COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 273
(By Senators Unger, Chafin, Foster and Plymale)
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[Originating in the Committee on Education;
reported March 25, 2009.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §11-13Z-1 and
§11-13Z-2; and to amend said code by adding thereto a new
section, designated §18B-10-7c, all relating generally to
incentives for the general educational development
credential; tax credit for certain employers allowing an
employee at least five hours per week of paid release time to
study for the general educational development test; and
tuition waivers for certain students who have earned a general
educational development credential within the last year.
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 article, designated §11-13Z-1 and
§11-13Z-2; and that said code be amended by adding thereto a new
section, designated §18B-10-7c, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 11. TAXATION.
ARTICLE 13Z. GED ASSISTANCE INCENTIVE TAX CREDIT.
§11-13Z-1. Credit allowed; amount of credit; 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 purposes of this article,
"eligible taxpayer" means a person, firm, partnership, corporation
or other entity who enters into a learning contract with an
employee as required for the tuition discount provided in section
seven-c, article ten, chapter eighteen-b and who allows an employee
a minimum of five hours per week paid release time to study for the
General Educational Development test. This credit shall be in an
amount equal to half of the employee's hourly salary for release
time, up to a maximum of $1,250 per learning contracted employee
per tax year. If an eligible taxpayer enters into a learning
contract with more than one employee and allows those learning
contracted employees a minimum of five hours per week paid release
time to study for the General Education Development test, the
credit allowed shall be multiplied by the number of such employees.
(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 for tax years
beginning after December 31, 2009.
§11-13Z-2. Application of credit; authorization to promulgate
legislative rule; notice of credit.
(a)
Business franchise tax. The credit allowed under this article shall first be applied to reduce the taxes of the eligible
taxpayer imposed by article twenty-three of this chapter for the
taxable year (determined after application of the credits against
tax provided in section seventeen, article twenty-three of this
chapter, but before application of any other allowable credits
against tax).
(b)
Corporation net income taxes. After application of
subsections (a) of this section, any unused credit is next applied
to reduce the taxes of the eligible taxpayer imposed by article
twenty-four of this chapter for the taxable year (determined before
application of allowable credits against tax).
(c)
Personal income taxes.
(1) If the eligible taxpayer is an electing small business
corporation (as defined in section 1361 of the United States
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended), a partnership, a
limited liability company that is treated as a partnership for
federal income tax purposes or a sole proprietorship, then any
unused credit (after application of subsections (a) of this section
and (b) if applicable, of this section), is allowed as a credit
against the taxes imposed by article twenty-one of this chapter on
the pass through income of partners, owners or interest holders
from business or other activity of the eligible taxpayer or on
income of a sole propiretor that is an eligible taxpayer,
attributable to the business.
(2) Electing small business corporations, limited liability
companies, partnerships and other unincorporated organizations shall allocate the credit allowed by this article among its members
in the same manner as profits and losses are allocated for the
taxable year.
(3) No credit is allowed under this section against any
employer withholding taxes imposed by article twenty-one of this
chapter.
(d)
Unused credit. The credit allowed pursuant to this
article is non-refundable. If any credit remains after application
of subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this section in any tax year,
the remaining credit is forfeited and shall not be carried back to
a prior tax year and shall not be carried forward to a subsequent
tax year.
(e) The State Tax Commissioner may propose rules for
legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article
three, 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 allowed
pursuant to this article.
(f) The State Tax Commissioner may develop a written notice
setting forth the availability of this credit and transmit this
notice to employers in the state.
CHAPTER 18B. HIGHER EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 10. FEES AND OTHER MONEY COLLECTED AT INSTITUTIONS OF
HIGHER EDUCATION.
§18B-10-7c. Tuition waivers for full-time employees who have earned their GED.
(a) The governing boards shall make provision for institutions
under their respective jurisdictions to award a tuition waiver for
undergraduate courses at state institutions of higher education for
eligible students, beginning with incoming freshmen in the fall,
2009, semester or term. For purposes of this section an eligible
student is a person who: (1) Has been out of secondary school for
at least three years; (2) has entered into a learning contract with
an adult education program and their employer and completed the
learning contract; and (3) has earned a General Educational
Development credential within the preceding one-year period.
(b) The waiver provided in this section shall be in the amount
of $250 per semester for a maximum of four semesters.
(c) Any award under this section is in addition to the number
of fee waivers permitted in sections five and six of this article
for undergraduate, graduate and professional schools.
(d) A student who is enrolled in an institution of higher
education as of the effective date of this section is not eligible
for a tuition waiver under the provisions of this section.
(e) Documentation of the learning contract required by this
section shall be maintained by the adult education program. The
adult education program shall submit a copy of the learning
contract within ten days of its execution to the employee, the
employer and the West Virginia Department of Education. The adult
education program shall retain the original contract for three
years following the employee's completion of the program. The adult education program shall submit monthly attendance records to
the West Virginia Department of Education and the employer.