Understanding WV's Personal Property Tax Rebate

West Virginia House Bill 2526, approved during the 2023 regular session of the West Virginia Legislature, immediately reduces the income tax in tax year 2023 by an average of 21.25 percent. The legislation also provides for a number of refundable tax credits for payment of property taxes.

On March 7, Governor Jim Justice signed this legislation into law. With enactment of the legislation, there has been some confusion over the implications for West Virginia taxpayers and how to maximize the tax credits provided in the new law.

UPDATE: During the August 2024 Special Session, West Virginia state lawmakers approved a fix connected with the newly created vehicle tax credit. House Bill 125 corrected errors in the legislation passed during the 2023 regular session to give taxpayers a rebate on their car tax, clarifying that certain payments paid prior to the effective date of the tax credits for property taxes paid on certain species of property are eligible for the tax credits.

With this fix, taxpayers will not be penalized for paying their vehicle tax in full this fall.

“That will allow people, even if they pay their second half ad valorem property taxes in the calendar year 2023, it will allow them to take the credit for that payment in 2024,” said Senate Judiciary Chair Charles Trump.

The legislation received unanimous approval in both the House and Senate, is effective from passage.

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Assessors in West Virginia's 55 counties are working diligently with taxpayers to make sure all are informed about the changes and how these reforms affect them.

Types Of Tax Credits Beginning January 2024

Motor Vehicle Property Tax Credit
Who Qualifies?: Individual motor vehicle owners and Small Business motor vehicle owners

Disabled Veterans Real Property Credit
Who Qualifies?: Any veteran who is considered 90-100 percent disabled by the Department of Veterans Affairs and has been honorably discharged from any branch of armed services in the United States.

Small Business Property Tax Credit
Who Qualifies?: Small business with an aggregate personal property appraised value of 1 million dollars or less.

What Qualifies?: 50 percent of the amount of West Virginia personal property taxes due. Taxes must be paid timely to a county sheriff, by the eligible taxpayers, on the taxpayer's personal property.

Who DOES NOT QUALIFY?: Persons holding a working interest in oil and natural gas, or natural gas liquids producing properties and/or public service companies that are centrally assessed by the state for personal property tax purposes DO NOT QUALIFY.

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Tax Year 2023 Values
Tax Year 2023 taxes are based on values on the date July 1, 2022. It is possible that you will see an increase in value on your vehicles on your 2023 tax bill.

On September 15, 2021, Governor Justice issued Executive Order No. 25-21 that addressed the nation-wide, inflated vehicle values due to supply issues created from the Coronavirus Pandemic. The Executive Order issued from the Governor directed the State Tax Commission to compile a schedule of automobile values based upon the lowest values shown in a nationally accepted used car guide (NADA) from the current year or the previous year, whichever was lower. The State Tax Commission found that the values from the previous year were the lowest value. Therefore, the Assessors were given the order to use the NADA values from July 1, 2020 for the Tax Year 2022 tax bill.

The Executive Order was a one-time, one-year order. Values for the Tax Year 2023 are based on the value on July 1, 2022.

Taxpayers should contact their County Assessor's Office with any tax questions or concerns. You can find your County Assessor's contact information here.

The West Virginia State Tax Department also has a wealth of information for taxpayers on the tax rate cut and property tax rebate at www.tax.wv.gov.