H. B. 2008
(By Delegate Carmichael)
[Introduced ; referred to the
Committee on Health and Human Resources, then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §11-15-3 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §11-17-3 of said
code, all relating to taxation; increasing the rate of tax on
cigarettes from fifty-five cents to one dollar and fifty-five
cents; providing for the dedication of five million dollars of
the revenue for the first year to the Department of
Agriculture; and reducing the rate of tax on food for home
consumption from six percent to three percent.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-15-3 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
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.
§11-15-3. Amount of tax; allocation of tax and transfers.
(a) Vendor to collect. -- For the privilege of selling tangible personal property or custom software and for the privilege
of furnishing certain selected services defined in sections two and
eight of this article, the vendor shall collect from the purchaser
the tax as provided under this article and article fifteen-b of
this chapter, and shall pay the amount of tax to the tax
commissioner in accordance with the provisions of this article or
article fifteen-b of this chapter.
(b) Amount of tax. -- The general consumer sales and service
tax imposed by this article shall be is at the rate of six cents on
the dollar of sales or services, excluding gasoline and special
fuel sales, which remain taxable at the rate of five cents on the
dollar of sales, and excluding food for home consumption which,
beginning the first day of July, two thousand five, is taxable at
the rate of three cents on the dollar of sales.
(c) Calculation tax on fractional parts of a dollar until
January 1, 2004. -- There shall be is no tax on sales where the
monetary consideration is five cents or less. The amount of the
tax shall must be computed as follows:
(1) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from six
cents to sixteen cents, both inclusive, one cent.
(2) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from
seventeen cents to thirty-three cents, both inclusive, two cents.
(3) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from
thirty-four cents to fifty cents, both inclusive, three cents.
(4) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from
fifty-one cents to sixty-seven cents, both inclusive, four cents.
(5) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from
sixty-eight cents to eighty-four cents, both inclusive, five cents.
(6) On each sale, where the monetary consideration is from
eighty-five cents to one dollar, both inclusive, six cents.
(7) If the sale price is in excess of one dollar, six cents on
each whole dollar of sale price, and upon any fractional part of a
dollar in excess of whole dollars as follows: One cent on the
fractional part of the dollar if less than seventeen cents; two
cents on the fractional part of the dollar if in excess of sixteen
cents but less than thirty-four cents; three cents on the
fractional part of the dollar if in excess of thirty-three cents
but less than fifty-one cents; four cents on the fractional part of
the dollar if in excess of fifty cents but less than sixty-eight
cents; five cents on the fractional part of the dollar if in excess
of sixty-seven cents but less than eighty-five cents; and six cents
on the fractional part of the dollar if in excess of eighty-four
cents. For example, the tax on sales from one dollar and one cent
to one dollar and sixteen cents, both inclusive, seven cents; on
sales from one dollar and seventeen cents to one dollar and
thirty-three cents, both inclusive, eight cents; on sales from one
dollar and thirty-four cents to one dollar and fifty cents, both
inclusive, nine cents; on sales from one dollar and fifty-one cents to one dollar and sixty-seven cents, both inclusive, ten cents; on
sales from one dollar and sixty-eight cents to one dollar and
eighty-four cents, both inclusive, eleven cents and on sales from
one dollar and eighty-five cents to two dollars, both inclusive,
twelve cents:
Provided, That beginning the first day of January,
two thousand four, tax due under this article shall be calculated
as provided in subsection (d) of this subsection and this
subsection (c) does not apply to sales made after the thirty-first
day of December, two thousand three.
(d) Calculation of tax on fractional parts of a dollar after
December 31, 2003. -- Beginning the first day of January, two
thousand four, the tax computation under subsection (b) of 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 vendor 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.
(e) No aggregation of separate sales transactions, exception
for coin-operated devices. -- Separate sales, such as daily or
weekly deliveries, shall may not be aggregated for the purpose of
computation of the tax even though the sales are aggregated in the
billing or payment therefor. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, coin-operated amusement and vending machine sales
shall be aggregated for the purpose of computation of this tax.
(f) Rate of tax on certain mobile homes. -- Notwithstanding
any provision of this article to the contrary, after the
thirty-first day of December, two thousand three, the tax levied on
sales of mobile homes to be used by the owner thereof as his or her
principal year-round residence and dwelling shall be an amount
equal to six percent of fifty percent of the sales price.
(g) Construction; custom software. -- After the thirty-first
day of December, two thousand three, whenever the words "tangible
personal property" or "property" appear in this article, the same
shall also include the words "custom software".
(h) Computation of tax on sales of gasoline and special fuel.
-- The method of computation of tax provided in this section does
not apply to sales of gasoline and special fuel.
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
one dollar
and fifty-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 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 the revenue in the first year from the
increased tax beginning the first day of July, two thousand five,
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 five.
NOTE: the purpose of this bill is to increase from fifty-five
cents to one dollar and fifty-five cents the rate of the tax on
cigarettes and reduce the consumer sales tax on food sold for home
consumption from 6% to 3%. The bill also dedicates the first five
million dollars to the Department of Agriculture crop transition
programs.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.