H. B. 2571
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, By Request)
[Introduced March 17, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section thirteen, article five,
chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to taxation
exemption for inventory and warehouse goods; taxation of
natural resources; and allowing the assessor to base the
exemption on the previous year's sales.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirteen, article five, 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 5. ASSESSMENT OF PERSONAL PROPERTY.
§11-5-13. Exemption of inventory and warehouse goods.
(a) Tangible personal property which is moving in interstate
commerce through or over the territory of the state of West Virginia, or which was consigned from a point of origin outside the state to a warehouse, public or private, within the state for
storage in transit to a final destination outside the state,
whether specified when transportation begins or afterward, but in
any case specified timely for exempt status determination
purposes, shall may not be deemed to have acquired a tax situs in
West Virginia for purposes of ad valorem taxation and shall be
exempt from such taxation, except as otherwise provided herein.
(b) Such property shall may not be deprived of such the
exemption because while in the warehouse the personal property is
assembled, bound, joined, processed, disassembled, divided, cut,
broken in bulk, relabeled or repackaged for delivery out of
state, unless such activity results in a new or different
product, article, substance or commodity, or one of different
utility.
(c) Personal property of inventories of natural resources
shall not be is not exempt from ad valorem taxation unless
required by paramount federal law.
(d) The exemption allowed herein shall be phased in over a
period of five consecutive assessment years, at the rate of one
fifth of the assessed value of the property per assessment year,
beginning the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
eighty-seven.
(e) The assessor may calculate the exemption allowed herein
based on the total sales of the property holder for the previous assessment year.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow the assessor to
grant the freeport exemption to companies based on the previous
year's sales.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.