By Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Senate unanimously passed a bill Wednesday that would enact several changes to the state’s coal severance tax rebate program passed in 2019 with the intention of encouraging capital investment in the coal industry.
Senate Bill 718 would institute a base period consisting of the five previous years for calculating rebates in an effort to arrive at a more representative average, eliminating the current law’s reference to 2018.
The 2019 law provided for tax rebate opportunities for coal companies that made a qualifying capital investment demonstrated by buying new equipment, real property and reporting an increase in employees.
The bill requires that there be an increase in coal production and the number of full-time employees across all the taxpayer’s mines in order to qualify for the tax rebate…
