West Virginia Legislature
2016 Regular Session
Introduced
House Bill 2823
2015 Carryover
(By Delegates Walters, Blair, Upson, R. Phillips, J. Nelson, Hanshaw, E. Nelson, Boggs and Caputo)
[Introduced January 13, 2016; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §11‑13‑2d of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to eliminating the street and interurban and electric railways tax.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11‑13‑2d of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13. BUSINESS AND OCCUPATION TAX.
§11‑13‑2d. Public service or utility business.
(a) Upon any person engaging or continuing within this state in any public service or utility business, except railroad, railroad car, express, pipeline, telephone and telegraph companies, water carriers by steamboat or steamship and motor carriers, the tax imposed by section two of this article shall be equal to the gross income of the business derived from such activity or activities multiplied by the respective rates as follows:
(1) Street and interurban and electric
railways, one and four‑tenths percent;
(2) (1) Water companies,
four and four‑tenths percent, except as to income received by municipally
owned water plants;
(3) (2) Electric light
and power companies, four percent on sales and demand charges for domestic
purposes and commercial lighting and four percent on sales and demand charges
for all other purposes, and except as to income received by municipally owned
plants producing or purchasing electricity and distributing same: Provided,
That electric light and power companies which engage in the supplying of public
service but which do not generate or produce in this state the electric power
they supply shall be taxed on the gross income derived from sales of power
which they do not generate in this state at the rate of three percent on sales
and demand charges for domestic purposes and commercial lighting and three
percent on sales and demand charges for all other purposes, except as to income
received by municipally owned plants: Provided, however, That the sale
of electric power under this section shall be taxed at the rate of two percent
on that portion of the gross proceeds derived from the sale of electric power
to a plant location of a customer engaged in a manufacturing activity, if the
contract demand at such plant location exceeds two hundred thousand kilowatts
per hour per year, or if the usage of such plant location exceeds two hundred
thousand kilowatts per hour in a year: Provided further, That the sale
of electric power under this section shall be exempt from the tax imposed by
this section and section two of this article if it is separately metered and
consumed in an electrolytic process for the manufacture of chlorine in this
state, or is separately metered and consumed in the manufacture of ferroalloy
in this state, and the rate reduction herein provided to the taxpayer shall be
passed on to the manufacturer of the chlorine or ferroalloy. As used in this
section, the term "ferroalloy" means any of various alloys of iron
and one or more other elements used as a raw material in the production of
steel: And provided further, That the term does not include the final
production of steel;
(4) (3) Natural gas companies,
four and twenty‑nine hundredths percent on the gross income: Provided,
That the sale of natural gas under this section shall be exempt from the tax
imposed by this section and section two of this article to the extent that the
natural gas is separately metered and is gas from which the purchaser derives
hydrogen and carbon monoxide for use in the manufacture of chemicals in this
state, and the full economic benefit of the exception herein provided to the
taxpayer shall be passed on to such purchaser of the natural gas: Provided,
however, That there shall be no exemption for the sale of any natural gas
from which the purchaser derives carbon monoxide or hydrogen for the purpose of
resale;
(5) (4) Toll bridge
companies, four and twenty‑nine hundredths percent; and
(6) (5) Upon all other
public service or utility business, two and eighty‑six hundredths
percent.
(b) The measure of this tax shall not include gross income derived from commerce between this state and other states of the United States or between this state and foreign countries. The measure of the tax under this section shall include only gross income received from the supplying of public service. The gross income of the taxpayer from any other activity shall be included in the measure of the tax imposed upon such other activity by the appropriate section or sections of this article.
(c) Beginning March 1, 1989, electric light and power companies shall determine their liability for payment of tax under this section and sections two‑m and two‑n of this article. If for taxable months beginning on or after March 1, 1989, liability for tax under section two‑n of this article is equal to or greater than the sum of the power company's liability for payment of tax under subdivision (3), subsection (a) of this section and section two‑m of this article, then the company shall pay the tax due under section two‑n of this article and not the tax due under subdivision (3), subsection (a) of this section and section two‑m of this article. If tax liability under section two‑n is less, then tax shall be paid under subdivision (3), subsection (a) of this section and section two‑m of this article and the tax due under section two‑n shall not be paid. The provisions of subdivision (3), subsection (a) of this section shall expire and become null and void for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 1998.
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, beginning June 1, 1995, electric light and power companies that actually paid tax based on the provisions of subdivision (3), subsection (a) of this section or section two‑m of this article for every taxable month in 1994 shall determine their liability for payment of tax under this article in accordance with subdivision (1) of this subsection. All other electric light and power companies shall determine their liability for payment of tax under this article exclusively under section two‑o of this article.
(1) If for taxable months beginning on or after June 1, 1995, liability for tax under section two‑o of this article is equal to or greater than the sum of the power company's liability for payment of tax under subdivision (3), subsection (a) of this section and section two‑m of this article, then the company shall pay the tax due under section two‑o of this article and not the tax due under subdivision (3) subsection (a) of this section and section two‑m of this article. If tax liability under section two‑o is less, then the tax shall be paid under subdivision (3), subsection (a) of this section and section two‑m of this article and the tax due under section two‑o shall not be paid.
(2) The provisions of subdivision (3), subsection (a) of this section shall expire and become null and void for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 1998.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the street and interurban and electric railways one and four‑tenths percent tax.
Strike‑throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.