West Virginia Tax Department Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

W.Va. Tax Department Struggling to Fill Job Openings

A West Virginia tax official says staff shortages driven by low salaries make it difficult for the state Tax Department to perform its duties.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that assistant tax commissioner Danny Morgan told a legislative panel Friday that the department has lost 18 percent of its personnel since 2013.

Morgan says the difficulty filling vacancies is also due to concerns that possible state budget cuts could spur layoffs.

Morgan says the public likely notices the shortages most when calling the understaffed Taxpayer Services, with call wait times reaching two hours.

He noted a shortage of auditors because of the $29,400 starting salary.

Morgan says the department is proposing 5 percent annual raises for new hires and salary adjustments for employees with five or more years of service.

Reform Panel to Discuss Taxation of Alcohol, Other Items

A legislative committee reviewing West Virginia’s tax code will discuss taxation of minerals, alcohol, tobacco and other items during meetings this week.

The Joint Select Committee on Tax Reform is scheduled to meet on Monday and Tuesday at the Capitol.

Monday’s agenda includes the severance tax on minerals in West Virginia and the inventory tax on industry equipment.

On Tuesday, the committee will discuss taxation of alcohol, tobacco, insurance premiums and subsidies, and gaming taxes and subsidies.

Annual Recalculation Cuts W.Va. Gas Tax By Penny

Motorists will get a break on gasoline prices in West Virginia thanks to an annual tax recalculation.

Beginning Jan. 1, the state’s tax for conventional motor fuels will drop about a penny per gallon from 35.7 cents to 34.6 cents.

Deputy revenue secretary Mark Muchow tells the Charleston Daily Mail that the decrease will save motorists more than $15 million compared to what they are paying this year.

The state Tax Department is required by law to recalculate the average wholesale price of motor fuels in the state every year. Conventional motor fuels include gasoline, kerosene and diesel.

The variable tax is one of the state gas tax’s three components. The tax also includes a flat state rate and a flat federal tax.

West Virginia Owed More Than $715 Million in Unpaid Taxes

An audit of the West Virginia Tax Department has found that the state is owed more than $715 million in taxes.

The legislative audit released Tuesday says that out of $715.7 million, $298.3 million owed in about 139,000 tax accounts is collectable. The totals are as of December 2013.

The largest bucket of collectable taxes the state hasn’t received was $104.7 million in personal income tax. The second was $83.9 million in sales tax.

The audit by Legislative Post Audit Division director Denny Rhodes says the department lacks adequate policies and procedures to ensure taxes are collected.

Tax Commissioner Mark Matkovich said the owed taxes include accounts that skew the numbers, like dead taxpayers.

The Tax Department responded that it would seek improvements to eliminate causes of the findings.