FISCAL NOTE
Date Requested: March 09, 2021
Time Requested: 10:22 AM |
| Agency: |
Tax & Revenue Department, WV State |
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| CBD Number: |
Version: |
Bill Number: |
Resolution Number: |
| 3308 |
originating |
HB2759 |
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| CBD Subject: |
|
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FUND(S):
General Revenue Fund
Sources of Revenue:
General Fund
Legislation creates:
Decreases Existing Revenue, Increases Existing Expenses
Fiscal Note Summary
Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.
The stated purpose of this bill is to provide a tax credit for 50% of the cost of a lifetime hunting, trapping and fishing license for veterans who have been honorably discharged from the armed services and who are certified by the Veterans Administration as not less than 50% totally disabled.
According to our interpretation, the proposed bill would create a non-refundable Personal Income Tax credit for veterans that purchase a lifetime hunting, trapping, and fishing license. The amount of credit is 50 percent of the license cost. Based on our interpretation, the passage of the proposed legislation would create a loss in General Revenue collections of roughly $90,000 a year beginning in FY2023. Absent an effective date, the Personal Income Tax provisions of this bill would be in effect beginning in Tax Year 2022.
Additional administrative cost roughly incurred by the State Tax Department are expected to be $5,000 in FY2023.
Fiscal Note Detail
| Effect of Proposal |
Fiscal Year |
2021
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
2022
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation) |
| 1. Estmated Total Cost |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Personal Services |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Current Expenses |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Repairs and Alterations |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Assets |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Other |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2. Estimated Total Revenues |
0 |
0 |
-90,000 |
Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):
According to our interpretation, the proposed bill would create a non-refundable Personal Income Tax credit for veterans that purchase a lifetime hunting, trapping, and fishing license. The amount of credit is 50 percent of the license cost. Based on our interpretation, the passage of the proposed legislation would create a loss in General Revenue collections of roughly $90,000 a year beginning in FY2023. Absent an effective date, the Personal Income Tax provisions of this bill would be in effect beginning in Tax Year 2022.
Additional administrative cost roughly incurred by the State Tax Department are expected to be $5,000 in FY2023.
Memorandum
The stated purpose of this bill is to provide a tax credit for 50% of the cost of a lifetime hunting, trapping and fishing license for veterans who have been honorably discharged from the armed services and who are certified by the Veterans Administration as not less than 50% totally disabled.
Current law allows West Virginia residents who were honorably discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States and receive a veteran’s pension based on total permanent service-related disability to hunt, fish and trap in this state without obtaining a license. Current law also allows West Virginia residents who are disabled veterans who are eligible to be exempt from motor vehicle registration to hunt, fish, and trap in this state without obtaining a license. The bill repeals those provisions.
The exemptions in current law (that are to be repealed by this bill) apply to West Virginia residents who are “honorably discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States of America.” Although the bill purports to create a new article 13KK, titled “West Virginia Honorably Discharged Veteran Lifetime Hunting, Trapping, and Fishing License Tax Credit,” the bill defines “eligible veteran” as a “West Virginia resident who served in the active military, naval, or air service of the United States of America, and who was discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable, receives service-related disability compensation based on a total disability rating of not less than 50% as certified by the Veterans Administration, and has completed the purchase of and been issued a lifetime hunting, fishing, and trapping license for veterans pursuant to §20-2B-1 et seq.”
There is a difference between “honorably discharged” and a discharge or release “under conditions other than dishonorable.” Also, it is not clear whether “the active military, naval, or air service of the United States of America” is different from “the Armed Forces of the United States of America.” “Armed Forces of the United States” is a defined term elsewhere in the West Virginia Code (see, e.g., §5-10-15(b)(7)(C)); “active military, naval, or air service of the United States of America” is not a defined term.
The bill provides that, “If the amount of the credit authorized by this article is unused in any tax year, it may not be applied to any other tax year;” but the bill does not indicate when the credit must be taken. If the credit can be claimed only for the tax year in which the lifetime license fee is paid, then the bill needs to say that; otherwise, it could be interpreted to mean that the credit may be claimed for any one tax year after the fee has been paid.
Person submitting Fiscal Note: Mark Muchow
Email Address: kerri.r.petry@wv.gov