H. B. 2252
(By Delegate Spencer)
[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §11-13Z-1, §11-13Z-2
and §11-13Z-3,
all relating to providing a tax credit to
landlords who rent to parolees.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §11-13Z-1, §11-13Z-2
and §11-13Z-3,
all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13Z. TAX CREDIT FOR RENTING TO PAROLEES.
§11-13Z-1. Legislative purpose.
The Legislature finds and declares that persons convicted of
felonies who have paid their debts to society by serving sentences
of incarceration in correctional facilities, whether in or out of
this state, upon release, must confront a skeptical and suspicious
society. Their status as convicted felons greatly minimizes their respective abilities to obtain employment and, consequently,
residential housing. These people, saddled with the proverbial
albatross of a felony conviction, frequently fall back into
criminal patterns of behavior as the result of the scarlet letter
which they must bear from an unforgiving society. Most of these
individuals, if given a fair chance, are persons with redeemable
attributes who have learned from past mistakes and are fully
capable of becoming productive and honest citizens. Therefore, the
Legislature finds and declares that providing a tax credit to
landlords who are willing to rent to parolees is, at least, a small
step in the right direction toward assimilating persons with felony
convictions, but who have paid their debt to society by serving a
sentence of incarceration.
§11-13Z-2. Credit allowed; amount and duration of credit;
recapture of credit and effective date.
(a) There shall be allowed to eligible taxpayers a credit
against the taxes imposed in articles twenty-one, twenty-three and
twenty-four of this chapter. For the purpose of this article,
"eligible taxpayer" means a person, firm, partnership, corporation
or other entity who rents residential housing to a person or
persons who are on parole as the result of a felony conviction.
The credit shall be in an amount equal to three percent of the tax
due, beginning in taxable year 2009 and annually thereafter. In
the event an eligible taxpayer rents residential property to more than one such person, the credit allowed shall be multiplied by the
number of persons to whom are rented.
(b) The credit set forth in this article shall apply to
personal income tax liabilities, corporation net income tax
liabilities and business franchise tax liabilities arising after
December 31, 2009.
(c) As a condition of receiving the credit established in this
article, the eligible taxpayer shall rent to the person or persons
for at least one year. In the event such person rents for less
than one year, the credit herein shall be recaptured at the rate of
twenty percent of the dollar value of the credit for each month
under twelve months the person so rents.
§11-13Z-3. Application of credit; limitation of credit; Tax
Commissioner to promulgate forms and legislative
rule; notice of credit.
(a) The credit allowed in this article shall be first applied
to a taxpayer's business franchise tax liability, and then to
either the taxpayer's personal income tax liability or corporation
net income tax liability, as the case may be.
(b) The credit allowed in this article shall not exceed
$10,000 per year and shall not be refundable, nor carried forward
nor backward to other tax years.
(c) The State Tax Commissioner shall propose rules for
legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code regarding the
applicability, method of claiming of the credit, recapture of the
credit and documentation necessary to claim the credit herein
allowed.
(d) The State Tax Commissioner shall develop a written notice
setting forth the availability of this credit and shall transmit
this notice to the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety
to be distributed to the Division of Corrections to make parolees
and prospective landlords aware of the tax credit allowed herein.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for a tax credit
to landlords who rent residential property to parolees.
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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