ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 93
(By Senators Craigo, Blatnik, Chafin, Dugan, Helmick, Kimble,
Love, Macnaughtan, Manchin, Minear, Plymale, Sharpe, Walker and
Whitlow)
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[Passed February 13, 1996; in effect from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact sections nine and twelve, article
twenty-one, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to
updating meaning of certain terms used in the personal income
tax act; making such updating retroactive; preserving law in
effect for each prior tax year for such year; defining certain
additional terms; making technical corrections in the
definition of West Virginia adjusted gross income; deleting
obsolete language; and specifying effective date.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections nine and twelve, article twenty-one, chapter
eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 21. PERSONAL INCOME TAX.
§11-21-9. Meaning of terms.
(a) Any term used in this article shall have the same meaning
as when used in a comparable context in the laws of the United
States relating to income taxes, unless a different meaning is
clearly required. Any reference in this article to the laws of the
United States shall mean the provisions of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as amended, and such other provisions of the laws of
the United States as relate to the determination of income for
federal income tax purposes. All amendments made to the laws of
the United States prior to the first day of January, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-six, shall be given effect in determining the
taxes imposed by this article for any taxable year beginning the
first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five, or
thereafter, but no amendment to the laws of the United States made
on or after the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-six, shall be given any effect. The exception to the
preceding rule is the change in federal income tax law restoring
subsection (l), Section 162 of the Internal Revenue Code for
taxable years beginning on or after the first day of January, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-four, which shall be allowed under this article for taxable years beginning on or after the first day
of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four.
(b)
Medical savings accounts. -- The term "taxable trust" does
not include a medical savings account established pursuant to
section twenty, article fifteen or section fifteen, article
sixteen, both of chapter thirty-three of this code. Employer
contributions to a medical savings account established pursuant to
said sections, are not "wages" for purposes of withholding under
section seventy-one of this article.
(c)
Surtax. -- The term "surtax" means the twenty percent
additional tax imposed on taxable withdrawals from a medical
savings account under section twenty, article fifteen, chapter
thirty-three of this code, and the twenty percent additional tax
imposed on taxable withdrawals from a medical savings account under
section fifteen, article sixteen of said chapter, which are
collected by the tax commissioner as tax collected under this
article.
(d)
Effective date. -- The amendments to this section enacted
in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-six shall be
retroactive and shall apply to taxable years beginning on or after
the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five,
except as otherwise provided in subsection (a) of this section, to the extent allowable under federal income tax law. With respect to
taxable years that begin prior to the first day of January, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-four, the law in effect for each of
those years shall be fully preserved as to such year.
§11-21-12. West Virginia adjusted gross income of resident
individual.
(a)
General. -- The West Virginia adjusted gross income of a
resident individual means his federal adjusted gross income as
defined in the laws of the United States for the taxable year with
the modifications specified in this section.
(b)
Modifications increasing federal adjusted gross income. --
There shall be added to federal adjusted gross income unless
already included therein the following items:
(1) Interest income on obligations of any state other than
this state or of a political subdivision of any other state unless
created by compact or agreement to which this state is a party;
(2) Interest or dividend income on obligations or securities
of any authority, commission or instrumentality of the United
States, which the laws of the United States exempt from federal
income tax but not from state income taxes;
(3) Any deduction allowed when determining federal adjusted gross income for federal income tax purposes for the taxable year
that is not allowed as a deduction under this article for the
taxable year;
(4) Interest on indebtedness incurred or continued to purchase
or carry obligations or securities the income from which is exempt
from tax under this article, to the extent deductible in
determining federal adjusted gross income;
(5) Interest on a depository institution tax-exempt savings
certificate which is allowed as an exclusion from federal gross
income under Section 128 of the Internal Revenue Code, for the
federal taxable year;
(6) The amount of a lump sum distribution for which the
taxpayer has elected under Section 402(e) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as amended, to be separately taxed for federal income
tax purposes; and
(7) Amounts withdrawn from a medical savings account
established by or for an individual under section twenty, article
fifteen or section fifteen, article sixteen, both of chapter
thirty-three of this code, that are used for a purpose other than
payment of medical expenses, as defined in those sections.
(c)
Modifications reducing federal adjusted gross income. -- There shall be subtracted from federal adjusted gross income to the
extent included therein:
(1) Interest income on obligations of the United States and
its possessions to the extent includable in gross income for
federal income tax purposes;
(2) Interest or dividend income on obligations or securities
of any authority, commission or instrumentality of the United
States or of the state of West Virginia to the extent includable in
gross income for federal income tax purposes but exempt from state
income taxes under the laws of the United States or of the state of
West Virginia, including federal interest or dividends paid to
shareholders of a regulated investment company, under Section 852
of the Internal Revenue Code for taxable years ending after the
thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred eighty-seven;
(3) Any amount included in federal adjusted gross income for
federal income tax purposes for the taxable year that is not
included in federal adjusted gross income under this article for
the taxable year;
(4) The amount of any refund or credit for overpayment of
income taxes imposed by this state, or any other taxing
jurisdiction, to the extent properly included in gross income for federal income tax purposes;
(5) Annuities, retirement allowances, returns of contributions
and any other benefit received under the West Virginia public
employees retirement system, the West Virginia state teachers
retirement system and all forms of military retirement, including
regular armed forces, reserves and national guard, including any
survivorship annuities derived therefrom, to the extent includable
in gross income for federal income tax purposes:
Provided, That
notwithstanding any provisions in this code to the contrary this
modification shall be limited to the first two thousand dollars of
benefits received under the West Virginia public employees
retirement system, the West Virginia state teachers retirement
system and all forms of military retirement including regular armed
forces, reserves and national guard, including any survivorship
annuities derived therefrom, to the extent includable in gross
income for federal income tax purposes for taxable years beginning
after the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred
eighty-six; and the first two thousand dollars of benefits received
under any federal retirement system to which Title 4 U.S.C. §111
applies:
Provided, however, That the total modification under this
paragraph shall not exceed two thousand dollars per person
receiving retirement benefits and this limitation shall apply to all returns or amended returns filed after the last day of
December, one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight;
(6) Retirement income received in the form of pensions and
annuities after the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine
hundred seventy-nine, under any West Virginia police, West Virginia
firemen's retirement system or the West Virginia department of
public safety death, disability and retirement fund, including any
survivorship annuities derived therefrom, to the extent includable
in gross income for federal income tax purposes;
(7) Federal adjusted gross income in the amount of eight
thousand dollars received from any source after the thirty-first
day of December, one thousand nine hundred eighty-six, by any
person who has attained the age of sixty-five on or before the last
day of the taxable year, or by any person certified by proper
authority as permanently and totally disabled, regardless of age,
on or before the last day of the taxable year, to the extent
includable in federal adjusted gross income for federal tax
purposes:
Provided, That if a person has a medical certification
from a prior year and he is still permanently and totally disabled,
a copy of the original certificate is acceptable as proof of
disability. A copy of the form filed for the federal disability
income tax exclusion is acceptable:
Provided, however, That:
(i) Where the total modification under subdivisions (1), (2),
(5) and (6) of this subsection is eight thousand dollars per person
or more, no deduction shall be allowed under this subdivision; and
(ii) Where the total modification under subdivisions (1), (2),
(5) and (6) of this subsection is less than eight thousand dollars
per person, the total modification allowed under this subdivision
for all gross income received by that person shall be limited to
the difference between eight thousand dollars and the sum of
modifications under subdivisions (1), (2), (5) and (6) of this
subsection;
(8) Federal adjusted gross income in the amount of eight
thousand dollars received from any source after the thirty-first
day of December, one thousand nine hundred eighty-six, by the
surviving spouse of any person who had attained the age of sixty-
five or who had been certified as permanently and totally disabled,
to the extent includable in federal adjusted gross income for
federal tax purposes:
Provided, That:
(i) Where the total modification under subdivisions (1), (2),
(5), (6) and (7) of this subsection is eight thousand dollars or
more, no deduction shall be allowed under this subdivision; and
(ii) Where the total modification under subdivisions (1), (2),
(5), (6) and (7) of this subsection is less than eight thousand dollars per person, the total modification allowed under this
subdivision for all gross income received by that person shall be
limited to the difference between eight thousand dollars and the
sum of subdivisions (1), (2), (5), (6) and (7) of this subsection;
(9) I Contributions from any source to a medical savings
account established by or for the individual pursuant to section
twenty, article fifteen or section fifteen, article sixteen,
chapter thirty-three of this code, plus interest earned on the
account, to the extent includable in federal adjusted gross income
for federal tax purposes:
Provided, That the amount subtracted
pursuant to this subdivision for any one taxable year may not
exceed two thousand dollars plus interest earned on the account.
For married individuals filing a joint return, the maximum
deduction is computed separately for each individual; and
(10) Any other income which this state is prohibited from
taxing under the laws of the United States.
(d)
Modification for West Virginia fiduciary adjustment. --
There shall be added to or subtracted from federal adjusted gross
income, as the case may be, the taxpayer's share, as beneficiary of
an estate or trust, of the West Virginia fiduciary adjustment
determined under section nineteen of this article.
(e)
Partners and S corporation shareholders. -- The amounts of
modifications required to be made under this section by a partner
or an S corporation shareholder, which relate to items of income,
gain, loss or deduction of a partnership or an S corporation, shall
be determined under section seventeen of this article.
(f)
Husband and wife. -- If husband and wife determine their
federal income tax on a joint return but determine their West
Virginia income taxes separately, they shall determine their West
Virginia adjusted gross incomes separately as if their federal
adjusted gross incomes had been determined separately.
(g)
Effective date. -- Changes in the language of this section
enacted in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-six shall
apply to taxable years beginning after the thirty-first day of
December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five.