Senate Bill No. 143
(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Sprouse
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced January 14, 1999;
referred to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section nine, article twenty-one,
chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to updating
the meaning of certain terms used in the West Virginia
personal income tax act by bringing them into conformity
with their meanings for federal income tax purposes; and
specifying effective dates.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nine, article twenty-one, 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 21. PERSONAL INCOME TAX.
§11-21-9. Meaning of terms.
(a) Any term used in this article shall have 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 shall mean the provisions of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and any other provisions of the
laws of the United States as relate to the determination of
income for federal income tax purposes. All amendments made to
the laws of the United States after the thirty-first day of
December, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-six ninety-seven, but
prior to the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-eight ninety-nine, 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 such
changes are retroactive or prospective, but no amendment to the
laws of the United States made on or after the first day of
January, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-eight ninety-nine,
shall 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 said chapter.
Employer contributions to a medical savings account established
pursuant to said 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 said 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 one thousand nine hundred
ninety-eight
ninety-nine shall be retroactive to the extent allowable under
federal income tax law. With respect to taxable years that begin
prior to the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-seven ninety-eight, the law in effect for each of those
years shall be fully preserved as to such year, except as
provided in this section.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to update the
meanings of terms used but not defined in the West Virginia
Personal Income Tax Act by bringing them into conformity with
their meanings for federal income tax purposes.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.)