person shall be limited to the difference
between $8,000 and the sum of modifications under subdivisions (1),
(2), (5), (6) and (7) of this subsection;
(9) Federal adjusted gross income in the amount of $8,000
received from any source after December 31, 1986, by the surviving
spouse of any person who had attained the age of sixty-five or who
had been certified as permanently and totally disabled, to the
extent includable in federal adjusted gross income for federal tax
purposes: Provided, That:
(i) Where the total modification under subdivisions (1), (2),
(5), (6), (7) and (8) of this subsection is $8,000 or more, no
deduction shall be allowed under this subdivision; and
(ii) Where the total modification under subdivisions (1), (2),
(5), (6), (7) and (8) of this subsection is less than $8,000 per
person, the total modification allowed under this subdivision for
all gross income received by that person shall be limited to the difference between $8,000 and the sum of subdivisions (1), (2),
(5), (6), (7) and (8) of this subsection;
(10) Contributions from any source to a medical savings
account established by or for the individual pursuant to section
twenty, article fifteen, chapter thirty-three of this code or
section fifteen, article sixteen of said chapter, plus interest
earned on the account, to the extent includable in federal adjusted
gross income for federal tax purposes: Provided, That the amount
subtracted pursuant to this subdivision for any one taxable year
may not exceed $2,000 plus interest earned on the account. For
married individuals filing a joint return, the maximum deduction is
computed separately for each individual;
(11) For the 2006 taxable year only, severance wages received
by a taxpayer from an employer as the result of the taxpayer's
permanent termination from employment through a reduction in force
and through no fault of the employee, not to exceed $30,000. For
purposes of this subdivision:
(i) The term "severance wages" means any monetary compensation
paid by the employer in the taxable year as a result of permanent
termination from employment in excess of regular annual wages or
regular annual salary;
(ii) The term "reduction in force" means a net reduction in
the number of employees employed by the employer in West Virginia,
determined based on total West Virginia employment of the employer's controlled group;
(iii) The term "controlled group" means one or more chains of
corporations connected through stock ownership with a common parent
corporation if stock possessing at least fifty percent of the
voting power of all classes of stock of each of the corporations is
owned directly or indirectly by one or more of the corporations and
the common parent owns directly stock possessing at least fifty
percent of the voting power of all classes of stock of at least one
of the other corporations;
(iv) The term "corporation" means any corporation, joint-stock
company or association and any business conducted by a trustee or
trustees wherein interest or ownership is evidenced by a
certificate of interest or ownership or similar written instrument;
and
(12) Any other income which this state is prohibited from
taxing under the laws of the United States.
(d) Modification for West Virginia fiduciary adjustment. --
There shall be added to or subtracted from federal adjusted gross
income, as the case may be, the taxpayer's share, as beneficiary of
an estate or trust, of the West Virginia fiduciary adjustment
determined under section nineteen of this article.
(e) Partners and S corporation shareholders. -- The amounts of
modifications required to be made under this section by a partner
or an S corporation shareholder, which relate to items of income, gain, loss or deduction of a partnership or an S corporation, shall
be determined under section seventeen of this article.
(f) Husband and wife. -- If husband and wife determine their
federal income tax on a joint return but determine their West
Virginia income taxes separately, they shall determine their West
Virginia adjusted gross incomes separately as if their federal
adjusted gross incomes had been determined separately.
(g) Effective date. -- (1) Changes in the language of this
section enacted in the year 2000 shall apply to taxable years
beginning after December 31, 2000.
(2) Changes in the language of this section enacted in the
year 2002 shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31,
2002.
(3) Changes in the language of this section enacted in the
year 2013 shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31,
2013.
CHAPTER 20. NATURAL RESOURCES.
ARTICLE 7. LAW ENFORCEMENT, MOTORBOATING, LITTER.
§20-7-1. Chief natural resources police officer; natural resources
police officers; special and emergency natural
resources police officers; subsistence allowance;
expenses.
(a) The division's law-enforcement policies, practices and programs are under the immediate supervision and direction of the
division law-enforcement officer selected by the director and
designated as chief natural resources police officer as provided in
section thirteen, article one of this chapter.
(b) Under the supervision of the director, the chief natural
resources police officer shall organize, develop and maintain
law-enforcement practices, means and methods geared, timed and
adjustable to seasonal, emergency and other needs and requirements
of the division's comprehensive natural resources program. All
division personnel detailed and assigned to law-enforcement duties
and services under this section shall be known and designated as
natural resources police officers and are under the immediate
supervision and direction of the chief natural resources police
officer except as otherwise provided. All natural resources police
officers shall be trained, equipped and conditioned for duty and
services wherever and whenever required by division law-enforcement
needs.
(c) The chief natural resources police officer, acting under
supervision of the director, is authorized to select and appoint
emergency natural resources police officers for a limited period
for effective enforcement of the provisions of this chapter when
considered necessary because of emergency or other unusual
circumstances. The emergency natural resources police officers
shall be selected from qualified civil service personnel of the division, except in emergency situations and circumstances when the
director may designate officers, without regard to civil service
requirements and qualifications, to meet law-enforcement needs.
Emergency natural resources police officers shall exercise all
powers and duties prescribed in section four of this article for
full-time salaried natural resources police officers except the
provisions of subdivision (8) of said section.
(d) The chief natural resources police officer, acting under
supervision of the director, is also authorized to select and
appoint as special natural resources police officers any full-time
civil service employee who is assigned to, and has direct
responsibility for management of, an area owned, leased or under
the control of the division and who has satisfactorily completed a
course of training established and administered by the chief
natural resources police officer, when the action is considered
necessary because of law-enforcement needs. The powers and duties
of a special natural resources police officer, appointed under this
provision, is the same within his or her assigned area as
prescribed for full-time salaried natural resources police
officers. The jurisdiction of the person appointed as a special
natural resources police officer, under this provision, shall be
limited to the division area or areas to which he or she is
assigned and directly manages.
(e) The Director of the Division of Forestry is authorized to appoint and revoke Division of Forestry special natural resources
police officers who are full-time civil service personnel who have
satisfactorily completed a course of training as required by the
Director of the Division of Forestry. The jurisdiction, powers and
duties of Division of Forestry special natural resources police
officers are set forth by the Director of the Division of Forestry
pursuant to article three of this chapter, and articles one-a and
one-b, chapter nineteen of this code.
(f) The chief natural resources police officer, with the
approval of the director, has the power and authority to revoke any
appointment of an emergency natural resources police officer or of
a special natural resources police officer at any time.
(g) Natural resources police officers are subject to seasonal
or other assignment and detail to duty whenever and wherever
required by the functions, services and needs of the division.
(h) The chief natural resources police officer shall designate
the area of primary residence of each natural resources police
officer, including himself or herself. Since the area of business
activity of the division is actually anywhere within the
territorial confines of the State of West Virginia, actual expenses
incurred shall be paid whenever the duties are performed outside
the area of primary assignment and still within the state.
(i) Natural resources police officers shall receive, in
addition to their base pay salary, a minimum monthly subsistence allowance for their required telephone service, dry cleaning or
required uniforms, and meal expenses while performing their regular
duties in their area of primary assignment in the amount of $130
each month. This subsistence allowance does not apply to special
or emergency natural resources police officers appointed under this
section.
(j) After June 30, 2010, all those full time law-enforcement
officers employed by the Division of Natural Resources as
conservation officers shall be titled and known as natural
resources police officers. Wherever used in this code the term
"conservation officer," or its plural, means "natural resources
police officer," or its plural, respectively.
(k) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, the provisions of subdivision six, subsection c, section
twelve, article twenty-one, chapter eleven of this code are
inapplicable to pensions of natural resources police officers paid
through the Public Employees Retirement System.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to treat natural resources
police like all other law enforcement and exempt their pension
benefits
from state income tax.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.