Senate Bill No. 244
(By Senator Ross)
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[Introduced January 28, 1999;
referred to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections two and seven, article
fourteen-a, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating
to changing the definition of "motor vehicle"; and
eliminating the limitation that a trip permit can only be
issued three times in one fiscal year.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections two and seven, article fourteen-a, chapter
eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 14A. MOTOR CARRIER ROAD TAX.
§11-14A-2. Definitions.
For purposes of this article:
(1) "Commissioner" or "tax commissioner" means the tax
commissioner of the state of West Virginia or his duly authorized
agent.
(2) "Gallon" means two hundred thirty-one cubic inches of
liquid measurement, by volume:
Provided, That the commissioner
may by rule
and regulation prescribe other measurement or
definition of gallon.
(3) "Gasoline" means any product commonly or commercially
known as gasoline, regardless of classification, suitable for use
as fuel in an internal combustion engine, except special fuel as
hereinafter defined.
(4) "Highway" means every way or place of whatever nature
open to the use of the public as a matter of right for the
purpose of vehicular travel, which is maintained by this state or
some taxing subdivision or unit thereof or the federal government
or any of its agencies.
(5) "Identification marker" means the decal issued by the
commissioner for display upon a particular motor carrier and authorizing a person to operate or cause to be operated a motor
carrier upon any highway of the state.
(6) "Lease" means any oral or written contract for valuable
consideration granting the use of a motor carrier.
(7) "Motor carrier" means any
vehicle used, designed or
maintained for the transportation of persons or property and
having two axles and a gross vehicle weight exceeding twenty-six
thousand pounds or having three or more axles regardless of
weight or is used in combination when the weight of such
combination exceeds twenty-six thousand pounds or registered
gross vehicle weight. passenger vehicle which has seats for more
than nine passengers in addition to the driver, or any road
tractor, or any tractor truck, or any truck having more than two
axles which is operated or caused to be operated by any person on
any highway in this state. The term motor carrier does not
include any type of recreational vehicle.
(8) "Operation" means any operation of any motor carrier,
whether loaded or empty, whether for compensation or not, and
whether owned by or leased to the person who operates or causes
to be operated such motor carrier.
(9) "Person" means and includes any individual, firm,
partnership, limited partnership, joint adventure, association,
company, corporation, organization, syndicate, receiver, trust or
any other group or combination acting as a unit, in the plural as
well as the singular number, and means and includes the officers,
directors, trustees or members of any firm, partnership, limited
partnership, joint adventure, association, company, corporation,
organization, syndicate, receiver, trust or any other group or
combination acting as a unit, in the plural as well as the
singular number, unless the intention to give a more limited
meaning is disclosed by the context.
(10) "Pool operation" means any operation whereby two or
more taxpayers combine to operate or cause to be operated a motor
carrier or motor carriers upon any highway in this state.
(11) "Purchase" means and includes any acquisition of
ownership of property or of a security interest for a
consideration.
(12) "Road tractor" means every motor carrier designed and
used for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to
carry any load thereon either independently or any part of the weight of a vehicle or load so drawn.
(13) "Sale" means any transfer, exchange, gift, barter or
other disposition of any property or security interest for a
consideration.
(14) "Special fuel" means any gas or liquid, other than
gasoline, used or suitable for use as fuel in an internal
combustion engine. The term "special fuel" shall include
products commonly known as natural or casinghead gasoline but
shall not include any petroleum product or chemical compound such
as alcohol, industrial solvent, heavy furnace oil, lubricant,
etc., not commonly used nor practicably suited for use as fuel in
an internal combustion engine.
(15) "Tax" includes, within its meaning, interest, additions
to tax and penalties, unless the intention to give it a more
limited meaning is disclosed by the context.
(16) "Taxpayer" means any person liable for any tax,
interest, additions to tax or penalty under the provisions of
this article.
(17) "Tractor truck" means every motor carrier designed and
used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to carry a load other than a part of the weight of the vehicle
and load so drawn.
(18) "Truck" means every motor carrier designed, used or
maintained primarily for the transportation of property and
having more than two axles.
§11-14A-7. Identification markers; fees; criminal penalty.
(a)
Registration of motor carriers. -- No person may
operate, or cause to be operated, in this state any motor carrier
subject to this article without first securing from the
commissioner an identification marker for each such motor
carrier, except as provided in subsection (b) or (c) of this
section. Each identification marker for a particular motor
carrier shall bear a number. This identification marker shall be
displayed on the driver's side of the motor carrier as required
by the commissioner. The commissioner, after issuance of any
identification marker to a motor carrier, shall cause an internal
cross-check to be made in his office as to any state tax which he
administers, to aid in determination of any noncompliance in
respect to failure to file returns or payment of tax liabilities.
The identification markers herein provided for shall be valid for the period of one year, ending
June thirtieth December thirty-
first of each year. A fee of five dollars shall be paid to the
commissioner for issuing each identification marker which is
reasonably related to the commissioner's costs of issuing such
identification. All tax or reports due under this article shall
be paid or reports filed before the issuance of a new
identification marker. Failure by a taxpayer to file the returns
or pay the taxes imposed by this article shall give cause to the
commissioner to revoke or refuse to renew the identification
marker previously issued.
(b)
Trip permit. -- A motor carrier that does not have a
motor carrier identification marker issued under subsection (a)
of this section may obtain a trip permit which authorizes the
motor carrier specified therein to be operated in this state
without an identification marker for a period of not more than
ten consecutive days beginning and ending on the dates specified
on the face of the permit. The fee for this permit shall be
twenty-four dollars.
(1) Fees for trip permits shall be in lieu of the tax
otherwise due under this article on account of the vehicles specified in the permit operating in this state during the period
of the permit, and no reports of mileage shall be required with
respect to that vehicle.
(2) A trip permit shall be issued if, in the course of the
motor carrier's operations, it operates on the public roads or
highways in this state no more than three times in any one fiscal
year of this state, and a motor carrier may obtain no more than
three such trip permits in any fiscal year of this state.
(3) (2) A trip permit shall be carried in the cab of the
motor vehicle for which it was issued at all times while it is in
this state.
(4) (3) A trip permit may be obtained from the commissioner
or from wire services authorized by the commissioner to issue
such permits. The cost of the telegram or similar transmissions
shall be the responsibility of the motor carrier requesting the
trip permit.
(c)
Transportation permit. -- The commissioner is hereby
authorized to grant, in his discretion, a special permit to a new
motor vehicle dealer for use on new motor vehicles driven under
their own power from the factory or distributing place of a manufacturer, or other dealer, to a place of business of the new
vehicle dealer, or from the place of business of a new vehicle
dealer to a place of business of another dealer, or when
delivered from the place of business of the new vehicle dealer to
the place of business of a purchaser to whom title passes on
delivery. A transporter's permit must be carried in the cab of
the motor vehicle being transported. A person to whom a
transporter's permit is issued shall file the reports required by
section five of this article and pay any tax due. The fee for
such transporter's permit shall be fifteen dollars and a
transporter's permit is valid for the fiscal year for which it is
issued unless surrendered or revoked by the tax commissioner.
(d)
Criminal penalty. -- Any person, whether such person be
the owner, licensee or lessee, or the employee, servant or agent
thereof, who operates or causes to be operated in this state, a
motor carrier in violation of this section, is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars; and each day such
violation continues or reoccurs shall constitute a separate
offense.
(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of section five-d,
article ten of this chapter, the commissioner shall deliver to or
receive from the commissioner of the
department division of motor
vehicles and the commissioner of the public service commission,
the information contained in the application filed by a motor
carrier for a trip permit under this section, when the
information is used to administer a combined trip permit
registration program for motor carriers operating in this state,
which program may be administered by one agency or any
combination of the three agencies, as embodied in a written
agreement executed by the head of each agency participating in
the program. Such agencies have authority to enter into such an
agreement notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary; and the fee for such combined trip permit shall be
twenty-four dollars, which shall be in lieu of the fee set forth
in subsection (b) of this section.
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(NOTE: This bill changes certain provisions of the Motor
Carrier Road Tax statute to conform with West Virginia's
membership in the International Fuel Tax Association (IFTA).
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.)
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FINANCE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
On page ___, section two, line ___, after the word "weight"
by changing the period to a colon and inserting the following
proviso:
Provided, That the gross vehicle weight rating of the
vehicles being towed is in excess of ten thousand dollars.;
On page ___, section two, after line ___, by adding a new
subdivision, designated subdivision (12), to read as follows:
(12) "Recreational vehicles" means vehicles such as motor
homes, pickup trucks with attached campers and buses, when used
exclusively for personal pleasure by an individual. In order to
qualify as a recreational vehicle, the vehicle shall not be used
in connection with any business endeavor.;
And, by renumbering the remaining subdivisions.
And,
On page ___, by striking out the title and substituting
therefor a new title, to read as follows:
Eng. Senate Bill No. 244--A Bill to amend and reenact
sections two and seven, article fourteen-a, chapter eleven of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, relating to changing the definition of "motor carrier";
and eliminating the limitation that a trip permit can only be
issued three times in one fiscal year.