Senate Bill No. 466
(By Senators Yost, Kessler (Acting President) and Jenkins)
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[Introduced February 8, 2011; referred to the Committee on Health
and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §11-13A-3 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §11-27-18 of said
code, all relating to privilege tax on certain occupations and
services; reducing the tax on behavioral health services; and
providing a definition of that term.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-13A-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §11-27-18 of said code be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13A. SEVERANCE AND BUSINESS PRIVILEGE TAX ACT.
§11-13A-3. Imposition of tax or privilege of severing coal,
limestone or sandstone, or furnishing certain
health care services, effective dates therefor;
reduction of severance rate for coal mined by
underground methods based on seam thickness.
(a) Imposition of tax. -- Upon every person exercising the
privilege of engaging or continuing within this state in the
business of severing, extracting, reducing to possession and
producing for sale, profit or commercial use coal, limestone or
sandstone, or in the business of furnishing certain health care
services, there is hereby levied and shall be collected from every
person exercising such privilege an annual privilege tax.
(b) Rate and measure of tax. -- The tax imposed in subsection
(a) of this section shall be five percent of the gross value of the
natural resource produced or the health care service provided, as
shown by the gross income derived from the sale or furnishing
thereof by the producer or the provider of the health care service,
except as otherwise provided in this article. In the case of coal,
this five percent rate of tax includes the thirty-five one
hundredths of one percent additional severance tax on coal imposed
by the state for the benefit of counties and municipalities as
provided in section six of this article.
(c) "Certain health care services" defined. -- For purposes of
this section, the term "certain health care services" means, and is
limited to, behavioral health services.
(d) (c) Tax in addition to other taxes. -- The tax imposed by
this section shall apply to all persons severing or processing (or
both severing and processing) in this state natural resources
enumerated in subsection (a) of this section and to all persons
providing certain health care services in this state as enumerated in subsection (c) of this section and shall be in addition to all
other taxes imposed by law.
(e) (d) Effective date. -- This section, as amended in the
year one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, shall apply to gross
proceeds derived after the thirty-first day of May of such year.
The language of this section, as in effect on January 1, of such
year, shall apply to gross proceeds derived prior to June 1 of such
year and, with respect to such gross proceeds, shall be fully and
completely preserved.
(f) (e) Reduction of severance tax rate. -- For tax years
beginning after the effective date of this subsection, any person
exercising the privilege of engaging within this state in the
business of severing coal for the purposes provided in subsection
(a) of this section shall be allowed a reduced rate of tax on coal
mined by underground methods in accordance with the following:
(1) For coal mined by underground methods from seams with an
average thickness of thirty-seven inches to forty-five inches, the
tax imposed in subsection (a) of this section shall be two percent
of the gross value of the coal produced. For coal mined by
underground methods from seams with an average thickness of less
than thirty-seven inches, the tax imposed in subsection (a) of this
section shall be one percent of the gross value of the coal
produced. Gross value is determined from the sale of the mined
coal by the producer. This rate of tax includes the thirty-five
one hundredths of one percent additional severance tax imposed by the state for the benefit of counties and municipalities as
provided in section six of this article.
(2) This reduced rate of tax applies to any new underground
mine producing coal after the effective date of this subsection,
from seams of less than forty-five inches in average thickness or
any existing mine that has not produced coal from seams forty-five
inches or less in thickness in the one hundred eighty days
immediately preceding the effective date of this subsection.
(3) The seam thickness shall be based on the weighted average
isopach mapping of actual coal thickness by mine as certified by a
professional engineer.
ARTICLE 27. HEALTH CARE PROVIDER TAXES.
§11-27-18. Imposition of tax on providers of psychological
services.
(a) Imposition of tax. -- For the privilege of engaging or
continuing within this state in the business of providing
psychological services and behavioral health services, there is
hereby levied and shall be collected from every person rendering
such service an annual broad-based health care related tax.
(b) Rate and measure of tax. -- The tax imposed in subsection
(a) of this section shall be one and three-fourths percent of the
gross receipts derived by the taxpayer from furnishing
psychological services and behavioral health services
in this
state.
(c) Definitions. --
(1) "Gross receipts" means the amount received or receivable,
whether in cash or in kind, from patients, third-party payors and
others for psychological services furnished by the provider,
including retroactive adjustments under reimbursement agreements
with third-party payors, without any deduction for any expenses of
any kind: Provided, That accrual basis providers shall be allowed
to reduce gross receipts by their contractual allowances, to the
extent such allowances are included therein, and by bad debts, to
the extent the amount of such bad debts was previously included in
gross receipts upon which the tax imposed by this section was paid.
(2) "Contractual allowances" means the difference between
revenue (gross receipts) at established rates and amounts
realizable from third-party payors under contractual agreements.
(3) "Psychological services" means those services furnished in
the practice of psychology by a person entitled to practice
psychology in this state.
(4) "Behavioral health services" means those services
furnished for mental illness, mental retardation, developmental
disabilities, substance abuse and chemical dependency.
(d) Effective date. -- The tax imposed by this section shall
apply to gross receipts received or receivable by providers after
May 31, 1993.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to reduce the tax on
behavioral health services. The bill removes those services from the article on the taxing of the severance of minerals and places
it in the article taxing health care providers. The bill also
provides a definition of that term.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.