ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 279
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Buckalew,
By Request of the Executive)
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[Passed March 24, 1997; in effect from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact section nine, article twenty-one,
chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to updating
the meaning of certain terms used in the West Virginia
personal income tax act by bringing them into conformity
with their meanings for federal income tax purposes; and
specifying effective dates.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nine, article twenty-one, chapter eleven of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 21. PERSONAL INCOME TAX.
§11-21-9. Meaning of terms.
(a) Any term used in this article shall have the same meaning as when used in a comparable context in the laws of the United States relating to income taxes, unless a different
meaning is clearly required. Any reference in this article to
the laws of the United States shall mean the provisions of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and
such any other
provisions of the laws of the United States as relate to the
determination of income for federal income tax purposes. All
amendments made to the laws of the United States
after the
thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety- five, but prior to the first day of January,
one thousand nine
hundred ninety-six one thousand nine
hundred ninety-seven, shall be given effect in determining the
taxes imposed by this article
for any taxable year beginning the
first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five or
thereafter to the same extent those changes
are allowed for federal income tax purposes, whether such changes
are retroactive or prospective, but no amendment to the laws of
the United States made on or after the first day of January,
one
thousand nine hundred ninety-six one
thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, shall be given any effect.
The exception to the preceding rule is the change in federal
income tax law restoring subsection (l), Section 162 of the
Internal Revenue Code for taxable years beginning on or after the
first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four,
which shall be allowed under this article for taxable years
beginning on or after the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-four.
(b)
Medical savings accounts. -- The term "taxable trust"
does not include a medical savings account established pursuant
to section twenty, article fifteen, chapter thirty-three of this
code or section fifteen, article sixteen of said chapter.
Employer contributions to a medical savings account established
pursuant to said sections, are not "wages" for purposes of
withholding under section seventy-one of this article.
(c)
Surtax. -- The term "surtax" means the twenty percent
additional tax imposed on taxable withdrawals from a medical savings account under section twenty, article fifteen, chapter
thirty-three of this code, and the twenty percent additional tax
imposed on taxable withdrawals from a medical savings account
under section fifteen, article sixteen of said chapter, which are
collected by the tax commissioner as tax collected under this
article.
(d)
Effective date. -- The amendments to this section
enacted in the year
one thousand nine hundred ninety-six one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven shall
be retroactive
and shall apply to taxable years beginning on or
after the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety- five to the extent allowable under federal income tax
law. With respect to taxable years that begin prior to the first
day of January,
one thousand nine hundred ninety-five one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, the law in
effect for each of those years shall be fully preserved as to
such year,
except as provided in this section.