West Virginia
Opinion | West Virginia’s Tax-Cut Crossroads
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice
Picture:
Chris Jackson/Related Press
West Virginia lawmakers need their state to turn into a vacation spot for folks and funding, and GOP Gov.
Jim Justice
has proposed a serious tax minimize to assist. However he’s going to have to beat misguided opposition from the Republican Legislature.
Mr. Justice’s plan would minimize West Virginia’s high income-tax charge to three.25% from 6.5%. The complete discount would section in by way of 2025, starting with a 30% minimize this yr. “It would take us three years to tug it off,” Mr. Justice stated in his State of the State tackle. “However completely it’s that aggressive pathway that may completely put unbelievable cash proper again into all of our pockets.”
The proposal is formidable, nevertheless it isn’t radical by any measure. The speed minimize would assist the state compete for funding with its neighbors, a lot of which have additionally slashed charges. West Virginia’s present 6.5% high charge is greater than these within the 5 states that encompass it. That features Ohio (3.99%) and Kentucky (5%), which have handed cuts since 2021, in addition to Virginia (5.75%), which is contemplating a minimize.
That’s why the GOP-led state Home handed the plan final month, 95-2. But the invoice has faltered within the Senate, regardless that the GOP holds 31 of 34 seats.
The opposition is led by Senate finance committee chairman
Eric Tarr
and Senate president
Craig Blair.
“It’s unsafe for your loved ones, since you’re going to now financial institution on a rise in income,” Mr. Tarr says. “Then a future legislature goes to have to return and say, ‘Oops, we’re going to have to return and lift taxes someplace.’”
That’s the same old line from politicians who wish to preserve extra income for themselves, nevertheless it doesn’t wash in West Virginia as we speak. The Mountain State completed fiscal 2022 with a report $1.3 billion surplus, which equals about 28% of deliberate spending for 2023. The state’s financial system is benefiting from excessive costs and demand for coal and pure gasoline, however the state must diversify its financial system for the longer term.
Mr. Justice’s tax invoice units apart $700 million for a reserve fund to assist with any income downturn. That’s on high of the state’s almost $1 billion wet day fund. “In years previous we haven’t had billions of {dollars} of surplus,” Mr. Justice advised the press not too long ago, saying the time is true to return funds to taxpayers.
The GOP Senate handed its personal plan this month backed by Mr. Blair, who doesn’t wish to give Mr. Justice a political victory. The Senate plan cuts earnings taxes by 15%, whereas providing a hodgepodge of rebates, corresponding to subsidies for veterans’ properties and small-business tools. These provisions would draw far much less funding and lots of fewer new residents than the Governor’s plan, which is why Mr. Justice has gone on the street to pitch his 50% minimize to voters.
The tax-cut dispute comes at an optimistic second for West Virginia’s financial system. Although nonetheless the Forty ninth-ranked state by earnings, it drew extra home migrants than it misplaced final yr, for the primary time in a decade. The Governor and Senate will proceed to speak and a compromise is probably going. However the Governor’s plan would do way more to boost incomes and put together the state’s financial system to outlive the left’s battle on fossil fuels.
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Firm, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Appeared within the February 21, 2023, print version.
West Virginia
The Walk Thru Game Day Show: West Virginia vs. TCU Preview + Prediction
This week on the Walk Thru Game Day Show, Eugene Napoleon and I preview this week’s matchup between West Virginia and TCU.
Also…
We open the show by discussing whether or not the future at quarterback is already on the roster in Khalil Wilkins or Scotty Fox, or if the Mountaineers will have to go out in the transfer portal to find that solution. We also make some predictions on some overs/unders that we manufactured for the final five games of the season, including how many quarterbacks start games, how many wins the Mountaineers can collect down the stretch, and how many key pieces to next year’s squad they can identify over the next month in addition to Jahiem White, Cam Vaughn, and Curtis Jones Jr.
After the break, Eugene makes his Napoleon’s dynamite pick of the week, we talk other players to watch, and then dive into the matchup before making our picks.
No. 18 USF at Memphis, 12 p.m. ET on ESPN2
No. 8 Ole Miss at No. 13 Oklahoma, 12 p.m. ET on ABC
No. 15 Missouri at No. 10 Vanderbilt, 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
No. 11 BYU at Iowa State, 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX
TCU at West Virginia, 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+
Go over to our YouTube page, West Virginia On SI, and make your picks by placing them in the comments section. If you go 5/5, you’ll receive an autographed picture from Eugene Napoleon from his time at West Virginia
The Mountaineers and the Horned Frogs will kick things off at approximately 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
If you haven’t yet, please go over to our YouTube page, West Virginia On SI (@SI_WVU), and subscribe. You’ll get a notification the second a new episode of Between The Eers, The Walk Thru GameDay Show, or Mountaineer Postgame drops.
Football season show schedule
Between The Eers: Sundays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays
The Walk Thru GameDay Show: Thursdays
Mountaineer Postgame: Immediately after the game
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Everything West Virginia Head Coach Ross Hodge Had to Say at Big 12 Media Day
How and When to Watch Ross Hodge, WVU Players Speak at Big 12 Media Day
Rich Rodriguez Pushes Back on the Idea That WVU is Far Behind UCF in its Rebuild
Rodriguez Teases Lineup Changes at WVU and All Eyes Are on the Offensive Line
Between The Eers: Why Bail on WVU After Just Seven Games?
West Virginia
State tax department files liens of $1.36 million on The Greenbrier hotel and sporting club – WV MetroNews
The West Virginia Tax Division has filed liens on The Greenbrier Hotel and Greenbrier Sporting Club, both owned by the family of Senator Jim Justice, over sales taxes collected but not remitted.
The $1.36 million in financial obligations to the state piled up months ago, but the liens were filed with the Greenbrier County Clerk over the last several weeks.
The state tax issue is distinct from liens amounting to $8 million from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service against Justice and his wife, Cathy, for personal filings dating back to 2009.
On that conflict, Senator Justice this week told the national news outlet Politico, “I think the bottom line, the whole thing is we have a dispute. I think they owe me a whole lot more money than I owe them.”
MetroNews has reached out to Justice through his Senate office, The Greenbrier and his family’s Bluestone Industries, but has not yet received comment.
The liens from the West Virginia Tax Division apply to sales taxes that would have been paid by customers. West Virginia sales taxes are required to be filed and remitted monthly, quarterly, or annually, depending on an assigned filing frequency.
A lien of $535,143 on The Greenbrier Hotel Corporation was for sales taxes that were due to the state on March 31. The taxes, interest and penalty became due June 22, and the lien was filed with the county clerk on Sept. 5.
Another lien of $279,069 on The Greenbrier Hotel Corporation was for sales taxes that were due to the state on March 31. The tax, interest and penalty became due June 7, and the lien was filed August 5.
A lien of $474,278 on The Greenbrier was for sales tax collections that were due April 30. The amount became final on May 22, and the lien was processed by the county clerk on August 5.
A lien of $55,415 on The Greenbrier Sporting Club is for sales taxes that were due this past May 31. The amount became final June 22, and the lien was processed by the county clerk Sept. 5.
The officers of The Greenbrier Hotel Corp. include Jay and Jill Justice, the son and daughter of the U.S. senator.
To great acclaim in West Virginia, Jim Justice bought The Greenbrier in May 2009 from CSX Corporation for about $20 million.
His annual financial disclosure with the U.S. Senate, filed in July, continues to describe The Greenbrier as one of his major assets, along with a personal line of credit of $25 million to $50 million from Greenbrier Holdings.
The Greenbrier Hotel has one of just a few licensed casinos in West Virginia.
To operate in West Virginia, any business, including a casino, must hold a valid business registration certificate from the state tax department. Such a certificate can be suspended or revoked by the Tax Commissioner if the business fails to comply with state tax requirements.
Similarly, entities with a liquor license in West Virginia must obtain a Letter of Good Standing from the West Virginia Tax Division.
In most cases, taxpayers would be considered to be in good standing even with outstanding tax liabilities if they have a payment plan in place to address their outstanding liabilities and are not in default on the payment plan.
Last year, the state tax department also issued several liens on The Greenbrier for sales taxes that were collected but not remitted.
In that case, Justice, who was then governor, said a payment plan to straighten out the liens had gone into effect. Over time, the 2024 liens were withdrawn.
“All’s good in the neighborhood there,” he said at the time.
He added, “I told everybody repeatedly, over and over, if there’s an obligation we take care of it. We don’t need to spend time worrying about what’s going on with Jim Justice’s businesses.” He continued by saying, “Everything’s current, and everything’s moving right straight ahead.”
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