West Virginia Code 11-15-3a – Rate of tax on food and food ingredients intended for human consumption; reductions and cessations of tax
(a) Rate of tax on food and food ingredients. — Notwithstanding any provision of this article or article fifteen-a of this chapter to the contrary:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 11-15-3a
- Agriculture: means the cultivation of the soil, including the planting and harvesting of crops and the breeding and management of livestock. See West Virginia Code 11-5-3
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Person: means any individual, partnership, association, corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership or any other legal entity, including this state or its political subdivisions or an agency of either, or the guardian, trustee, committee, executor or administrator of any person. See West Virginia Code 11-15-2
- Tax: includes all taxes, additions to tax, interest and penalties levied under this article or article ten of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 11-15-2
- Transaction: means the delivering, accepting or presenting for recording of a document. See West Virginia Code 11-22-1
(1) Rate reduction. — The rate of tax on sales, purchases and uses of food and food ingredients intended for human consumption after June 30, 2008, shall be three percent of its sales price, as defined in section two, article fifteen-b of this chapter.
(2) Additional rate reduction. — The rate of tax on sales, purchases and uses of food and food ingredients as defined in that section that is intended for human consumption after December 31, 2011, shall be two percent of its sales price, as defined in that section. After June 30, 2012, the rate of tax on sales, purchases and uses of food and food ingredients as defined in that section that is intended for human consumption shall be one percent of its sales price, as defined in that section.
(3) Contingent termination of tax on food. — The tax on sales, purchases and uses of food and food ingredients as defined in section two, article fifteen-b of this chapter that is intended for human consumption shall cease after June 30, 2013, and no such tax shall be imposed on sales, purchases and uses of food and food ingredients so defined: Provided, That the cessation of tax after June 30, 2013, authorized by this subsection shall be suspended if the balance of funds as of December 31, 2012, in the Revenue Shortfall Reserve Fund established in section twenty, article two, chapter eleven-b of this code does not equal or exceed twelve and one-half percent of the General Revenue Fund budgeted for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2012. Such suspension shall terminate, and the cessation of tax shall proceed, beginning on July 1 of any calendar year beginning after December 31, 2013, in which the balance of funds as of December 31 of the preceding fiscal year in said Revenue Shortfall Reserve Fund equals or exceeds twelve and one-half percent of the General Revenue Fund budgeted for the immediately succeeding fiscal year.
(b) Calculation of tax on fractional parts of a dollar. — The tax computation under this section shall be carried to the third decimal place and the tax rounded up to the next whole cent whenever the third decimal place is greater than four and rounded down to the lower whole cent whenever the third decimal place is four or less. The seller may elect to compute the tax due on a transaction on a per item basis or on an invoice basis provided the method used is consistently used during the reporting period.
(c) Federal Food Stamp and Women, Infants and Children programs, other exemptions. — Nothing in this section affects application of the exemption from tax provided in section nine of this article for food purchased by an eligible person using food stamps, electronic benefits transfer cards or vouchers issued by or pursuant to authorization of the United States Department of Agriculture to individuals participating in the Federal Food Stamp Program, by whatever name called, or the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, or application of any other exemption from tax set forth in this article or article fifteen-a of this chapter.