WEST virginia legislature
2017 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 368
By Senators Carmichael (Mr. President) and Prezioso
(By Request of the Executive)
[Introduced February 21,
2017; Referred
to the Committee on Finance]
A BILL to amend and reenact §11-21-9 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to updating the meaning of “federal adjusted gross income” and certain other terms used in the West Virginia Personal Income Tax Act; and specifying effective dates.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-21-9 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
Article 21. WEST VIRGINIA PERSONAL INCOME TAX.
§11-21-9. Meaning of terms.
(a) Any term used in this
article has the same meaning as when used in a comparable context in the laws
of the United States relating to income taxes, unless a different meaning is
clearly required. Any reference in this article to the laws of the United States
means the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and any
other provisions of the laws of the United States that relate to the
determination of income for federal income tax purposes. All amendments made to
the laws of the United States after December 31, 2014 2015, but
prior to January 1, 2016 2017, shall be given effect in
determining the taxes imposed by this article to the same extent those changes
are allowed for federal income tax purposes, whether the changes are retroactive
or prospective, but no amendment to the laws of the United States made on or
after January 1, 2016 2017, may be given any effect.
(b) Medical savings accounts. -- The term "taxable trust" does not include a medical savings account established pursuant to section twenty, article fifteen, chapter thirty-three of this code or section fifteen, article sixteen of that chapter. Employer contributions to a medical savings account established pursuant to those sections are not wages for purposes of withholding under section seventy-one of this article.
(c) Surtax. -- The term "surtax" means the twenty percent additional tax imposed on taxable withdrawals from a medical savings account under section twenty, article fifteen, chapter thirty-three of this code and the twenty percent additional tax imposed on taxable withdrawals from a medical savings account under section fifteen, article sixteen of that chapter which are collected by the Tax Commissioner as tax collected under this article.
(d) Effective date. -- The amendments
to this section enacted in the year 2016 2017 are retroactive to
the extent allowable under federal income tax law. With respect to taxable
years that began prior to January 1, 2017, the law in effect for each of those
years shall be fully preserved as to that year, except as provided in this
section.
(e) For purposes of the refundable credit allowed to a low income senior citizen for property tax paid on his or her homestead in this state, the term "laws of the United States" as used in subsection (a) of this section means and includes the term "low income" as defined in subsection (b), section twenty-one of this article and as reflected in the poverty guidelines updated periodically in the federal register by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the authority of 42 U.S.C. § 9902(2).
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to update the meaning of federal adjusted gross income and certain other terms used in the West Virginia Personal Income Tax Act; and specify effective dates.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.