reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 3. Assessments Generally › §11-3-24a. Protest of Classification or Taxability to Assessor; Appeal to Tax Commissioner, Appeal to Office of Tax Appeals

(a) At any time after property is returned for taxation, and up to and including the time the property books are before the county commission sitting as a board of equalization and review, any taxpayer may apply to the assessor for information regarding the classification and taxability of the taxpayers property. In case the taxpayer is dissatisfied with the classification of property assessed to the taxpayer or believes that the property is exempt or otherwise not subject to taxation, the taxpayer shall file objections in writing with the assessor. The assessor shall decide the question by either sustaining the protest and making proper corrections, or by stating, in writing if requested, the reasons for refusal to grant the protest.
(b) The assessor may, and if the taxpayer requests, the assessor shall, certify the question to the State Tax Commissioner in a statement sworn to by both parties, or if the parties are unable to agree, in separate sworn statements, giving a full description of the property and any other information which the Tax Commissioner requires. The Tax Commissioner shall prescribe forms on which the question shall be certified and the Tax Commissioner may pursue any inquiry and procure any information necessary for the disposition of the issue.
(c) The Tax Commissioner shall, as soon as possible on receipt of the question, but in no case later than February 28 of the assessment year, instruct the assessor as to how the property shall be treated. The instructions issued and forwarded by mail to the assessor shall be binding upon the assessor, but either the assessor or the taxpayer may apply to the Office of Tax Appeals within 30 days after receiving written notice of the Tax Commissioners ruling for review of the question of classification or taxability.
(d) The amendments to this section enacted in the year 2010 apply to classification and taxability rulings issued for taxes levied after December 31, 2011.
(e) The standard of proof which a taxpayer must meet at all levels of review and appeal under this section shall be a preponderance of the evidence standard.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 3. Assessments Generally › §11-3-25a. Payment of Taxes That Become Due While Appeal Is Pending

(a) All taxes levied and assessed against the property for the year on which a protest or an appeal has been filed by the taxpayer as provided in 11-3-24 or 11-3-24a of this code shall be paid before they become delinquent. If the taxes are not paid before becoming delinquent, the governing body having jurisdiction of the appeal, as appropriate, shall dismiss the appeal unless the delinquent taxes and interest due are paid in full within 30 days after taxes for the second half of the tax year become delinquent.
(b) In the event the order of a court or other governing body becomes final and the order results in an overpayment of taxes levied for the tax year that have been paid to the sheriff, the amount of the overpayment shall be refunded to the taxpayer if the overpayment is $25,000 or less within 30 days after the time for appealing the decision or order expires or, if the decision or order is appealed, within 30 days of the date the appeals court or other governing body turns down the appeal. If the overpayment is more than $25,000, a credit in the amount of the overpayment shall be established by the county sheriff and allowed as a credit against taxes owed up to the following two tax years:
Provided
, That the county commission may elect to refund the amount of overpayment rather than having a credit established as provided in this section:
Provided
, however, if any portion of the overpayment remains unused after the date on which taxes payable for the second half of the second tax year following the tax year of the overpayment become delinquent, that portion shall be refunded to the taxpayer by the county sheriff no later than 30 days after that date, or 30 days from the date that the order becomes final, whichever date occurs later. Whenever an overpayment is refunded or credited under this section, the county shall pay interest at the rate established in 11-10-17 and 11-10-17a of this code for overpayments of taxes collected by the Tax Commissioner, which interest shall be computed from the date the overpayment was received by the sheriff to the date of the refund check or the date the credit is actually taken against taxes that become due after the order of the court becomes final.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 3. Assessments Generally › §11-3-25b. Appeal to Office of Tax Appeals

(a) In all cases involving appeal to the Office of Tax Appeals from a property tax valuation pursuant to 11-3-15i or 11-3-23a of this code, or from an order of a County Commission sitting as a Board of Equalization and Review pursuant to 11-3-24 of this code, the appeal petition must be filed with the Office of Tax Appeals by March 31 of the property tax year as defined in 11-3-1 of this code to be considered timely filed. If a petition of appeal is not filed with the Office of Tax Appeals by March 31 of the property tax year, then it shall be dismissed as untimely.
(b) In all cases involving appeal to the Office of Tax Appeals from a property tax ruling on taxability or classification by the Tax Commissioner pursuant to 11-3-24a of this code, the appeal petition must be filed within 30 days after receiving written notice of the Tax Commissioners ruling. If a petition of appeal is not timely filed with the Office of Tax Appeals, then it shall be dismissed.
(c) In all cases involving property tax matters brought before the Office of Tax Appeals pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section, the hearing before the Office of Tax Appeals shall be de novo as provided in 11-10A-10 of this code. Notwithstanding the provisions of 11-10A-10 of this code, a property tax appeal to the Office of Tax Appeals involving valuation, classification, or taxability may be set for hearing within 90 days of the due date of the answer unless continued by order of the Office of Tax Appeals for good cause.
(d) The provisions of this section shall be effective for all property tax appeals to the Office of Tax Appeals made on or after January 1, 2023.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 3. Assessments Generally › §11-3-26. Contents and Effect of Order Granting Relief

Whenever the circuit court, on appeal, shall grant relief to any such applicant against the taxes, or any part of them, assessed against him either on the land or the personal property books, an order shall be made by such court exonerating such applicant from the payment of so much of such taxes as are erroneously charged against him if the same have not been paid; and if paid, that the sum so erroneously charged be refunded to him Such order, delivered to the assessor, sheriff or other collecting officer shall restrain him from collecting so much as is erroneously charged, and, if the same has been already collected, shall compel him to refund the money, if such officer has not already paid it into the treasury, and in either case, when indorsed by the person exonerated, it shall be a sufficient voucher to entitle the officer to a credit for so much in his settlement, which he is required to make. If what was erroneously charged has been paid into the state Treasury, the order of the circuit court, attested by its clerk, shall entitle the claimant to a warrant on the state Treasury for the amount thereof, if application for the same be made to the Auditor within one year after the date of such order.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 3. Assessments Generally › §11-3-31. Generally Applied, and Usual and Customary Practices and Procedures Utilized by Assessors Prior to July 2, 1982; Limit of Liability

To the extent that any generally applied, usual and customary practice or procedure utilized by the assessors of the several counties prior to July 2, 1982, for the return, listing, appraisement and assessment of property for ad valorem property taxation did not violate the then existing statutory law, interpretations thereof by the courts or the State Tax Commissioner, or regulations promulgated under such statutory law, and to that extent only, the use of such practice or procedure, in good faith, shall not be the sole basis for, or be considered in, the removal of any public officer or the imposition of any civil liability upon such official. The State Tax Commissioner shall be competent to offer testimony as to whether the practice or procedure utilized was generally applied, was a usual and customary practice among the several counties, and may offer testimony regarding formal or informal interpretations, rules or practice employed by him and his predecessors in office at the time such alleged usual and customary practice or procedures were utilized in several counties.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 3. Assessments Generally › §11-3-32. Effective Date of Amendments

(a) Unless specified otherwise in this article, all amendments to this article adopted in the year 2010 apply to the assessment years beginning on or after July 1, 2011.
(b) Unless specified otherwise in this article, all amendments to this article adopted in the year 2021 apply to the assessment years beginning on or after July 1, 2022.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 4. Assessment of Real Property › §11-4-1. Land Books to Contain Separate Lists; Entry of Town Lots; Entry Separately for Districts

The assessor shall make out the land books, including all extensions, in such form as the Tax Commissioner may prescribe. Such land books shall contain separate lists for the different tax districts and separate lists for the municipalities of the county. There shall, for the purpose of taxation, be entered on the land books the town lots in the alphabetical order of the names of the owners thereof in the list arranged for them, and the assessor shall designate such list as "town (or city) lots of the town (or city) of __________________." There shall also be entered in like alphabetical order in the separate lists for the tax districts, the tracts of land, the whole or greater part of which is situated therein; but no tract or lot of land shall be entered in more than one of such lists, and no part of any tract or lot of land which does not lie within the incorporated limits of a town shall be entered in the list or charged with municipal taxes for such town.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 4. Assessment of Real Property › §11-4-2. Form of Landbooks

The Tax Commissioner shall prescribe a form of landbook and the information and itemization to be entered therein, which shall include separate entries of: (1) All real property or whatever portion thereof in square feet that is owned, used, and occupied by the owner exclusively for residential purposes, including mobile homes, permanently affixed to the land and owned by the owner of the land; (2) all real property or whatever portion thereof in square feet that is owned by an organization that is exempt from federal income taxes under 26 U. S. C. §501(c)(3) or 501 (c)(4) and used primarily and immediately for a purpose that is exempt from tax under §11-3-9 of this code; (3) all real property or whatever portion thereof in square feet that is owned by an organization that is exempt from federal income taxes under 26 U. S. C. §501(c)(3) or 501 (c)(4) and that is not used primarily and immediately for a purpose that is exempt from tax under §11-3-9 of this code; (4) all farms including land used for agriculture, horticulture, and grazing occupied by the owner or bona fide tenant; (5) and all other real property. For each entry there shall be shown: (A) The value of land, the value of buildings, and the aggregate value; (B) the character and estate of the owners, the number of acres or lots, and the local description of the tracts or lots; and (C) the amount of taxes assessed against each tract or lot for all purposes.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 4. Assessment of Real Property › §11-4-4. Making Out Land Books; Using Copy of Last Landbook; Correcting Errors

The landbooks for every county shall be made out by the assessor of such county. In making such landbooks in each year such officer shall be governed, as far as is proper, by the copy of the landbooks last made out in his county. But he shall correct errors and mistakes which he may have made in any such landbooks as to the names of persons properly chargeable with taxes on any tract or lot of land therein, and enter and charge the same with taxes thereon to the person or persons properly chargeable therewith, whether such correction be rendered necessary by the conveyance of such tract or lot by the person last charged with taxes thereon or otherwise. He shall also correct all errors and mistakes he may find in such landbooks as to the local description thereof, and all clerical errors of every sort which he may find therein.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 4. Assessment of Real Property › §11-4-5. Information to Be Obtained From Landowners by Assessor; Corrections in Landbook of Previous Year

The assessor and his deputies shall annually, when listing and assessing personal and real property, make diligent inquiry of every resident landowner, and of the resident agents of any nonresident landowner, as to the number of acres of land owned by them, the number of acres in each tract, and the number of town lots owned by them, and the value per acre of each tract and the local description thereof, and the value and location of the town lots.
They shall determine the nature and extent of the interest of the owner, whether in fee and undivided or otherwise, and the character of use to which the property is put, whether residential or agricultural or otherwise. They shall also inquire of such owners or agents whether the entries charged against them in the landbooks of the previous year are correct, whether any part thereof ought to be transferred to any other person, and if so to whom, and the nature of the evidence to authorize such transfer; also, whether any other land in the county ought to be charged to such resident or nonresident, and whether the description given to any tract of land or town lot in the book of the previous year is incorrectly given. It shall be the duty of such owners and agents to answer all of such inquiries on oath. The assessor shall provide for himself and for each one of his deputies, a copy of so much of the landbook of the previous year as contains a list of the land in the tax districts severally apportioned to them, and shall note in such copies such changes and corrections as ought to be made in the landbook of the previous year, according to the information obtained. The deputy assessor shall report any such changes and corrections, as appear to them should be made, to the assessor at some of the stated meetings provided for. The assessor shall make such use of the information so obtained as he can properly make, consistent with the other provisions of this chapter, in making out the landbook of the county for the current year.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 4. Assessment of Real Property › §11-4-8. Lists of Transfers of Title for Assessors

The clerk of the county court shall, not later than the tenth day of each and every month, make out and deliver to the assessor a certified list showing all the transfers of title of land made in his county during the preceding month; such list shall show whether the transfer was made by will or by deed of conveyance, or by judgment or decree, the names of the devisors and devisees, the names of the grantors and grantees and the names of the parties in favor of and against whom such judgment or decree was rendered, with the title of the cause, the nature of the estate transferred, the character of interest in the land conveyed, the quantity and location of the land or interest transferred, and, if a part of a tract, of what tract it was a part when the whole tract was transferred, and reference to the book and page showing such transfer. From the list thus furnished, the assessor shall make the necessary changes in the land books for the current year, and shall value each tract of land or interest therein so transferred, at its true and actual value according to the rule established in this chapter. The clerk shall also, not later than the tenth day of each and every month, make out a list of all lands, if any, lying in another county and devised by wills recorded in his office during the preceding month, and not before reported, stating in such list the date of the will in each case, when admitted to record, the names of the devisor and the devisee, and the description of the land devised; and, upon completion, and not later than the tenth day of each and every month, the clerk shall deliver or mail such list to the assessor of the county or counties where such lands are situated.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 4. Assessment of Real Property › §11-4-10. Land and Buildings Assessed Separately; Town Lots; Back Taxing of Omitted Buildings

Land and the buildings or structures erected thereon shall be assessed separately and the value of each entered separately in the landbooks. Land, except town lots, shall be valued by the acre, and town lots shall be designated by the number of the lot and the name of the street on which it fronts, provided the lots be numbered and the streets of the town designated by name. Every assessor shall, in each year, in arriving at the value of the buildings, including mobile homes used for residential purposes permanently affixed to the land and owned by the owner of the land, take into account any improvements or changes affecting the value of such buildings. If the assessor shall discover any building which has been omitted from the landbook for any previous years, he may back tax the same in the same manner and to the same extent as in the case of personal property.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 4. Assessment of Real Property › §11-4-12. Assessment of Decedent's Lands

When the owner dies intestate his undivided real estate may be listed to his heirs, without designating any of them by name, until division of same and each heir shall be liable for the whole tax assessed upon such land while it is so listed; but when he pays the same he may recover of the others their proper proportion of the amount so paid, and the proportion thereof for which such other or others are liable shall be a lien on the interest owned by him or them in such lands; and such liens, when the amount so paid exceeds $20 in all, may be enforced in a court of equity. When the owner has devised the lands or a freehold estate therein absolutely, such land shall be charged to the devisee. If under the will the land is to be sold, it shall be charged to the decedent's estate and the assets in the hands of the personal representative shall be liable for the taxes until a sale and conveyance thereof be made.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 4. Assessment of Real Property › §11-4-13. Lands Purchased at Tax Sale for State or by an Individual

Real estate purchased for the state at a sale for taxes shall not be omitted from the landbooks but the officer whose duty it is to make out the same, shall duly enter, classify and value annually such real estate, as though no such sale had occurred, until such real estate is redeemed or otherwise disposed of by the state, but no taxes shall be extended thereon while the same remains the property of the state; and there shall be noted on the landbooks by the officer whose duty it is to make out the same, opposite the name of the former owner, the time when the same was purchased by the state and for what year's taxes sold, and such officer shall continue such memorandum in the landbooks for succeeding years and until such real estate is redeemed or otherwise disposed of by the state; the Auditor shall also keep a record of such purchase. When real estate so purchased has been redeemed the officer whose duty it is to make out the landbooks shall note the fact therein for the year in which the redemption was made and shall classify and value the same at its true and actual value according to the rule prescribed in this chapter, and taxes shall thereafter be assessed and extended against the same; the Auditor shall, in the first month of the assessment year, certify to the officer whose duty it is to make out the landbooks, a list of such lands in his county as have been so redeemed within the preceding year. When real estate is sold to an individual for taxes, the officer whose duty it is to make out the landbooks shall continue to enter, classify and value such real estate annually in the landbooks in the name of the former owner until the purchaser obtains a deed therefor; such officer shall then enter the real estate so purchased in the name of the purchaser and shall classify and value the same according to the rule prescribed by this chapter. The assessor in listing, classifying and valuing property sold to the state, shall list the same alphabetically in said property books in such manner, preferably at the end of the list for each district, that such valuation shall not be included in the totals certified to the levying bodies for levy purposes.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 4. Assessment of Real Property › §11-4-14. Assessment of Lands Lying in More Than One County

Every tract of land of one thousand acres or less, lying in more than one county, may be entered for taxation on the land book of the county where the greater part thereof in value lies, but the entry thereof and payment of taxes thereon, in any county where any part thereof is situated, shall, for the time during which the same is so entered and paid, be a discharge of the whole of the taxes and levies charged and chargeable thereon. Every tract of land of more than one thousand acres, lying in two or more counties, shall, for the purpose of taxation, be entered and charged with all taxes in each tax district of the several counties in which any part of it is, to the extent, as near as may be, that the same lies in such district. When any such tract of more than one thousand acres is thus assessed, partly in one county and partly in another, the several officers of such counties whose duty it is to make out the landbooks of the respective counties shall value the part lying in his county without regard to the value of the whole tract, and he shall ascertain its value, as in other cases, according to the rule prescribed in this chapter.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 4. Assessment of Real Property › §11-4-15. Assessment Upon Conveyance of Part of Tract Lying in More Than One County

When land lying in more than one county has been assessed in one of such counties only, if the owner convey that portion, or any part thereof, lying in the county wherein the same is not assessed, such officer in such county shall enter the part so conveyed in the land books of his county, and shall assess it to its owner at its proper value according to the rule prescribed in this chapter. And such officer of the county in which the whole of such land has been previously assessed shall deduct the part so conveyed and assess the remainder according to its proper value.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 4. Assessment of Real Property › §11-4-16. Assessment Upon Conveyance of Part of Tract Lying in More Than One District

In like manner, when a tract or lot of land lies in more than one district, and the owner conveys any portion thereof situated in a district wherein such land was not assessed, the part so conveyed shall be thereafter entered in the proper district, and the proper value thereof ascertained, as in other cases, according to the rule prescribed in this chapter, and the quantity thereof shall be deducted from the entire tract or lot as it was before entered.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 4. Assessment of Real Property › §11-4-17. Consolidation of Contiguous Tracts or Mineral or Timber Interests

Any owner of two or more contiguous tracts of land, or the surface of land, or of any estate in the coal, oil, gas, ore, limestone, fireclay, or other minerals or mineral substances, in and under the same, or of the timber thereon, situated in whole or in part in the same tax district of any county, may upon application to the county court of such county and duly showing the relative location of such tracts, their ownership and present description on the land book, have the same, by order of such court, consolidated with other like tracts or parts of tracts, and charged by aggregating the quantities thereof, so far as lying in the same tax district, as one tract upon the landbook of such county for the succeeding year and thereafter: Provided, That for the purpose of consolidation of lands or the surface of lands or any estate in the coal, oil, gas, ore, limestone, fireclay, or other minerals or mineral substances in and under the same, or of the timber thereon, on the landbooks, any tract heretofore charged separately thereon, whether as fee (by which is meant not only the estate of the owner therein, but also the entire body of the land), or as one or more mineral interests, or other interests herein specified, or surface, or timber only, may be divided, and the divisions thereof be charged separately or be consolidated with other like tracts or parts of tracts.
In every case of consolidation the order directing the consolidation to be made shall so describe the several properties consolidated as to enable the same to be therein identified as separate parcels or to be so identified by reference therein made to a recorded instrument, or recorded instruments, or both by description and reference to such instrument or instruments.
The officer whose duty it is to make out the landbooks, upon presentation to him of a certified copy of such order showing the consolidation or designation of such several tracts or parts of tracts of land, surface or timber, or estates in the coal, oil, gas, ore, limestone, fireclay, or other minerals or mineral substances herein mentioned, shall enter the same as one upon the landbook for the year next ensuing, and make a proper note opposite the last entry of each of such several tracts so consolidated or designated in whole or in part, referring to such order, and a like note opposite the entry of the tract so consolidated or designated. He shall value such tract at its proper value according to the rule prescribed in this chapter. Any such officer, failing to comply promptly with any of the several duties imposed by this section, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $25 nor more than $50: Provided, however, That this section shall not apply to any undivided interest in any estate in any land, coal, oil, gas, ore, limestone, fireclay, or other mineral substances in or under lands or of the timber on land.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 4. Assessment of Real Property › §11-4-18. Division or Consolidation of Tracts for Segregation

In the manner prescribed in section seventeen of this article, the county court may, upon the application of the owner, divide, consolidate, or both, as the case may be, any tracts or lots for the purpose of entry upon the land books of the county. This shall apply solely to the segregation of real property according to the classification contemplated by the "Tax Limitation Amendment." No such division shall be made unless there is in actual fact a distinction in use, and unless the division requested is one which the owner would make for the separate conveyance of portions of the tract or lot, but in no case shall any single structure be divided and only contiguous tracts or lots shall be consolidated.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 4. Assessment of Real Property › §11-4-19. Land Taken for Public Road or Railroad

Any person through whose lands a public road has been or may hereafter be established according to law, or through whose lands a railroad company has acquired or may hereafter acquire a right-of-way, by purchase or condemnation, may have the number of acres so taken for such public road or railroad deducted from the whole number of acres in the tract of land, and if such deduction is made on account of land taken for a railroad, the amount so deducted shall be transferred and charged to the railroad company until such time as the railroad is constructed and assessed by the board of public works under the provisions of this chapter, and when such railroad is so assessed by the board of public works the land occupied by its right-of-way and assessed to it under the provisions of this section shall be stricken from the landbooks, and be no longer assessed under this section. The reduction, provided for in this section, shall be made only by the county court of the county wherein such land is assessed at the time the reduction is applied for, after ten days' notice in writing to the prosecuting attorney of such county and upon satisfactory proof of the number of acres in any such public road or railroad, and of the number of acres in the whole tract or tracts of land from which the deduction is desired to be made. If the reduction is made on account of land taken for a public road, such reduction shall continue only so long as the land is used as a public highway, after which time the officer, whose duty it is to make out the landbooks, shall increase the quantity of land in the tract by adding to it the number of acres included in that part of the public road running through such land, with the proper value thereof, which has ceased to be used as such public road. Any order made by the county court upon such application shall direct such officer to correct the landbooks according to the facts established by such order.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 4. Assessment of Real Property › §11-4-20. Ferries

The assessor shall, upon the best information he can obtain, ascertain for the purpose of taxation, the annual value of all ferries upon which a toll or fare is charged, located in his county, except such as are by law exempt from taxation; he shall value each of such ferries each year at ten times its annual value, and enter the same in the landbook in the name of the owner in the tax district wherein the same is located; and if such ferry is on a line dividing two counties, or two districts in the same county, one half of the value so ascertained shall be assessed in each county or district as the case may be.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 5. Assessment of Personal Property › §11-5-1. What Personal Property Taxable

All personal property belonging to persons residing in this state, whether such property be in or out of the state, and all personal property in the state, though owned by persons residing out of the state, shall be entered in the personal property book, and be subject to equal and uniform taxation, except as classified in section four, article eight of this chapter, unless especially exempted by law; but personal property of all classes, except as hereinbefore provided, belonging to the residents of this state, which is actually and permanently located in another state, and by the laws of such other state is subject to taxation and is actually taxed in such other state, shall not be entered on the personal property book, or be taxed in this state. But the shares of capital stock owned by residents of this state in corporations actually located in other states, and whose property is taxed by the laws of such other state, shall not be required to be listed for taxation. Any person who at any time before the assessment year transfers by loan, deposit or gift, any notes, bonds, bills and accounts receivable, stocks and other intangible personal property, which are subject to taxation to anyone, who does not return a list of taxation as of the day on which the assessment year commences including such property, transfers, loans, deposits or gifts, if made with intention of evading taxation, shall be deemed and treated as illegal and fraudulent and the assessor shall assess such property for taxation to the party who makes such transfers, loans, deposits or gifts as aforesaid.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 5. Assessment of Personal Property › §11-5-2. Personal Property Books

In his personal property books the assessor shall enter the names and post-office addresses of the owners of personal property alphabetically arranged by districts, showing separately the values of:
(1) All tangible personal property employed exclusively in agriculture including horticulture and grazing;
(2) All products of agriculture (including livestock) while owned by the producer;
(3) All notes, bonds, bills and accounts receivable, stocks and any other intangible personal property;
(4) The total of one, two and three;
(5) All other tangible personal property.
The Tax Commissioner may prescribe such itemization and further information as he deems necessary. The assessor shall make the same number of copies and extend the levies in the same way as he does with the landbook.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 5. Assessment of Personal Property › §11-5-3. Definitions

The words "personal property," as used in this chapter includes all fixtures attached to land, if not included in the valuation of such land entered in the proper landbook; all things of value, moveable and tangible, which are the subjects of ownership; all chattels real and personal; all notes, bonds, and accounts receivable, stocks and all other intangible property.
"Agriculture" means the cultivation of the soil, including the planting and harvesting of crops and the breeding and management of livestock.
"Horticulture" means plant production of every character except forestry.
"Grazing" means the use of land for pasturage.
"Products of agriculture" means those things the existence of which follows directly from the activity of agriculture, horticulture or grazing, including dairy, poultry, bee and any other similar products, whether in the natural form or processed as an incident to the marketing of the raw material.
"Producer" means the person who is actually engaged in the agriculture, horticulture and grazing which gives existence and fruition to products of agriculture as distinguished from the broker or middleman.
"Tax year" means the calendar year following the July first assessment day or, in the case of a public service business assessed pursuant to article six of this chapter, the calendar year beginning on the January first assessment day.
"While owned by the producer" means while title is in the producer as above defined.
"Employed exclusively" means that the preponderant and the sole gainful use is for the designated purpose.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 5. Assessment of Personal Property › §11-5-4. In What District Personalty Assessed

Every person required by law to list personal property for taxation shall list the tangible personal property in the tax district wherein it is on the first day of the assessment year, and chattels real in the tax district wherein the land to which they relate is located; and he shall list for taxation in the tax district in which he resides the notes, bonds, bills, and accounts receivable, stocks and other intangible personal property subject to taxation belonging to himself or under his charge or control, whether the same, or the evidence thereof be in or out of the state; but capital, and intangible property (except real estate and chattels real) employed in any trade or business (other than agriculture) belonging to a company whether it is incorporated or not, or to an individual, shall be assessed for taxation in the tax district wherein the principal office for the transaction of the financial concerns pertaining to such trade or business is located; or, if there be no such office, then in the district where the operations are carried on. Goods and chattels and other tangible personal property not exempt from taxation which may not be assessed for taxation in the tax district where the same were on the first day of the assessment year, but which have been removed therefrom, shall be assessed in the tax district where the same were on the first day of the assessment year; but the assessment and payment of taxes in any county or district in any year shall exonerate the owner of such property in any other county or district for such year: Provided, That in cases of the assessment of leasehold estates a sum equal to the valuations placed upon such leasehold estates shall be deducted from the total value of the estate, to the end that the valuation of such leasehold estate and the remainder shall aggregate the true and actual value of the estate.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 5. Assessment of Personal Property › §11-5-5. Valuation of Credits and Investments

The value of any credit, if the solvency of the party liable therefor be doubtful or if the claim be disputed, shall be estimated at its probable worth; if it be payable in anything but money, its probable value in money, to be fixed by the assessor, is to be listed; if a solvent credit bear interest which has not been paid, the amount of principal and interest, calculated up to the first day of the assessment year of the year for which the assessment is made shall be listed; but if it do not bear interest, and be not due, the interest for the time it has run from the first day of the assessment until it be due and payable, may be deducted. Investment, in notes, bonds, bills, stocks and other intangible property, shall be rated by the assessor at their market price, or if there be no known market price, then at their proper value, according to the rule prescribed in this chapter.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 5. Assessment of Personal Property › §11-5-10a. Release of Taxes, Interest and Charges, on Bank Deposits and Money Not Assessed Prior to November 4, 1958

In view of the adoption of section one-a, amending article X of the Constitution of West Virginia, at the general election held on November 4, 1958, without any saving clause therein, and in order to give effect to the mandate of the people of the state, it is the intent and purpose of the Legislature to, and it hereby does, release all ad valorem taxes, interest, and charges on bank deposits and money unless an assessment therefor shall have been made, as provided in article three of this chapter, prior to November 4, 1958.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 5. Assessment of Personal Property › §11-5-12. Mobile Homes Situate Upon Property Owned by a Person Other Than Owner of Mobile Home

Mobile homes situated upon property owned by a person other than the owner of the mobile home are classified as personal property whether or not the mobile home is permanently affixed to the real estate and, unless subject to assessment as Class II property under section eleven of this article or section two, article four of this chapter, are assessed as Class III or Class IV personal property, as may be appropriate in the circumstances.
A mobile home permanently attached to the real estate of the owner may not be classified as personal property if the owner has filed a canceled certificate of title with the clerk of the county commission and the clerk has recorded it in the same manner as deeds are recorded and indexed.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 5. Assessment of Personal Property › §11-5-13. Exemption of Inventory and Warehouse Goods

(a) Tangible personal property which is moving in interstate commerce through or over the territory of the State of West Virginia, or which was consigned from a point of origin outside the state to a warehouse, public or private, within the state for storage in transit to a final destination outside the state, whether specified when transportation begins or afterward, but in any case specified timely for exempt status determination purposes, shall not be deemed to have acquired a tax situs in West Virginia for purposes of ad valorem taxation and shall be exempt from such taxation, except as otherwise provided herein.
(b) Such property shall not be deprived of such exemption because while in the warehouse the personal property is assembled, bound, joined, processed, disassembled, divided, cut, broken in bulk, relabeled, or repackaged for delivery out of state, unless such activity results in a new or different product, article, substance or commodity, or one of different utility.
(c) Personal property of inventories of natural resources shall not be exempt from ad valorem taxation unless required by paramount federal law.
(d) The exemption allowed herein shall be phased in over a period of five consecutive assessment years, at the rate of one fifth of the assessed value of the property per assessment year, beginning July 1, 1987.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 5. Assessment of Personal Property › §11-5-13a. Application of Exemption to Finished Goods in Warehouse

(a) This section is intended to clarify the intent of the Legislature and the citizens in establishing the exemption from ad valorem property taxation granted by section one-c, article ten of the West Virginia Constitution and section thirteen of this article as it pertains to goods held in warehouse facilities in this state awaiting shipment to a destination outside this state. This section codifies policies applied by agencies and departments of this state upon which persons have relied. It is the intent of the Legislature that the provisions of this section are to be liberally construed in favor of a person claiming exemption from tax pursuant to section one-c, article ten of the West Virginia Constitution, this section and section thirteen of this article.
(b) Goods which have been moved to a warehouse or storage facility, at which no substantial alteration takes place, to await shipment to a destination outside this state are deemed to be moving in interstate commerce over the territory of the state and therefore are exempt from ad valorem property tax and do not have a tax situs in West Virginia for purposes of ad valorem taxation.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, personal property of inventories of natural resources shall not be exempt from ad valorem taxation unless required by federal law.
(d) This section is intended to be declarative of the law as of the enactment hereof and shall be fully retroactive.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 5. Assessment of Personal Property › §11-5-14. Assessment of Motor Vehicles Previously Titled Jointly by Married Couples Following Final Divorce Order

Beginning July 1, 1999, upon the presentment to the assessor of a certified copy of a final divorce order, entered under the provisions of section fifteen, article two, chapter forty-eight of this code, which grants the possession of a jointly titled motor vehicle to one of the parties of the divorce, the assessor shall list and assess that motor vehicle in the name of the person awarded possession of the vehicle in the final divorce order. If two jointly owned motor vehicles are involved in the divorce order and the vehicles are awarded exclusively to be titled one in the name of the husband and one in the name of the wife, the assessor shall apportion the assessment of the taxes owed on the vehicles between the husband and wife for the purposes of taxation on the vehicles so that the husband or wife will be responsible for the payment of taxes only on the vehicle awarded to him or her by the final divorce order. The assessor shall file notice of the apportionment with the county commission. Upon receipt of the notice, the county commission shall order that the taxes on the vehicles be apportioned in accordance with the apportionment set forth in the notice. The clerk of the county commission shall certify a copy of the order to the sheriff. Upon receipt of the order, the sheriff shall accept payment of the amount of tax apportioned to the motor vehicle awarded to the former spouse determined in the county commission's order, and the receipt issued by the sheriff for such payment shall constitute payment in full of the taxes due for the motor vehicle. No provision of this section may be construed to relieve the former spouse from liability for payment of any tax imposed on any other property of the former spouse.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 11. Taxation › Article 6. Assessment of Public Service Businesses › §11-6-3. Same -- Toll Bridges

In the case of any bridge upon which a separate toll or fare is charged, such return shall show: (a) The location of the same; (b) for what used; and, if used by a railroad, what railroad uses it; (c) the length of such bridge; and, if used by a railroad, the number of tracks on it; (d) all other property owned by such owner or operator and used in connection with such bridge; (e) the capital actually invested; the amount of capital stock authorized and issued, the par value and the market value of the shares into which the capital stock is divided, and the amount of dividends declared on the capital stock within the twelve months preceding the first day of the current assessment year; the total amount of bonded indebtedness and of indebtedness not bonded; gross earnings for the year from all sources; (f) gross expenditures for the year, giving a detailed statement thereof under each class or head of expenditure; (g) any other information requested by the board of public works which the board deems may be of use to it in determining the actual value of such bridge or bridges.