Senate Bill No. 486
(By Senator Craigo, Kessler, Helmick, Ross, Sharpe, Ball, Love,
Dawson, Oliverio, McCabe, Minear, Anderson, Walker, Bowman and
Plymale)
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[Introduced February 15, 2000; referred to the Committee
on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section three-b, article thirteen-a,
chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring that the
severance tax on timber be paid by the owner of the timber;
calculating the value of the timber harvest by the stumpage;
requiring the owner to submit a form to the tax department
setting forth dates for proposed harvest, location of proposed
harvest, type of trees to be harvested and number of trees to
be harvested; and requiring tax commissioner to propose
legislative rules to implement the legislation.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three-b, article thirteen-a, 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 13A. SEVERANCE TAXES.
§11-13A-3b. Imposition of tax on privilege of severing timber.
(a) Imposition of tax. -- For the privilege of engaging or
continuing within this state in the business of severing timber for
sale, profit or commercial use in this state, there is hereby
levied and shall be collected from every person landowner
exercising such privilege an annual privilege tax.
(b) Rate and measure of tax. -- The tax imposed in subsection
(a) of this section shall be three and twenty-two hundredths
percent of the gross value of the timber produced. as shown by the
gross proceeds derived from the sale thereof by the producer,
except as otherwise provided in this article. The commissioner is
hereby directed to propose legislative rules in accordance with the
provisions of article three, chapter twenty nine-a of this code,
designed to implement the provisions of this section regarding the
calculation of the tax, the valuation of standing timber, and the
collection of the tax provided for hereunder.
(c) Tax in addition to other taxes. -- The tax imposed by this
section shall apply to all persons severing timber in this state
landowners exercising the privilege of having timber severed and
shall be in addition to all other taxes imposed by law.
(d) Effective date. -- This section, as amended in the year
one thousand nine hundred ninety-three two thousand, shall apply to
gross proceeds derived all timber harvested after the thirty-first
day of May of such that year and in each successive year
thereafter. The language of section three of this article, as in
effect on the first day of January of such year, shall apply to
gross proceeds derived prior to the first day of June of such year
and, with respect to such gross income, shall be fully and
completely preserved.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to amend the severance tax
on timber to require that owners of the land from which timber is
severed pay the tax. The current imposition of tax requires the
severer to pay the tax and the tax is based on gross proceeds
derived from the sale of the timber. Under the proposed bill, the
valuation of the timber on the stump would be the indicia from
which the tax would be calculated. The commissioner is directed to
determine the valuation of the timber from the stumpage existing
prior to harvest. The commissioner is directed to propose
legislative rules designed to effectuate the calculation of the
tax, the valuation of the timber, and the collection of the tax.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.