Senate Bill No. 436
(By Senator Tomblin, Mr. President)
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[Introduced March 3, 2005; 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 §11-15-9k, relating
generally to exempting commissions paid to telecommunication
brokers from consumers sales and service tax; and defining
certain terms.
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 §11-15-9k, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 15. CONSUMERS SALES AND SERVICE TAX.
§11-15-9k. Telecommunications broker services.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision in this article to the
contrary, commissions paid to telecommunications brokers for
furnishing telecommunication broker services are exempt from the
tax imposed by this article.
(b) Definitions. -- As used in this article, and articles
fifteen-a and fifteen-b of this chapter, the following terms shall
have the meaning ascribed to them in this section, except in those
instances where a different meaning is provided in this article, or
the context in which the word is used clearly indicates that a
different meaning is intended by the Legislature.
(1) "Database access transmission services" includes, but is
not limited to, on-line information services, such as legal
research services, credit reporting services, and credit research
services, and charges to access an individual website, including
application service providers.
(2) "Information service" means a service that can generate,
acquire, store, transform, process, retrieve, use, or make
available information through a communications service. Examples
of an information service include an electronic publishing service
and a web hosting service.
(3) "Mobile telecommunications service" means mobile
telecommunications service as that term is defined in Section
124(7) of Public Law 106-252 (Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing
Act.)
(4) "Online information system" means a computer or computer
related device or a group of computers and computer-related devices
for storing, filing, retrieving and communicating information, and
having an information search capability that is connected to the internet or that is otherwise, served by, or available through a
computer or telecommunications system. Examples of online
information systems include, but are not limited to, online legal
research services, online libraries, and online news reporting and
search services.
(5) "Satellite telecommunications service" means
telecommunications service provided with the use of, or by or
through, any satellite orbiting the earth. The term "satellite
telecommunications service" includes, but is not limited to, mobile
and fixed satellite communication services, such as automobile
emergency communication services, ground positioning satellite
locator and navigation services, satellite telephone service,
satellite radio programming and other mobile communication services
and television, radio, or other programming or communications
services provided by, through or with the use of any earth orbiting
satellite.
(6) "Telecommunications broker" means and is limited to an
agent or representative of a telecommunications carrier or
telecommunications reseller, who is not an employee of the carrier
or the reseller for which the person acts as agent or
representative, who for a commission engages in the business of
negotiating or arranging the purchase or sale of telecommunications
services for the account of others or arranging the purchase or
sale of vertical services sold with or bundled with sales of telecommunications service for the account of others.
(7) "Telecommunications reseller" or "reseller" means a
telecommunications service provider who purchases
telecommunications services from another telecommunications service
provider and then resells, uses as a component part of, or
integrates the purchased services into a telecommunications service
that is resold. The term "telecommunications reseller" or
"reseller" do not include a serving carrier, as defined in Public
Law 106-252 (the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act) with which
a home service provider, as defined in Public Law 106-252, arranges
for mobile telecommunications services to its customers outside the
home service provider's licensed service area.
(8) "Telecommunications service" means and is limited to
telephone service regulated under chapter twenty-four of this code
or under federal law, and is limited to:
(A) Telephone service and electronic transmission of voice or
data provided via the traditional circuit-committed protocols of
the public switched telephone network; and
(B) Telephone service and electronic transmission of voice or
data provided via a wireless transmission system, including analog
mobile cellular telephone, analog cellular car phone, digital
mobile cellular telephone and digital car cellular phone, voice
over Internet protocol, wireless mobile telecommunications service,
as defined in this section.
(9) "Vertical services" means optional services offered in
connection with a telecommunications service, and includes call
forwarding, caller ID, and three-way calling, call waiting, call
forwarding, voice mail, call blocking, caller ID blocking, and call
display.
(c) For purposes of this exemption, the term
telecommunications service does not include:
(1) Cable television services;
(2) Satellite radio programming service, satellite television
service or other satellite telecommunications services;
(3) Paging services;
(4) Telegraph service;
(5) Fax transmission services;
(6) E-mail Services;
(7) Electronic filing of tax returns;
(8) Database access transmission services as defined in this
section;
(9) Air-to-ground radiotelephone service, as defined in
article fifteen-b of this chapter;
(10) Charges for telecommunications services that are a
component part of or are integrated into a telecommunications
service that is resold;
(11) Telecommunications services that are resold as part of a
prepaid telephone calling arrangement;
(12) Transactions involving automatic teller machines;
(13) Access to online information systems or electronic
databases such as legal research systems, news and information
research systems and electronic libraries;
(14) Directory advertising and yellow-page classified
listings;
(15) Information services or access to an information service,
as defined in this section;
(16) Internet access service, electronic mail service,
electronic bulletin board service, or similar on-line services;
(17) Billing and collection services;
(18) Charges for bad checks or late payments;
(19) Answering service other than voice mail services offered
as a vertical service purchased as an option with or bundled with
a purchase of telecommunications service; or
(20) Any other service not specifically described in the
definition of telecommunications service.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt from sales tax
commissions paid to telecommunications brokers for the provision of
telecommunications brokers services.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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