WEST virginia legislature
2016 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
House Bill 4377
By Delegates Storch, Anderson, Trecost, Manchin, Fluharty, Zatezalo, Weld and D. Evans
[Originating in the Committee on Finance, February 17, 2016]
A BILL to amend and reenact §7‑18‑1 and §7‑18‑3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to exemptions from the hotel occupancy tax; eliminating exemption from the imposition of the hotel occupancy tax on consumers occupying a hotel room for thirty or more consecutive days; and excluding from the meaning of the term “hotel room” certain sleeping accommodations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §7‑18‑1 and §7‑18‑3 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 18. HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX.
§7‑18‑1. Hotel occupancy tax.
(a) Authority to impose. ‑‑ On and
after July 1, 1985, any county or municipality may impose and collect a
privilege tax upon the occupancy of hotel rooms located within its taxing
jurisdiction. Such The tax shall be imposed and collected as
provided in this article.
(b) Municipal tax. ‑‑ A municipal
hotel tax shall be imposed by ordinance enacted by the governing body of the
municipality, in accordance with the provisions of article eleven, chapter
eight of this code. Such The tax shall be imposed uniformly
throughout the municipality; and the tax shall apply to all hotels located
within the corporate limits of the municipality, including hotels owned by the
state or by any political subdivision of this state.
(c) County tax. ‑‑ A county hotel
tax shall be imposed by order of the county commission duly entered of record. Such
The tax shall be imposed uniformly throughout the county: Provided,
That no county commission may impose its tax on hotels located within the
corporate limits of any municipality situated, in whole or in part, within the
county: Provided, however, That the tax collected by a hotel owned by a
municipality but located outside the corporate limits of such the
municipality pursuant to this article shall be remitted to the municipality
owning such the hotel for expenditure pursuant to the provisions
of section fourteen of this article. The tax shall apply to all hotels located
outside the corporate limits of a municipality, including hotels owned by the
state or any political subdivision of this state.
(d) The tax shall be imposed on the consumer and shall
be collected by the hotel operator as part of the consideration paid for the
occupancy of a hotel room. : Provided,
That the tax shall not be imposed on any consumer occupying a hotel room for
thirty or more consecutive days.
§7‑18‑3. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article:
(a) "Consideration paid" or "consideration" means the amount received in money, credits, property or other consideration for or in exchange for the right to occupy a hotel room as herein defined.
(b) "Consumer" means a person who pays the
consideration for the use or occupancy of a hotel room. The term
"consumer" shall does not be construed to mean
the government of the United States of America, its agencies or
instrumentalities, or the government of the State of West Virginia or political
subdivisions thereof.
(c) "Hotel" means any facility, building or
buildings, publicly or privately owned (including a facility located in a
state, county or municipal park), in which the public may, for a consideration,
obtain sleeping accommodations. The term shall include includes
but is not be limited to, boarding houses, hotels, motels, inns,
courts, condominiums, lodges, cabins and tourist homes. The term
"hotel" shall include includes state, county and city
parks offering accommodations as herein set forth. The term "hotel" shall
not be construed to does not mean any a hospital,
sanitarium, extended care facility, nursing home or university or college
housing unit, or any facility providing fewer than three rooms in private
homes, not exceeding a total of ten days in a calendar year, nor any tent,
trailer or camper campsites: Provided, That where a university or
college housing unit provides sleeping accommodations for the general
nonstudent public for a consideration, the term "hotel" shall does,
if otherwise applicable, apply to such those accommodations for
the purposes of this tax.
(d) "Hotel operator" means the person who is
proprietor of a hotel, whether in the capacity of owner, lessee, mortgagee in
possession, licensee, trustee in possession, trustee in bankruptcy, receiver,
executor or in any other capacity. Where the hotel operator performs his or
her functions through a managing agent of any type or character other than
an employee, the managing agent shall also be deemed is a hotel
operator for the purposes of this article and shall have has the
same duties and liabilities as his or her principal. Compliance with the
provisions of this article by either the principal or the managing agent shall
is, however, be considered to be compliance by both.
(e) "Hotel room" means any room or suite of
rooms or other facility affording sleeping accommodations to the general public
and situated within a hotel. The term "hotel room" shall not be
construed to mean does not include:
(1) A banquet room, meeting room or any other room not primarily used for, or in conjunction with, sleeping accommodations; or
(2) Sleeping accommodations rented on a month‑to‑month basis or other rental arrangement for thirty days or longer at the inception at a boarding house, condominium, cabin, tourist home, apartment or home.
(3) Sleeping
accommodations rented by a hotel operator to those persons
directly employed by the hotel operator for the purposes of performing duties
in support of the operation of the hotel or related operations.
(f) "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, syndicate, social club, fraternal organization, joint stock company, receiver, corporation, guardian, trust, business trust, trustee, committee, estate, executor, administrator or any other group or combination acting as a unit.
(g) "State park" means any state‑owned
facility which is part of this state's park and recreation system established
pursuant to this code. For purposes of this article, any recreational facility
otherwise qualifying as a "hotel" and situated within a state park shall
be deemed is considered to be solely within the county in which the
building or buildings comprising said the facility are physically
situated, notwithstanding the fact that the state park within which said
the facility is located may lie within the jurisdiction of more than one
county.
(h) "Tax," "taxes" or "this tax" means the hotel occupancy tax authorized by this article.
(i) "Taxing authority" means a municipality or county levying or imposing the tax authorized by this article.
(j) "Taxpayer" means any person liable for the tax authorized by this article.