Senate Bill No. 508
(By Senator Plymale)
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[Introduced February 21, 1994;
referred to the Committee on Transportation.]
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A BILL to amend chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article fourteen-b,
relating generally to compliance with section four thousand
eight of the "Intermodal Surface Transportation and
Efficiency Act of 1991"; transferring authority to register
motor carriers and issue trip permits to the division of
motor vehicles; authorizing tax commissioner to enter into
cooperative reciprocal international fuel tax agreements
with one or more other states for collection of West
Virginia motor fuel use taxes from motor carriers based in
other states; specifying scope and effect of such
agreements; specifying powers, duties and rights under such
agreements; authorizing exchanges of information for
purposes of single point registration of motor carriers and
for administration and collection of motor fuel use taxes
under such agreements; providing for disposition of motor
fuel use taxes collected under such agreements; creating
international fuel tax agreement clearing fund in the state
treasury; providing for administration and collection of
motor fuel use taxes under an international fuel tax
agreement to be subject to the West Virginia tax procedure
and administration act; and providing for West Virginia tax
crimes and penalties act to apply to international fuel tax
agreements.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article fourteen-b, to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 14B. INTERSTATE FUEL TAX AGREEMENT.
§11-14B-1. Purpose.
This article is enacted to conform laws of this state
relating to registration of motor carriers and reporting and
payment of motor fuel use taxes with requirements of the
"Intermodal Surface Transportation and Efficiency Act of 1991",
Public Law 102-240. More specifically:
(1) Section 4005 of that act requires establishment of a
single state registration system for commercial motor carriers.
Under this system, a motor carrier is required to register
annually only with one state. Single state registration is
deemed to satisfy the registration requirements of all other
states.
(2) Section 4008 of that act mandates state participation inthe international registration plan and adoption of the
international fuel tax agreement by providing that after the
thirtieth day of September, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six:
(A) No state (other than a state participating in the
international registration plan) may establish, maintain or
enforce any commercial motor vehicle registration law, regulation
or agreement which limits the operation of any commercial motor
vehicle within its borders which is not registered under the laws
of the state if the vehicle is registered under the laws of any
other state participating in the international registration plan;
(B) No state may establish, maintain or enforce any law or
regulation which has fuel use tax reporting requirements
(including tax reporting forms) which are not in conformity with
the international fuel tax agreement; and
(C) No state may establish, maintain or enforce any law or
regulation which provides for the payment of a fuel use tax
unless such law or regulation is in conformity with the
international fuel tax agreement with respect to collection of
such tax by a single base state and proportional sharing of such
taxes charged among the states in where a commercial motor
vehicle is operated.
§11-14B-2. Definitions.
(a) "Commercial motor vehicle": (1) As used with respect to
the international registration plan, has the meaning the term
"apportionable vehicle" has under that plan; and (2) as used with
respect to the international fuel tax agreement, has the meaningthe term "qualified motor vehicle" has under that agreement.
(b) "Fuel use tax" means a tax imposed on or measured by the
consumption of fuel in a motor vehicle.
(c) "International fuel tax agreement" means the
international agreement for the collection and distribution of
fuel use taxes paid by motor carriers, developed under the
auspices of the national governors' association.
(d) "International registration plan" means the interstate
agreement for the apportionment of vehicle registration fees paid
by motor carriers developed by the American association of motor
vehicle administrators.
(e) "Motor fuel use taxes imposed by this state" means the
aggregate amount of taxes, expressed in cents per gallon, imposed
by this state, under articles fourteen-a and fifteen-a of this
chapter, on gasoline or special fuel consumed in this state by a
motor carrier.
(f) "State" means any of the forty-eight contiguous states
and the District of Columbia.
§11-14B-3. Registration of motor carriers.
(a) To facilitate adoption of the single point registration
system in this state, the powers, duties and responsibilities of
the tax commissioner under section seven, article fourteen-a of
this chapter, are transferred to the commissioner of the division
of motor vehicles for the registration year that begins the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five.
(b) Beginning with the registration year specified insubsection (a) of this section, the commissioner of motor
vehicles shall furnish the tax commissioner with motor carrier
registration information and information pertaining to the trip
permit registration program for use by the tax commissioner in
collecting motor fuel taxes.
(c) Also beginning with the registration year specified in
subsection (a) of this section, the tax commissioner shall
furnish the commissioner of motor vehicles with the taxpayer
identity information for any motor carrier which fails to file
required returns or report for, or to pay, the motor fuel use
taxes imposed by this state. This information may give the
commissioner of motor vehicles sufficient cause to revoke or
refuse to renew the identification marker previously issued under
section seven, article fourteen-a of this chapter.
(d) Information exchanged pursuant to this section shall be
used solely for tax administration and motor carrier registration
purposes and shall be treated as confidential information for all
other purposes as provided in article ten of this chapter.
§11-14B-4. Cooperative agreements between states authorized.
(a) The tax commissioner may enter into cooperative
reciprocal international fuel tax agreements on behalf of the
state of West Virginia with the appropriate authorities of
another state or group of states for administration of the motor
fuel use taxes imposed by this state.
(b) The tax commissioner may enter into any ancillary or
related agreements on behalf of this state with the appropriateofficials of one or more other states, or the federal government
which the tax commissioner considers appropriate and necessary to
fully implement any international fuel tax agreement entered into
under subsection (a) of this section.
§11-14B-5. Scope of agreement.
An international fuel tax agreement may provide for:
(a) Determining the base state of motor carriers;
(b) Making and retaining of records by motor carriers;
(c) Auditing the books and records of motor carriers and
auditing procedures;
(d) Exchanging information for purposes of motor fuel use
tax administration and collection;
(e) Determining persons eligible for a motor carrier tax
license or registration;
(f) Defining qualified motor vehicles;
(g) Determining if or when bonding is required;
(h) Specify reporting requirements and periods;
(i) Specifying uniform penalty and interest rates for late
reporting and payment of motor fuel use taxes;
(j) Determining methods for collecting and forwarding of
motor fuel use taxes and penalties to another jurisdiction; and
(k) Any other provision which the parties to the agreement
believe will facilitate administration of the agreement and
collection of motor fuel uses taxes from interstate motor
carriers.
§11-14B-6. Effect of international fuel tax agreement.
(a) The reporting requirements provided in the international
fuel tax agreement shall take precedence over the reporting
requirements provided in article fourteen-a of this chapter.
(b) Where the international fuel tax agreement and the
provisions of article fourteen-a of this chapter and any
amendments thereto subsequently made address the same matters,
the provisions of the international fuel tax agreement shall take
precedence.
(c) The amount of international fuel tax agreement taxes
reported as due and owing by a motor carrier based in this state
shall for purposes of articles nine and ten of this chapter be
treated as taxes due and owing to the state of West Virginia.
(d) Interstate motor fuel users based in another state which
is not a member of the international fuel tax agreement shall
continue to be subject to the provisions of article fourteen-a of
this chapter, and any subsequent amendments thereto.
§11-14B-7. Effective date of international fuel tax agreement
or amendment.
The terms of an international fuel tax agreement, or an
amendment thereto, shall not be effective until they are stated
in writing and a properly executed copy is filed with the tax
commissioner.
§11-14B-8. Copy of agreement to be maintained by tax
commissioner.
A current copy of the international fuel tax agreement shall
be maintained by the tax commissioner. A current copy of theinternational fuel tax agreement and any amendment thereto shall
be published in the state register.
§11-14B-9. Exchange of information.
(a) The tax commissioner may, as required by the terms of
any agreement executed under section four of this article,
forward to the proper officers of any party to such agreement any
information in the tax commissioner's possession relative to the
manufacture, receipt, sale, use, transportation or shipment of
motor fuels by any person.
(b) The tax commissioner may disclose to the proper officers
of any party to an agreement executed under section four of this
article the location of offices, motor vehicles and other real
and personal property of users of motor fuels.
(c) Information which the tax commissioner is authorized to
disclose under this article, which is confidential information
under article ten of this chapter when in the possession of the
tax commissioner, shall be treated as confidential information by
the recipient thereof and that information may be used only for
tax administration purposes.
(d) In the event of any inconsistency between the disclosure
of information rules specified in this article and the
confidentiality rules provided in article ten of this chapter,
the language of this article shall control.
§11-14B-10. Audits.
(a) The international fuel tax agreement may provide for
each state to audit the records of motor carriers based in thatstate to determine if the motor fuel taxes due each state are
properly reported and paid. When a base state performs a motor
fuel use tax audit on an interstate motor carrier based in that
state, it shall forward the findings of such audit to each state
in which the interstate motor carrier has taxable use of motor
fuels. For interstate motor carriers not based in this state and
who have taxable use of motor fuel in this state which the motor
carrier did not report to the base state as taxable by this
state, the tax commissioner shall serve the audit findings
received from the base state along with demand for payment of the
additional motor fuel taxes owed to this state as though the
audit was conducted by the tax commissioner. In the event the
additional motor fuel taxes imposed by this state are not timely
paid, the tax commissioner shall issue an assessment under
article ten of this chapter.
(b) No international fuel tax agreement entered into under
this article may preclude the tax commissioner from auditing the
records of any person covered by the provisions of this article.
§11-14B-11. Disposition of moneys; international fuel tax
agreement clearing fund.
(a)
International fuel tax agreement clearing fund. -- All
amounts collected under the international fuel tax agreement
shall be deposited daily by the tax commissioner into the
international fuel tax agreement clearing fund which is hereby
created in the state treasury.
(b)
Distributions. -- The tax commissioner shall distributefunds in the international fuel tax agreement clearing fund as
follows:
(1) Payments due and owing to member jurisdictions under the
international fuel tax agreement shall be distributed as provided
in the agreement.
(2) Refunds for over payment of motor fuel taxes by a West
Virginia based interstate motor carrier shall be made from the
fund.
(3) The tax commissioner shall periodically reconcile the
international fuel tax agreement clearing fund and, after
reconciliation, transfer to the state road fund all deposits in
the clearing fund of motor fuel use taxes imposed by articles
fourteen-a and fifteen-a of this chapter.
(c)
Investment of funds. -- Funds in the international fuel
tax agreement clearing fund shall be invested in the same manner
as funds in the state road fund and all earnings from these
investments shall be deposited in the state treasury and credited
to the state road fund:
Provided,
That these investments shall
not affect or interfere with distributions from the fund in
accordance with the terms of the international fuel tax
agreement.
§11-14B-12. Regulations.
The tax commissioner may adopt rules for the implementation,
administration or enforcement of an international fuel tax
agreement. These rules shall be promulgated in accordance with
the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of thiscode.
§11-14B-13. Legal remedies.
The legal remedies of any person served with an order or
assessment under this article shall be those provided in this
code to taxpayers in this state.
§11-14B-14. General procedure and administration.
All of the provisions of the "West Virginia Tax Procedure
and Administration Act" set forth in article ten of this chapter,
including amendments thereto, apply to motor fuel taxes collected
under an international fuel tax agreement.
§11-14B-15. Criminal penalties.
All of the provisions of the "West Virginia Tax Crimes and
Penalties Act" set forth in article nine of this chapter,
including amendments thereto, apply to the international fuel tax
agreement taxes collectible under this article.
§11-14B-16. Reimbursement of expenses of tax commissioner.
The division of motor vehicles shall reimburse the tax
commissioner for costs incurred by the tax commissioner to
implement agreements entered into under this section and for any
additional expenses as may be incurred by the tax commissioner to
collect motor fuel use taxes under these agreements, when these
expenses are not provided for in the tax division's annual budget
appropriation. For the fiscal year of the state that begins on
the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, the
reimbursement amount shall be six hundred twenty thousanddollars. The amount of reimbursement shall be renegotiated each
fiscal year thereafter.
§11-14B-17. Severability.
If any provision of this article or the application thereof
shall for any reason be adjudged by any court of competent
jurisdiction to be invalid, that judgment shall not affect,
impair or invalidate the remainder of this article, but shall be
confined in its operation to the provision of this article
directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment was
rendered and the material facts therein, and the applicability of
the provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be
affected by the judgment.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to conform West Virginia
law with the requirements of Title IV, Section 4008 of the
"Intermodal Surface Transportation and Efficiency Act of 1991,"
Public Law 102-240, 105 Stat. 2153. That act requires states
which register interstate motor carriers to participate in the
International Registration Plan for registration of interstate
motor carriers, and requires states which impose motor fuel use
taxes to participate in the International Fuel Tax Agreement in
order to collect motor fuel uses taxes from interstate motor
carriers.)
TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
The Committee on Transportation moved to amend the bill on
page ___, section two, line ___, after the word "Columbia" by
striking out the period and inserting a comma and the words: and
any other jurisdiction which imposes a motor fuel use tax and is
a member of the international fuel tax agreement.;
On page ___, section three, line ___, after the word"ninety-five" by striking out the period and inserting a colon
and the following:
Provided, That no registration marker or trip
permit shall be required under section seven, article fourteen of
this chapter of a motor carrier based in another state which is
a member of the international fuel tax agreement.;
On page ___, section ten, line ___, after the word "fuels."
by striking out the remainder of the subsection;
On page ___, section fourteen, line ___, before the word
"All" by inserting "(a)";
And,
On page ___, section fourteen, after line ___, by adding the
following:
(b) In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions
of article ten of this chapter and the terms of the international
fuel tax agreement, the terms of the international fuel tax
agreement shall control.
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