Senate Bill No. 430
(By Senator Craigo)
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[Introduced March 22, 1993; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section five-s, article ten, chapter
eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to disclosure of
certain business registration information to the state
treasurer for recovery and disposition of unclaimed
property.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five-s, article ten, chapter eleven of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. PROCEDURE AND ADMINISTRATION.
§11-10-5s. Disclosure of certain taxpayer information.
(a)
Purpose. -- The Legislature hereby recognizes the
importance of confidentiality of taxpayer information as a
protection of taxpayers' privacy rights and to enhance voluntary
compliance with the tax law. The Legislature also recognizes the
citizens' right to accountable and efficient state government. To accomplish these ends, the Legislature hereby creates certain
exceptions to the general principle of confidentiality of
taxpayer information.
(b)
Exceptions to confidentiality. --
(1) Notwithstanding any provision in this code to the
contrary, the tax commissioner shall publish in the state
register the name and address of every taxpayer, and the amount,
by category, of any credit asserted on a tax return under
articles thirteen-c, thirteen-d, thirteen-e, thirteen-f,
thirteen-g and thirteen-h of this chapter and article one,
chapter five-e of this code for any tax year beginning on or
after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-
one. The categories by dollar amount of credit received shall be
as follows:
(A) More than $1.00, but not more than $50,000;
(B) More than $50,000, but not more than $100,000;
(C) More than $100,000, but not more than $250,000;
(D) More than $250,000, but not more than $500,000;
(E) More than $500,000, but not more than $1,000,000;
(F) More than $1,000,000.
(2) Notwithstanding any provision in this code to the
contrary, the tax commissioner shall publish in the state
register the following information regarding any compromise of a
pending civil tax case that occurs on or after the effective
date of this section in which the tax commissioner is required
to seek the written recommendation of the attorney general andthe attorney general has not recommended acceptance of such
compromise or when the tax commissioner compromises any civil tax
case for an amount that is more than two hundred fifty thousand
dollars less than the assessment of tax owed made by the tax
commissioner:
(A) The names and addresses of taxpayers that are parties to
such compromise;
(B) A summary of such compromise;
(C) Any written advice or recommendation rendered by the
attorney general regarding such compromise; and
(D) Any written advice or recommendation rendered by the tax
commissioner's staff.
Under no circumstances may the tax return of the taxpayer
nor any other information which would otherwise be confidential
under any other provisions of law be disclosed pursuant to the
provisions of this subsection.
(3) Notwithstanding any provision in this code to the
contrary, the tax commissioner may disclose any relevant return
information to the prosecuting attorney for the county in which
venue lies for a criminal tax offense when there is reasonable
cause, based upon and substantiated by such information, to
believe that a criminal tax law has been or is being violated.
(4) Notwithstanding any provision in this code to the
contrary, the tax commissioner may enter into written exchange of
information agreements with the commissioners of labor,
employment security and workers' compensation to disclose andreceive return information:
Provided, That the tax commissioner
may promulgate rules pursuant to chapter twenty-nine-a of this
code regarding further agencies with which written exchange of
information agreements may be sought:
Provided, however, That
the tax commissioner may not promulgate emergency rules regarding
further agencies with which written exchange of information
agreements may be sought. Such agreements shall be published in
the state register and shall only be for the purpose of
facilitating premium collection, tax collection and facilitating
licensure requirements directly enforced, administered or
collected by the respective agencies. The provisions of this
subsection shall not be construed to preclude or limit disclosure
of tax information authorized by other provisions of this code.
Any confidential return information so disclosed shall remain
confidential in the hands of such other division to the extent
provided by section five-d of this article and by other
applicable federal or state laws.
(5) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, the tax commissioner may enter into a written agreement
with the state treasurer to disclose to the state treasurer the
following business registration information: (1) The names,
addresses, and federal employer identification numbers of
businesses which have registered to do business in West Virginia;
and (2) the type of business activity and organization of those
businesses. Disclosure of such information shall begin as soon
as practicable after the effective date of this subsection andmay be used only for the purpose of recovery and disposition of
unclaimed property in accordance with the provisions of article
eight, chapter thirty-six of this code. The provisions of this
subsection shall not be construed to preclude or limit disclosure
of tax information authorized by other provisions of this code.
Any confidential return information disclosed hereunder or
thereunder shall otherwise remain confidential to the extent
provided by section five-d of this article and by other
applicable federal or state laws.
(c)
Tax expenditure reports. -- Beginning on the fifteenth
day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-two and every
fifteenth day of January thereafter, the governor shall submit to
the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
Delegates a tax expenditure report. Such report shall expressly
identify all tax expenditures. Within three-year cycles, such
reports shall be considered together to analyze all tax
expenditures by describing the annual revenue loss and benefits
of the tax expenditure based upon information available to the
tax commissioner. For purposes of this section, the term "tax
expenditure" shall mean a provision in the tax laws administered
under this article, including, but not limited to, exclusions,
deductions, tax preferences, credits and deferrals designed to
encourage certain kinds of activities or to aid taxpayers in
special circumstances:
Provided, That the tax commissioner shall
promulgate rules setting forth the procedure by which he or she
will compile such reports and setting forth a priority for theorder in which the reports will be compiled according to type of
tax expenditure.
(d)
Federal and state return information confidential. --
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section or of this
code, no return information made available to the tax
commissioner by the Internal Revenue Service or department or
agency of any other state may be disclosed to another person in
any manner inconsistent with the provisions of Section 6103 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or of such other
states' confidentiality laws.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the Tax
Commissioner to provide limited business registration information
to the State Treasurer, in order to facilitate recovery and
disposition of unclaimed property.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
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