WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2023 REGULAR SESSION
Introduced Senate Bill 427
By Senators Blair (Mr. President) and Woelfel
(By Request of the Executive)
[Introduced January 23, 2023; referred to the Committee on Finance]
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1 A BILL to amend and reenact §11-21-9 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating
2 to updating the meaning of federal adjusted gross income and certain other terms used in
3 the West Virginia Personal Income Tax Act; and specifying effective dates.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 21. PERSONAL INCOME TAX.
§11-21-9. Meaning of terms.
1 (a) Any term used in this article has the same meaning as when used in a comparable
2 context in the laws of the United States relating to income taxes, unless a different meaning is
3 clearly required. Any reference in this article to the laws of the United States means the provisions
4 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and any other provisions of the laws of the
5 United States that relate to the determination of income for federal income tax purposes. All
6 amendments made to the laws of the United States after March 12, 2021 December 31, 2021, but
7 prior to January 1, 2022 2023, shall be given effect in determining the taxes imposed by this article
8 to the same extent those changes are allowed for federal income tax purposes, whether the
9 changes are retroactive or prospective, but no amendment to the laws of the United States made
10 on or after January 1, 2022 2023, may be given any effect.
11 (b) Medical savings accounts. — The term "taxable trust" does not include a medical
12 savings account established pursuant to §33-15-20 or §33-16-15 of this code. Employer
13 contributions to a medical savings account established pursuant to those sections are not wages
14 for purposes of withholding under §11-21-71 of this code.
15 (c) Surtax. — The term "surtax" means the 20 percent additional tax imposed on taxable
16 withdrawals from a medical savings account under §33-15-20 of this code and the 20 percent
17 additional tax imposed on taxable withdrawals from a medical savings account under §33-16-15 of
18 this code which are collected by the Tax Commissioner as tax collected under this article.
19 (d) Effective date. — The amendments to this section enacted in the year 2022 2023 are
20 retroactive to the extent allowable under federal income tax law. With respect to taxable years that
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21 began prior to January 1, 2022 2023, the law in effect for each of those years shall be fully
22 preserved as to that year, except as provided in this section.
23 (e) For purposes of the refundable credit allowed to a low-income senior citizen for
24 property tax paid on his or her homestead in this state, the term "laws of the United States" as used
25 in subsection (a) of this section means and includes the term "low income" as defined in §11-21-
26 21(b) of this code and as reflected in the poverty guidelines updated periodically in the federal
27 register by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the authority of 42 U.S.C. §
28 9902(2).
29 (f) For taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2018, whenever this article refers to
30 "each exemption for which he or she is entitled to a deduction for the taxable year for federal
31 income tax purposes", this phrase means the exemption the person would have been allowed to
32 claim for the taxable year had the federal income tax law not been amended to eliminate the
33 personal exemption for federal tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2018.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to update the meaning of federal adjusted gross income and certain other terms used in the West Virginia Personal Income Tax Act; and specify effective dates.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
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Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 11-21-9of