Title 58.1. Taxation
Subtitle III. Local Taxes
Chapter 37.1. Local Coal Severance License Taxes
Chapter 37.1. Local Coal Severance License Taxes.
§ 58.1-3740. Definitions.As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:
"Coal producer" means any holder of an economic interest. Such persons shall be deemed to be engaged in the business of severing coal from the earth.
"Economic interest" means the interest possessed by a person who has acquired by capital investment any interest in the coal in place and secures, by any form of legal relationship, income from the extraction of the coal, to which he must look for a return of his capital. A person who has no capital investment in the coal deposit shall not possess an economic interest merely because through a contractual relation he possesses a mere economic or pecuniary advantage derived from production such as persons who have a contractual right to purchase or process the coal upon production or persons entitled to compensation for extracting or mining the coal. For purposes of this chapter, "economic interest" does not include interests possessed by a person who receives only royalty payments solely because of such royalty payments. Apart from the royalty interest exclusion in this definition, it is the intent of the General Assembly that "economic interest" shall have essentially the same meaning as for purposes of 26 C.F.R. § 1.611-1.
"Gross receipts" means the purchase price received by a coal producer for the sale of coal to an unaffiliated purchaser in an arm's-length transaction. "Gross receipts" does not include the cost of transporting the coal to such an unaffiliated purchaser. In circumstances in which the coal is (i) utilized by the coal producer or an affiliated individual or entity or (ii) sold in a related-party transaction or under circumstances that indicate the sale is not an arm's-length transaction, "gross receipts" shall be determined by multiplying the volume of coal utilized or sold by (a) the average sale price received by the coal producer in arm's-length transactions for the sale of other coal reasonably deemed by the commissioner of the revenue or other local assessing official of the locality to be of comparable quality during the same time frame or (b) if no such other sales are available, the sale price of other coal reasonably deemed by the commissioner of the revenue or other local assessing official of the locality to be of comparable quality, sold by other coal producers engaged in the severance of similar coal within the county or city or neighboring counties or cities during the same time frame. No deductions shall be taken from gross receipts except for a deduction for non-local coal transportation and processing costs.
"Non-local coal transportation and processing costs" means only such costs applicable to coal that is severed in one county or city and then transported by the coal producer to another county or city for cleaning, preparation, or processing in order to achieve a dry and clean coal. "Non-local coal transportation and processing costs" includes the costs of transporting the coal from the county or city in which it was severed to the second county or city and the costs of cleaning, preparation, and processing that are incurred within that second county or city. Such costs shall not include any costs associated with blending dry and clean coals unless such blending occurs in the same non-local county or city to which the coal is initially transported for cleaning, preparation, or processing. The amount of the deduction for non-local coal transportation and processing costs shall be calculated by dividing the total actual costs incurred per ton in such non-local transportation, cleaning, preparation, and processing by the total costs per ton of mining, transportation, cleaning, preparation, and processing of such coal to derive a factor or percentage. Such factor or percentage shall then be multiplied by the gross receipts from the sale or utilization of such coal to determine the applicable deduction for non-local coal transportation and processing costs.
"Small mine" means a mine that sells less than 10,000 tons of coal per month.
A. The governing body of any county or city may levy a severance license tax on every coal producer that sells or utilizes coal severed from the earth within its jurisdiction. The rate of tax for the sale or utilization of coal from small mines shall be three-fourths of one percent of the gross receipts from the sale or utilization of such coal by the coal producer. The rate of tax for all other coal shall be one percent of the gross receipts from the sale or utilization of such coal by the coal producer.
No county or city that imposes the tax authorized by this subsection shall enact the provisions of § 58.1-3286 relating to a tax on gross receipts.
B. In addition to the tax imposed in subsection A, any county or city may impose a local coal road improvement severance license tax on every coal producer that sells or utilizes coal severed from the earth within its jurisdiction. The rate of tax for the sale or utilization of coal from small mines shall be three-fourths of one percent of the gross receipts from the sale or utilization of such coal by the coal producer. The rate of tax for all other coal shall be one percent of the gross receipts from the sale or utilization of such coal by the coal producer. The revenues from such tax shall be utilized as provided for under §§ 58.1-3713, 58.1-3713.01, and 58.1-3742.
C. Any county or city enacting a tax under this section may require coal producers and common carriers to maintain records and file reports showing the quantities of and receipts from coal that they have produced or transported.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the incorporated towns and city situated within the bounds of Wise County shall receive from the county 20 percent of all revenues collected under the local coal road improvement severance license tax imposed under the authority of subsection B of § 58.1-3741. The shares of such 20 percent shall be computed as follows: 25 percent shall be divided among the incorporated towns and the city based on the number of registered motor vehicles in each town and the city, and 75 percent shall be divided equally among the incorporated towns and city. Such funds shall be distributed to the treasurer of such towns and city on a quarterly basis as received by the county.
All local coal severance license taxes levied pursuant to § 58.1-3741 shall be paid to the locality in which the coal is severed from the earth.
The provisions of § 58.1-3703.1 with the exception of subdivisions A 1 and A 3 of such section shall apply to the taxes authorized by this chapter, mutatis mutandis.
There shall be a priority lien upon a debtor's estate for all taxes due and owing under the authority granted by this chapter. Such lien shall be inferior only to real estate and personal property taxes, levies, and penalties; any obligation, bond, or instrument used in lieu of a bond to the Department of Energy under Title 45.2; and liens benefiting the Commonwealth. This lien shall not require a distraint action prior to enforcement.
The purchaser at a sale of real estate to which the lien under this section applies shall cause the proceeds of such sale to be applied to the payment of all taxes and levies assessed and due under the authority granted by this chapter, the provisions of § 55.1-324 notwithstanding. The words "taxes" and "levies" as used in this section include the penalties and interest accruing on such taxes and levies in pursuance of law. In addition to existing remedies for the collection of taxes and levies, the lien imposed hereby shall be enforceable in the same manner as provided in Article 4 (§ 58.1-3965 et seq.) of Chapter 39. There shall be a further lien upon the rents of such real estate, whether the same be in money or in kind, for taxes and levies of the current year.