2023 23LSO-0436
STATE OF WYOMING
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0275
Highway maintenance equity-electric vehicle metering.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Brown and Senator(s) Boner and French
A BILL
for
1 AN ACT relating to taxation; establishing the imposition,
2 administration and distribution of an electric vehicle
3 energy tax; increasing the annual decal fee for an electric
4 vehicle; establishing an annual decal fee for a plug—in
5 hybrid vehicle; repealing provisions made obsolete; and
6 providing for effective dates.
7
8 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
9
10 Section 1. W.S. 39-17-401 through 39-17-411 are
11 created to read:
12
13 ARTICLE 4
14 ELECTRIC VEHICLE ENERGY TAXES
15
1 HB0275
 2023 STATE OF WYOMING 23LSO-0436
1 39-17-401. Definitions.
2
3 (a) As used in this article:
4
5 (i) "All-electric vehicle" means a motor vehicle
6 that uses electric energy to propel the vehicle and can be
7 recharged from any external source of electricity,
8 including a wall socket, or any self-charging feature,
9 including a built-in photovoltaic panel, and the stored
10 electricity drives or contributes to drive the wheels of
11 the vehicle. "All-electric vehicle" does not include a
12 hybrid electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid vehicle;
13
14 (ii) "Charge" means to receive and store
15 electric energy;
16
17 (iii) "Commercial electric vehicle charging
18 facility" means a plug at a commercial location that
19 supplies electric energy to charge an electric vehicle
20 regardless of whether the facility owner requires a fee to
21 charge an electric vehicle. Where one machine contains
22 multiple plugs, each plug capable of supplying electric
2 HB0275
 2023 STATE OF WYOMING 23LSO-0436
1 energy to a vehicle constitutes a separate commercial
2 electric vehicle charging facility;
3
4 (iv) "Dealer" means any person who provides,
5 sells or offers for sale electric energy at one (1) or more
6 commercial electric vehicle charging facilities in this
7 state;
8
9 (v) "Department" means the department of
10 transportation;
11
12 (vi) "Electric energy" means the amount of work
13 accomplished by electrical power, usually measured in
14 kilowatt hours (kWh);
15
16 (vii) "Electric vehicle" means an all-electric
17 vehicle or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. "Electric
18 vehicle" does not include an electric bicycle;
19
20 (viii) "Electric vehicle energy" means the
21 electric energy used to propel an electric vehicle;
22
3 HB0275
 2023 STATE OF WYOMING 23LSO-0436
1 (ix) "Electricity provider" means a company that
2 purchases wholesale electricity from an electricity
3 generator or works with a public utility that delivers that
4 electricity to customers to sell electric energy at the
5 retail level to the general public for use in homes and
6 businesses;
7
8 (x) "Hybrid electric vehicle" means a motor
9 vehicle that uses two (2) or more distinct power sources to
10 propel the vehicle, one (1) of which is electric energy.
11 "Hybrid electric vehicle" includes a vehicle that uses an
12 internal combustion engine and one (1) or more electric
13 motors to propel the vehicle and vehicles that use other
14 mechanisms to capture and use electric energy to propel the
15 vehicle;
16
17 (xi) "Plug-in hybrid vehicle" means a hybrid
18 electric vehicle that can be operated for a range using
19 only electric energy and that can be recharged from any
20 external source of electricity, including a wall socket,
21 and the electricity stored in the rechargeable battery
22 drives or contributes to drive the wheels of the vehicle;
23
4 HB0275
 2023 STATE OF WYOMING 23LSO-0436
1 (xii) "User" means any person who uses electric
2 energy within this state in an electric vehicle to propel
3 the vehicle upon a highway.
4
5 39-17-402. Administration; confidentiality.
6
7 (a) The administration of this article is vested in
8 the department, which shall prescribe the reporting format
9 and forms for the making of returns, and assessment and
10 collection of taxes and fees hereby imposed. The department
11 shall promulgate rules as necessary to enforce this
12 article. All tax returns and records are open to
13 examination by the director of the state department of
14 audit or the director's deputies.
15
16 (b) No state employee who by virtue of that
17 employee's employment has knowledge of the business affairs
18 of any person filing or required to file any tax returns
19 under this article shall make known its contents in any
20 manner or permit any person to have access to any returns
21 or information contained therein except as provided by law
22 or in the following cases:
23
5 HB0275
 2023 STATE OF WYOMING 23LSO-0436
1 (i) The delivery to the taxpayer or the
2 taxpayer's legal representatives upon written request of a
3 copy of any return or report in connection with the
4 taxpayer's tax;
5
6 (ii) The publication of statistics so classified
7 to prevent the identification of particular returns or
8 reports;
9
10 (iii) The inspection by the attorney general of
11 the report or return of any person who brings an action
12 against the state, or against whom an action is
13 contemplated or has been instituted;
14
15 (iv) The introduction into evidence of any
16 report or return or information therefrom in any
17 administrative or court proceeding to which the person
18 making the report or return is a party;
19
20 (v) The furnishing of any information to the
21 United States government and its territories, the District
22 of Columbia, any state allowing similar privileges to the
23 department or to the multistate tax commission for relay to
6 HB0275
 2023 STATE OF WYOMING 23LSO-0436
1 tax officials of cooperating states. Information furnished
2 shall be only for tax purposes;
3
4 (vi) The inspection of tax returns and records
5 by the department of audit.
6
7 (c) Any person who violates subsection (b) of this
8 section is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction
9 shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars
10 ($1,000.00), imprisoned for not more than one (1) year, or
11 both.
12
13 (d) The department may enter into cooperative
14 agreements with other jurisdictions for the exchange of
15 information and auditing of users of electric vehicle
16 energy used in fleets of motor vehicles operated or
17 intended to operate interstate. An agreement or declaration
18 of amendment is not effective until stated in writing and
19 filed with the department.
20
21 (e) A cooperative agreement under subsection (d) of
22 this section may provide for determining the base
23 jurisdiction for users, users records requirements, audit
7 HB0275
 2023 STATE OF WYOMING 23LSO-0436
1 procedures, exchange of information, persons eligible for
2 taxation, defining qualified electric vehicles, determining
3 if bonding is required, specifying reporting requirements
4 and periods including defining uniform penalty and interest
5 rates for late reporting, determining methods for
6 collecting and forwarding of electric vehicle energy taxes
7 and penalties to another member jurisdiction, paying
8 interest on certain refund requests and other provisions as
9 will facilitate the administration of the agreement.
10
11 (f) The department may, as required by the terms of a
12 cooperative agreement under subsection (d) of this section,
13 forward to officers or agents of another jurisdiction any
14 information in the department's possession relative to the
15 use of electric vehicle energy by any person, except as
16 prohibited under subsection (b) of this section. The
17 department may disclose to officers or agents of another
18 member jurisdiction the location of officers, electric
19 vehicles and other real and personal property of users of
20 electric vehicles.
21
22 (g) A cooperative agreement under subsection (d) of
23 this section may provide for each member jurisdiction to
8 HB0275
 2023 STATE OF WYOMING 23LSO-0436
1 audit the records of persons based in the jurisdiction to
2 determine if the electric vehicle energy taxes due each
3 jurisdiction are properly reported and paid. Each state
4 shall forward the findings of the audits performed on
5 persons based in the jurisdiction to each jurisdiction in
6 which the person has taxable use of electric vehicle
7 energy. For persons not based in this state and who have
8 taxable use of electric vehicle energy in this state, the
9 department may serve the audit findings received from
10 another jurisdiction, in the form of an assessment, on the
11 person as though an audit was conducted by the department.
12
13 (h) A cooperative agreement entered into pursuant to
14 subsection (d) of this section shall not preclude the
15 department from auditing the records of any licensee or
16 electricity provider under this chapter.
17
18 39-17-403. Imposition.
19
20 (a) Taxable event. The following shall apply:
21
9 HB0275
 2023 STATE OF WYOMING 23LSO-0436
1 (i) There is levied and shall be collected a tax
2 on electric energy used to charge an electric vehicle at a
3 commercial electric vehicle charging facility;
4
5 (ii) There is levied and shall be collected a
6 tax on electric energy used to charge an electric vehicle
7 at a residence or other non-commercial facility;
8
9 (iii) There is levied and shall be collected a
10 tax on electric energy used to charge an electric vehicle
11 by means of a vehicle self-charging feature, such as a
12 built-in photovoltaic panel.
13
14 (b) Basis of tax. The following shall apply:
15
16 (i) The state of Wyoming preempts the field of
17 imposing taxes upon electric vehicle energy and no city,
18 town or county may levy or collect taxes upon electric
19 vehicle energy;
20
21 (ii) The taxes imposed on electric vehicle
22 energy shall be conclusively presumed to be a tax on the
23 ultimate or retail user. When taxes are paid by any person
10 HB0275
 2023 STATE OF WYOMING 23LSO-0436
1 other than the ultimate or retail user, the payment shall
2 be considered as pre-collected and as an advance payment
3 for the purpose of convenience and facility to the user and
4 may thereafter be added to the price of electric vehicle
5 energy charging and recovered from the ultimate or retail
6 user.
7
8 (c) Taxpayer. The following shall apply:
9
10 (i) Except as otherwise provided, every dealer
11 shall collect the tax imposed by this article and is liable
12 for the entire amount of taxes imposed. Each commercial
13 electric vehicle charging facility shall be metered as to
14 the amount of electric energy used for charging. A group of
15 commercial electric vehicle charging facilities may be
16 metered together for the purpose of calculating the tax
17 due. Separate metering is not required by a dealer if the
18 tax is paid on all electricity used by the facility. A
19 dealer may determine how to collect the tax from a user
20 charging an individual electric vehicle. For a vehicle with
21 a current annual usage decal under W.S.
22 31-3-102(a)(xxiii)(A) or (B), a dealer may impose a fee for
23 the electric energy charge but shall not collect and is not
11 HB0275
 2023 STATE OF WYOMING 23LSO-0436
1 liable for any electric vehicle energy tax. No dealer shall
2 allow use of any adapter that facilitates charging from an
3 outlet other than a commercial electric vehicle charging
4 facility;
5
6 (ii) Every person charging an electric vehicle
7 as taxed by this article is liable for the taxes and shall
8 pay any tax owed under this article unless the taxes have
9 been paid to a dealer or an electricity provider or unless
10 the person purchases an annual usage decal as provided
11 below:
12
13 (A) A taxpayer liable for the tax imposed
14 under paragraph (a)(ii) of this section for electric
15 vehicle energy charged at a residence or other
16 non-commercial facility shall choose in the alternative one
17 (1) of the following:
18
19 (I) Install a separate meter to
20 separately measure the electric vehicle energy from the
21 electric energy used to power the residence or
22 non-commercial facility and agree to have the electric
23 vehicle energy tax collected and remitted by the
12 HB0275
 2023 STATE OF WYOMING 23LSO-0436
1 electricity provider. Under this option, no residence or
2 non-commercial facility shall allow use of any adapter that
3 facilitates charging from an outlet that is not separately
4 metered to measure electric vehicle energy use;
5
6 (II) Purchase an annual usage decal
7 under W.S. 31-3-102(a)(xxiii)(A) or (B), as applicable;
8
9 (III) If electric vehicle energy is
10 not metered separately from the electric energy used to
11 power the residence or non-commercial facility or an annual
12 decal is not purchased, agree to have the electric vehicle
13 energy tax collected and remitted by the electricity
14 provider for all electric energy consumed at the residence
15 or non-commercial facility.
16
17 (B) A taxpayer liable for the tax imposed
18 under paragraph (a)(iii) of this section for electric
19 vehicle energy charged by means of a self-charging feature
20 shall purchase an annual usage decal under W.S.
21 31-3-102(a)(xxiii)(A) or (B), as applicable.
22
13 HB0275
 2023 STATE OF WYOMING 23LSO-0436
1 (iii) If the electric vehicle energy tax imposed
2 by this article is collected and remitted by the
3 electricity provider under subdivision (ii)(A)(I) or (III)
4 of this subsection, the electricity provider shall add the
5 tax to and state the tax separately in billings to the user
6 pursuant to the regular billing practice of the electricity
7 provider.
8
9 39-17-404. Taxation rate.
10
11 The total tax on electric vehicle energy shall be fifteen
12 cents ($.15) per kilowatt hour.
13
14 39-17-405. Exemptions.
15
16 There are no specific applicable provisions for exemptions
17 for this article.
18
19 39-17-406. Licenses; permits.
20
21 (a) Every dealer shall obtain an annual license from
22 the department to conduct business in this state. Before
23 commencing business, the dealer shall file an application
14 HB0275
 2023 STATE OF WYOMING 23LSO-0436
1 with the department on forms prescribed and furnished by
2 the department containing the information specified
3 therein. The application for the license shall state the
4 location where electric vehicle chargi