H. B. 2409
(By Delegates Amores, Cann,
R.M. Thompson and Kominar)
[Introduced February 16, 2005; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §11-25-1, §11-25-2, §11-25-3 and
§11-25-11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all
relating to tax relief for homeowners and renters; providing
the same tax relief for persons under sixty-five years of age
that is provided for the elderly; providing definitions;
computation of relief; and providing effective date.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-25-1, §11-25-2, §11-25-3 and §11-25-11
of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 25. TAX RELIEF FOR HOMEOWNERS AND RENTERS.
§11-25-1. Declaration of purpose; rule of construction.
This article is enacted to provide general relief for low
income citizens
who are sixty-five years of age or over and to aid
them in providing or maintaining a homestead, by authorizing a claim for relief to be filed with the state tax commissioner and
payment
thereof of the claim from state funds, the amount of relief
to be measured in part by the real property taxes or that portion
of rent attributable to real property taxes paid by
any such the
citizen, and
the providing of such declaring this general relief
is
hereby declared to be a public purpose. This article shall,
therefore, be liberally construed.
§11-25-2. Definitions.
When used in this article, unless the context clearly requires
a different meaning:
(1) "Claimant" means
a person sixty-five years of age or older
any person who is filing a claim for the tax relief provided by
this article, who was domiciled in this state during any portion of
the calendar year preceding the year in which the
claimant person
is eligible to file a claim for relief under this article and who
had a gross household income of not more than five thousand dollars
during the calendar year preceding the year in which he
or she is
eligible to file
a claim for relief under this article the claim.
If two or more individuals, who otherwise qualify as claimants
under this article, occupy a single homestead,
such the individuals
may determine between themselves
as to which individual
shall will
be the claimant.
however, if such If the individuals are unable
to agree, the matters shall be referred to the state tax commissioner for determination and
his the commissioner's decision
shall be is final.
(2) "Claimant's spouse" means the spouse of the claimant if
such the spouse resides in the homestead during any portion of the
calendar year preceding the year in which the claimant is eligible
to file a claim for relief under this article.
(3) "Gross household income" means all actual income received
by a claimant and the claimant's spouse during the calendar year
preceding the year in which he
or she is eligible to file a claim
for relief under this article.
and such The actual income shall
be computed by adding to the West Virginia adjusted gross income,
as that term is defined in section twelve, article twenty-one of
this chapter, of
such the claimant and the claimant's spouse all of
the following
which were actually received by the claimant and
claimant's spouse during
such the calendar year:
(A) Amount of capital gains excluded from West Virginia
adjusted gross income;
(B) Support money;
(C) Nontaxable strike benefits;
(D) Cash public assistance, welfare and relief but not any
relief under this article;
(E) Gross amount of any pension or annuity, including railroad
retirement benefits;
(F) Social security benefits;
(G) Unemployment compensation benefits;
(H) Veterans disability pensions;
(I) Workers' compensation benefits; and
(J) Private disability insurance benefits.
Gross household income does not include gifts from
nongovernmental sources, or surplus foods or other relief in kind
supplied by a governmental agency.
(4) "Gross rent" means the total amount of money or its
equivalent actually paid by a claimant during a particular calendar
year to his
or her landlord in a bona fide manner solely for the
right of occupancy of a homestead, exclusive of any charges for
utilities, services, furniture, furnishings or electrical or other
appliances furnished by
such the landlord to
such the claimant; and
if the state tax commissioner determines that the rent charged was
excessive for the purposes of this article, he
or she may adjust
the
same rent, for the purposes of this article, to a reasonable
amount.
(5) "Homestead" means a single family residential house and
the land surrounding
such structure the house; or a part of a
multidwelling building, multipurpose building or apartment house;
or a mobile home which is used as a permanent residence and the
land upon which
such the mobile home is situate.
and It is immaterial for the purposes of this article whether the foregoing
are being purchased, are owned or are rented.
(6) "Household" means a claimant, a claimant and the
claimant's spouse or a claimant and any other person or persons who
resides or reside in a homestead.
(7) "Property taxes" means the amount of the real property
taxes, exclusive of any interest or charges for delinquency
thereof
of the taxes, paid by a claimant on his
or her homestead beginning
with the calendar year one thousand nine hundred seventy-two, and
for any particular calendar year
thereafter after that: Provided,
That if a homestead is owned by a claimant and a person or persons,
other than the claimant's spouse, as joint tenants or as tenants in
common, and
such the person or persons owning
such the interest in
such the homestead do not reside in
such the homestead, then for
the purposes of this article, the property taxes paid by the
claimant shall be prorated according to
such the claimant's
percentage of ownership of
such the homestead:
Provided, however,
That if the claimant's homestead is a single unit within any
multidwelling building, multipurpose building or apartment house,
and
such the claimant owns the entirety of
any such the structure,
the property taxes paid by the claimant for the purposes of this
article shall be prorated so as to reflect the percentage of value
which the claimant's homestead is to the value of the entire structure which is assessed in a single assessment based upon the
entire property.
(8) "Rent constituting property taxes" means twelve percent of
the gross rent paid by a claimant for the right of occupancy of his
or her homestead beginning with the calendar year one thousand nine
hundred seventy-two, and for any particular calendar year
thereafter after that.
§11-25-3. Computation of relief; limits; table.
The amount of any claim for relief pursuant to this article
shall be calculated as follows:
(1) For taxable years beginning after the thirty-first day of
December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, the percentage
required under this article for claimants under the age of
sixty-five is the percentage specified in the following table:
Regular Circuit Breaker
If household gross Tax credit equals:
income is:
$10,001 to $14,999 75% of property tax* exceeding
2.5% of household gross income
$15,000 to $19,999 75% of property tax* exceeding
3.0% of household gross income
$20,000 to $24,999 75% of property tax* exceeding
3.5% of household gross income
$25,000 to $30,000 75% of property tax* exceeding
4.0% of household gross income
* or rent paid constituting property tax (12% of rent)
(2) For taxable years beginning after the thirty-first day of
December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, the percentage
required under this article for claimants sixty-five years of age
or older is the percentage specified in the following table:
Elderly Circuit Breaker
If household grossTax credit equals the amount of
income is:property taxes paid* which is in
excess of the following percentage
of household gross income:
$10,001 to $14,999 1.0%
$15,000 to $19,999 1.5%
$20,000 to $24,999 2.0%
$25,000 to $30,000 2.5%
* or rent paid constituting property tax (12% of rent)
§11-25-11. Effective date.
The provisions of amendments made to this article shall during
the regular session of the Legislature in the year two thousand
five, take effect on the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred seventy-two two thousand five.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide the same tax
relief for homeowners and renters who are under the age of
sixty-five that is currently provided for those who are age
sixty-five or over.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§11-25-3 has been completely rewritten; therefore,
strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.