Senate Bill No. 557

(By Senator Boley)


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[Introduced February 17, 2003; referred to the Committee on Economic Development; and then to the Committee on Finance.]

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A BILL 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-t, relating to taxation; and providing a small business tax abatement for real and personal property for a period of five years on new construction on improvements of one hundred fifty thousand dollars or less.

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-t, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13T. SMALL BUSINESS PROPERTY TAX ABATEMENT.
§11-13T-1. Short title.

This article may be cited as the "West Virginia Small Business Property Tax Abatement Act."
§11-13T-2. Small business property tax abatement.

(a) For the purposes of this article, a small business is any corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship or other business entity which has an annual payroll of one million five thousand dollars or less, or annual gross sales of not more than five million dollars. The tax commissioner may adjust these amounts based on the cost-of-living index for that calendar year beginning on the first day of January, two thousand four, and each subsequent January.
(b) Each small business formed under the laws of the state of West Virginia and operating within the state is entitled to an abatement of real and personal property taxes assessed and imposed under the provisions of articles three, four and five of this chapter on any new construction or improvements to existing facilities made by that business the cost of which is one hundred fifty thousand dollars or less.
(c) The abatement of real and personal taxes shall extend for a period not to exceed five years from the completion of the new construction or improvements to existing facilities by the small business. The tax abatement may be claimed only one time within a ten-year period from the date of new construction or improvements to existing facilities by the small business that is actually occupying and operating the business facility.
§11-13T-3. Tax commissioner to propose legislative rules; effective date.

(a) The tax commissioner shall propose rules for legislative approval prescribing the method and documentation to be used to claim the real and personal property tax abatement in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine of the code. The commissioner may initially promulgate emergency rules in order to facilitate the implementation of the provisions of this article.
(b) The abatement allowed by this section applies to tax years beginning after the thirty-first day of December, two thousand three.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to give small businesses a real and personal tax abatement for new construction or improvements on existing facilities of $150,000.00 or less for a period not to exceed 5 years.

This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.