WEST virginia legislature

2021 regular session

Introduced

Senate Bill 305

By Senators Tarr, Karnes, Swope, Nelson, Rucker, Plymale, and Woelfel

[Introduced February 17, 2021; referred
to the Committee on Finance]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §11-15-9t, relating to providing an exemption from the consumers sales and service tax for purchases of certain services and tangible personal property sold for the repair, remodeling, and maintenance of aircraft with an empty weight of 6,000 pounds or greater; defining terms; specifying a method for claiming exemption; authorizing emergency rules and promulgation of legislative rules; and establishing the effective date of the section.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 15. CONSUMERS SALES AND SERVICE TAX.

§11-15-9t.  Exemption for purchases of services and tangible personal property sold for the repair, remodeling, and maintenance of aircraft with an empty weight of 6,000 pounds or greater; defining terms.

(a) The following sales are exempt from the consumers sales and service tax: Sales of aircraft repair, remodeling and maintenance services when the services are to an aircraft with an empty weight of 6,000 pounds or greater, or to an engine or other component part of an aircraft with an empty weight of 6,000 pounds or greater; sales of tangible personal property that is permanently affixed or permanently attached as a component part of an aircraft with an empty weight of 6,000 pounds or greater, as part of the repair, remodeling, or maintenance service; and sales of machinery, tools, or equipment directly used or consumed exclusively in the repair, remodeling, or maintenance of aircraft, aircraft engines, or aircraft component parts for an aircraft with an empty weight of 6,000 pounds or greater, or used exclusively in combination with the purposes specified in this subsection and the purposes specified in §11-15-9(a)(33) of this code.

(b) Any person having a right or claim to any exemption set forth in this section shall: First, pay to the vendor the tax imposed by this article and then apply to the Tax Commissioner for a refund or credit, or, as provided in §11-15-9d and §11-15A-3d of this code, give to the vendor his or her West Virginia direct pay permit number: Provided, That a person having a right or claim to the exemption set forth in this section may apply to the Tax Commissioner for permission to use an exemption certificate. Upon the granting of such permission, a person having a right or claim to the exemption set forth in this section may, in lieu of paying the tax imposed by this article and filing a claim for refund, execute a certificate of exemption, in the form required by the Tax Commissioner, and deliver it to the vendor of the property or service in the manner required by the Tax Commissioner.

(c) For purposes of this section, “empty weight” means the weight of the airframe, engines, propellers, rotors, and fixed equipment. Empty weight excludes the weight of the crew and payload, but includes the weight of all fixed ballast, unusable fuel supply, undrainable oil, total quantity of engine coolant, and total quantity of hydraulic fluid.

(d) The tax commissioner shall promulgate emergency rules and shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code to establish eligibility requirements for the exemption established by this section.

(e) The provisions of this section shall apply to sales made on and after September 1, 2021.