ENROLLED
H. B. 2829
(By Delegates Browning, Petersen, Leach,
Warner, Border, Walters and Leggett)
[Passed on March 10, 1995; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article thirteen-I, relating
to taxation, establishing a tax credit for the employment of
those persons who were staff members employed at the Colin
Anderson facility and lost their job as a result of the closure of
such center; providing definitions; setting effective dates;
setting forth legislative purpose; setting forth the amount of
the credit and the application of the credit; setting
limitations; credit forfeiture; providing for distribution of
notice of the availability of the credit and providing for
legislative rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto
a new article, designated article thirteen I, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13I. TAX CREDIT FOR EMPLOYING FORMER EMPLOYEES OF COLIN
ANDERSON CENTER WHO LOST THEIR JOBS DUE TO THE
CLOSURE OF COLIN ANDERSON CENTER.
§11-13I-1. Legislative purpose.
The Legislature finds and declares that the Colin Anderson
Center employees were good employees and performed a valuable
service for the residents of the center, and the public comments
regarding the closure of Colin Anderson indicated that the main
objection to the closure was the care which the residents of Colin
Anderson would receive elsewhere. In recognition of the expertise
of these employees and their dedication to their duties and the
people whom they cared for, the Legislature finds that it is in the
best interests of the state to encourage the employment of those
persons who are unemployed as a result of the closing of the Colin
Anderson Center.
§11-13I-2. Credit allowed; amount and duration of credit;
recapture of credit and effective date.
(a) There shall be allowed to eligible taxpayers a credit against the taxes imposed in articles twenty-one, twenty-three and
twenty-four of this chapter. For the purpose of this article,
"eligible taxpayer" means a person, firm, partnership, corporation
or other entity who employs a person or persons who lost his or her
job as a result of the closure of the Colin Anderson Center. Such
credit shall be in an amount equal to one-half of the cost to the
state of unemployment compensation which shall be determined based
on the unemployment compensation cost to the state of an employee
who earns twenty-one thousand dollars per year and shall be further
determined as if such person was unemployed for and drew a full
sixteen weeks of unemployment benefits. In the event an eligible
taxpayer employs more than one such person, the credit allowed
shall be multiplied by the number of persons so employed.
(b) The credit set forth in this article shall apply to
personal income tax liabilities, corporation net income tax
liabilities and business franchise tax liabilities arising after
the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-
five. The credit established in this article shall expire and may
not be claimed for those tax years ending after the thirty-first
day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight and in
order to claim this credit an eligible taxpayer shall have employed
a person who lost his or her job after December 31, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five as a result of the closing of Colin
Anderson Center and must be employed after said date and prior to
December thirty-one, one thousand nine hundred ninety seven.
(c) As a condition of receiving the credit established in
this article, the eligible taxpayer shall employ the person or
persons for a period of time at least equal to one year. In the
event such person is employed for less than one year the credit
herein shall be recaptured at the rate of twenty percent of the
dollar value of the credit for each month under twelve months the
person works.
§11-13I-3. Application of credit; limitation of credit; tax
commissioner to promulgate forms and legislative
rule; notice of credit.
(a) The credit allowed in this article shall be first applied
to a taxpayer's business franchise tax liability, and then to
either the taxpayer's personal income tax liability or corporation
net income tax liability, as the case may be.
(b) The credit allowed in this article shall not exceed ten
thousand dollars per year and shall not be refundable, nor carried
forward nor backward to other tax years.
(c) The state tax commissioner shall promulgate legislative
rules pursuant to chapter twenty-nine-a of this code regarding the applicability, method of claiming of the credit, recapture of the
credit and documentation necessary to claim the credit herein
allowed.
(d) The state tax commissioner shall develop a written notice
setting forth the availability of this credit and shall transmit
this notice to the department of health and human resources to be
distributed to potential employers of the Colin Anderson Center to
make such employers aware of the tax credit allowed herein. The
department of health and human resources shall distribute notice of
the credit allowed herein as widely as possible to potential
employers.