COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 317
(By Senators Manchin, Claypole, Bailey, Anderson, Jones,
Ross, Helmick, Dalton, Wagner, Plymale, Miller and Schoonover)
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[Originating in the Committee on Finance;
reported March 2, 1994.]
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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;
defining terms; disclosure of surcharge; providing for the
reporting of surcharges collected; amount of surcharge which
may be retained; annual reconciliation; excess moneys from
surcharge to be remitted to tax department for transfer to
division of motor vehicles; authorizing audits; and
providing for criminal 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 the
West 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 is 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 in this
section shall be computed and assessed prior to the imposition of
the consumer sales and service tax imposed upon the rental
transaction by article fifteen, chapter eleven of this code. 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 under this section shallreport 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 of
this article on the business, which has been paid by the 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 under
this section is authorized to retain the amount of surcharge
actually collected equal to the amount of the privilege tax
assessed on the business pursuant to section four of this
article.
(d) Within sixty days following the end of West Virginia's
fiscal year, the 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 the business by section four of this article which
has been paid by the 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 (c) of this section to offset the privilege taximposed pursuant to section four of this article. Privilege
taxes which have been paid and not offset by the surcharge
authorized under this section may not be carried forward to a
succeeding fiscal year. Any moneys remitted to the West Virginia
department of tax and revenue shall be forwarded to the West
Virginia division of motor vehicles for purposes of administering
the programs of that division:
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. The
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 this code.
(e) The commissioner may audit businesses making the reports
under subsections (c) and (d) of this section. Any business
assessing the surcharge authorized under this section which fails
to 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 the
business in the submission of the report is guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, may be punished by a
fine not to exceed one thousand dollars. Each violation
constitutes a separate offense. The penalties in this section
are in addition to those contained in article nine, chapter
eleven of this code.