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Introduced Version House Bill 3123 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 3123


(By Delegates Carmichael, Ellem,
Palumbo, Doyle, Canterbury and Blair)

[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]



A BILL to amend and reenact §11-15-3a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §11-16-13 of said code; and to amend and reenact §11-17-3 of said code, all relating to taxation; eliminating the consumer sales and service tax on food; increasing the tax on nonintoxicating beer per barrel from five dollars and fifty cents to six dollars and thirty-five cents; increasing the rate of tax on cigarettes from fifty-five cents to one dollar and thirty-five cents; increasing the excise tax on noncigarette tobacco products from seven percent to fourteen percent; and providing for the dedication of five million dollars of the revenue for the first year to the Department of Agriculture.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-15-3a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that §11-16-13 of said code be amended and reenacted; and that §11-17-3 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15. CONSUMERS SALES AND SERVICE TAX.
§11-15-3a. Rate of tax on food and food ingredients intended for human consumption; reduction of tax beginning January 1, 2006; elimination of tax beginning July 1, 2007; exceptions; legislative, emergency and other rules.

(a) Rate of tax on food and food ingredients.-- Notwithstanding any provision of this article or article fifteen-a of this chapter to the contrary, the rate of tax on sales, purchases and uses of food and food ingredients intended for human consumption after the thirty-first day of December, two thousand five, shall be five percent of its sales price, as defined in section two, article fifteen-b of this chapter: Provided, That beginning the first day of July, two thousand seven, any tax imposed, on sales, purchases and uses of food and food ingredients intended for human consumption shall be abolished: Provided, however, That the tax imposed, on sales, purchases and uses of prepared food, by section three-b, shall remain in effect.
(b) Calculation of tax on fractional parts of a dollar. -- The tax computation under this section shall be carried to the third decimal place, and the tax rounded up to the next whole cent whenever the third decimal place is greater than four and rounded down to the lower whole cent whenever the third decimal place is four or less. The seller may elect to compute the tax due on a transaction on a per item basis or on an invoice basis provided the method used is consistently used during the reporting period.
(c) Exceptions. -- The reduced rate of tax provided in this section shall not apply to sales, purchases and uses by consumers of "Prepared food," as defined in article fifteen-b of this chapter, which shall remain taxable at the general rate of tax specified in section three of this article and section two, article fifteen-a of this chapter.
(d) Federal food stamp and women, infants and children programs, other exemptions. -- Nothing in this section shall affect application of the exemption from tax provided in section nine of this article for food purchased by an eligible person using food stamps, electronic benefits transfer cards or vouchers issued by or pursuant to authorization of the United States Department of Agriculture to individuals participating in the federal food stamp program, by whatever name called, or the women, infants, and children (WIC) program, or application of any other exemption from tax set forth in this article or article fifteen-a of this chapter.
(e) Legislative rules; emergency rules. -- The Tax Commissioner may promulgate legislative rules and emergency rules explaining and implementing this section, which rules shall be promulgated in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code. The authority to promulgate rules includes authority to amend or repeal those rules. If proposed legislative rules for this section are filed in the State Register before the fifteenth day of December, two thousand five, those rules may be promulgated as emergency legislative rules, as provided in article three of said chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
ARTICLE 16. NONINTOXICATING BEER.
§11-16-13. Barrel tax on nonintoxicating beer.
(a) There is hereby levied and imposed, in addition to the license taxes provided for in this article, a tax of five six dollars and fifty thirty-five cents on each barrel of thirty-one gallons and in like ratio on each part barrel of nonintoxicating beer manufactured in this state for sale within this state, whether contained or sold in barrels, bottles or other containers, and a like tax is hereby levied and imposed upon all nonintoxicating beer manufactured outside of this state and brought into this state for sale within this state; but no nonintoxicating beer manufactured, sold or distributed in this state is subject to more than one barrel tax. The brewer manufacturing or producing nonintoxicating beer within this state for sale within this state shall pay the barrel tax on such nonintoxicating beer, and, except as provided otherwise, the distributor who is the original consignee of nonintoxicating beer manufactured or produced outside of this state, or who brings such nonintoxicating beer into this state, shall pay the barrel tax on such nonintoxicating beer manufactured or produced outside of this state: Provided, That the barrel tax imposed by this section shall not apply to nonintoxicating beer manufactured by a brewpub.
(b) On or before the tenth day of each month during the license period, every brewer or operator of a brewpub who manufactures or produces nonintoxicating beer within this state shall file a report in writing, under oath, to the Tax Commissioner, in the form prescribed by the Tax Commissioner, stating its total sales, or in the case of a brewpub, its total estimated production of nonintoxicating beer within this state during that month, and at the same time shall pay the tax levied by this article on such production. On or before the tenth day of each month during the license period, every distributor who is the original consignee of nonintoxicating beer manufactured or produced outside this state or who brings such beer into this state for sale shall file a report in writing, under oath, to the Tax Commissioner, in the form prescribed by the Tax Commissioner, stating its total estimated purchases of such nonintoxicating beer during that month, and at the same time shall pay the tax thereon levied by this article for such estimated monthly purchase: Provided, That the Tax Commissioner may allow, or require, a brewer who manufactures or produces nonintoxicating beer outside this state to file the required report and pay the required tax on behalf of its distributor or distributors. Any brewer or distributor or operator of a brewpub who files a report under this subsection may adjust its monthly estimated sales or purchases or production report or reports by filing amended reports by the twenty-fifth day of the reporting month.
(c) Every brewer or distributor or operator of a brewpub who files a report under subsection (b) of this section shall file a final monthly report of said sales or purchases or production, in a form and at a time prescribed by the Tax Commissioner, stating actual nonintoxicating beer sales, purchases, or production and other information which the Tax Commissioner may require, and shall include a remittance for any barrel tax owed for actual sales or purchases or production made in excess of the amount estimated for that month.
(d) Any brewer or distributor or operator of a brewpub who files a report pursuant to subsection (b) of this section reflecting an underestimation of twenty-five percent or more of actual sales or purchases or production of nonintoxicating beer as shown by the report filed pursuant to subsection © of this section shall be assessed a penalty of one percent of the total taxes due in such prior month.
(e) Brewers and distributors and operators of brewpubs shall keep all records which relate to the sale or purchase in this state of nonintoxicating beer for a period of three years unless written approval for earlier disposal is granted by the Tax Commissioner.
(f) Brewpubs shall keep such records as required by the federal government and may, in lieu of the recordkeeping and reporting requirements contained in subsections (a) through (e) of this section, file copies of the federal reports contemporaneously with the Tax Commissioner at the time of such filings with the federal government. The filing of duplicate copies of the federal reports with the State Tax Commissioner shall be deemed as compliance with subsections (a) through (e) of this section.
(g) Effective date. -- The changes set forth herein to this section shall become effective the first day of July, two thousand seven.
ARTICLE 17. TOBACCO PRODUCTS EXCISE TAX ACT.
§11-17-3. Levy of tax; ratio; dedication of proceeds.
(a) Tax on cigarettes. -- For the purpose of providing revenue for the General Revenue Fund of the state, an excise tax is hereby levied and imposed on sales of cigarettes at the rate of fifty-five one dollar and thirty-five cents on each twenty cigarettes or in like ratio on any part thereof. Only one sale of the same article shall be used in computing the amount of tax due under this subsection.
(b) Tax on tobacco products other than cigarettes. -- Effective the first day of January, two thousand two, an excise tax is hereby levied and imposed on the sale or use of, other than cigarettes, tobacco products at a rate equal to seven fourteen percent of the wholesale price of each article or item of tobacco product other than cigarettes sold by the wholesaler or subjobber dealer, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold, then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer. Only one sale of the same article shall be used in computing the amount of tax due under this subsection. Revenues received from this tax shall be deposited into the General Revenue Fund: Provided, That the first five million dollars of revenue collected, between the first day of July, two thousand seven and the thirtieth day of June, two thousand eight, is dedicated and shall be transferred, without legislative appropriation, to the Department of Agriculture for crop transition programs.
(c) Effective date. -- The changes set forth herein to this section and section four of this article shall become effective the first day of May, two thousand three July, two thousand seven.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to abolish the food tax, increase the tax on nonintoxicating beer per barrel from five dollars and fifty cents to six dollars and thirty-five cents, increase the tax on cigarettes to one dollar and thirty-five cents, increase the tax on noncigarettes tobacco products from seven to fourteen percent, and to dedicate the first five million of revenue to the Department of Agriculture's crop transition program.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

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