Senate Bill No. 317
(By Senators Manchin, Claypole, Bailey, Anderson, Jones,
Ross, Helmick, Dalton, Wagner, Plymale, Miller and Schoonover)
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[Introduced February 10, 1994; referred to the Committee
on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend article three, chapter seventeen-a of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
four-a, relating to car rental companies; authorizing a
rental surcharge to be assessed on automobile rentals;
providing for the reporting of surcharges collected; and
providing for penalties for violation of this section.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article three, chapter seventeen-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section four-
a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ORIGINAL AND RENEWAL OF REGISTRATION; ISSUANCE OF
CERTIFICATES OF TITLE.
§17A-3-4a. Car rental companies, rental surcharge, reporting and
penalties.
(a) Beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-four, any business which has registered with theWest Virginia department of tax and revenue as being primarily
engaged in the business of renting private passenger motor
vehicles for periods of thirty days or less and which rents
private passenger motor vehicles which are subject to the
privilege tax set forth in section four of this article and which
taxes have been paid shall be authorized to collect at the time
a vehicle is rented in the state of West Virginia a surcharge
equal to six percent of the total amount of the rental contract:
Provided, That the surcharge authorized herein shall be computed
and assessed prior to the imposition of the consumer sales and
service tax imposed upon such rental transaction by article
fifteen, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia. For
purposes of this section "private passenger motor vehicles" are
defined as motor vehicles that carry no more than fifteen
passengers and are provided without a driver.
(b) The nature, amount and purpose of any surcharge
collected as authorized under this section must be disclosed in
the rental contract and collected in accordance with the terms of
the contract. All surcharges collected must be retained by the
business renting private passenger motor vehicles.
(c) Commencing on the fifteenth day of October, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-four and quarterly thereafter, any business
assessing the surcharge authorized hereunder shall report on a
form prepared by the commissioner of tax and revenue the total
amount of private passenger motor vehicle rental revenues
generated in West Virginia in the previous three-month period;the amount of privilege tax imposed by section four, article
three of chapter seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia on such
business which has been paid by such business in the preceding
three-month period; and the amount of surcharges assessed
pursuant to this section which the business has actually
collected. A business assessing the surcharge authorized
hereunder shall be authorized to retain the amount of surcharge
actually collected equal to the amount of the privilege tax
assessed on such business pursuant to section four, article three
of chapter seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia.
(d) Within sixty days following the end of West Virginia's
fiscal year, such rental car business shall file with the
commissioner of tax and revenue on a form prepared by that office
an annual reconciliation showing the total amount of private
passenger motor vehicle rental revenues generated in West
Virginia in the preceding fiscal year; the amount of privilege
tax imposed on such business by section four, article three of
chapter seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia which has been
paid by such business in the preceding fiscal year; and the
amount of surcharges assessed pursuant to this section which the
business has actually collected in the preceding fiscal year. At
the time of the filing of the annual reconciliation, the rental
car business collecting the surcharge shall remit to the West
Virginia department of tax and revenue the excess of any sums
collected under this section, over the amount which the rental
car business is authorized to retain pursuant to subsection (d)of this section to offset the privilege tax imposed pursuant to
section four, article three of chapter seventeen-a of the code of
West Virginia. Privilege taxes which have been paid and not
offset by the surcharge authorized hereunder may not be carried
forward to a succeeding fiscal year. Any such moneys remitted to
the West Virginia department of tax and revenue shall be
forwarded to the West Virginia department of motor vehicles for
purposes of administering the programs of that department:
Provided, That a rental car business may only utilize surcharges
collected in one fiscal year to offset privilege taxes paid in
the same fiscal year. Such surcharges may not be carried forward
from one fiscal year to a succeeding fiscal year or years. The
procedures set forth in this section are also subject to the
provisions of article ten, chapter eleven of the code of West
Virginia.
(e) The commissioner may audit businesses making the reports
under subsections (c) and (d) of this section and penalize
business in noncompliance as provided in this subsection. Any
business assessing the surcharge authorized under this section
which fails to timely comply with the reporting requirements of
this section or which files a report which misrepresents the
amount of rental car revenues generated in this state; the amount
of surcharge collected pursuant to this section; or the amount of
privilege tax paid or any person who counsels, advises, aids or
abets such business in the submission of such report shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, may bepunished by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars or
imprisoned in the county jail for a period not to exceed six
months or, in the discretion of the court, both fined and
imprisoned. Each violation constitutes a separate offense. The
penalties in this section are in addition to those contained in
article nine, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize businesses
engaged in the rental of private passenger motor vehicles in the
state of West Virginia to assess a surcharge on such transactions
to recover the amount of privilege taxes paid by such businesses;
to provide for the reporting of surcharges collected and the
payment of excess surcharges; to authorize the tax commissioner
to audit such business; and to provide penalties for violations
of this section.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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