Definitions

3.1. "Ad valorem property taxes" means the taxes on real and personal property that are assessed and collected as provided in the property tax laws of this State.

3.2. "Agriculture and farming" means and includes the production of food, fiber, or woodland products (but not timbering activity) by means of cultivation or tillage of the soil, or by the conduct of animal, livestock, dairy, apiary, equine or poultry husbandry, or by horticulture, or by any other plant or animal production, and all farm practices related (usual or incidental) thereto, including the storage, packing, shipping and marketing thereof, but not including any manufacturing, milling, processing or selling of the products by a person other than the producer of the products.

3.3. "Assess" means the listing and valuing of property for purposes of ad valorem property taxation.

3.4. "Business activity" means and includes all purposeful revenue-generating activity engaged in or caused to be engaged in with the object of gain or economic benefit, either direct or indirect, and all activities of this state and its political subdivisions which involve the sale of tangible personal property or the rendering of service when the service activities compete with or may compete with the activities of another person. "Business activity" does not include:

3.4.1. Judicial sales directed by law or court order;

3.4.2. Sales for delinquent taxes of real or personal property;

3.4.3. The conduct of charitable bingo by any person licensed under West Virginia Code §47-20-1 et seq.;

3.4.4. The conduct of a charitable raffle by any person;

3.4.5. The conduct of a horse or dog race meeting by any racing association licensed under West Virginia Code §19-23-1 et seq.;

3.4.6. The operation or maintenance of the pari-mutuel system of wagering during the conduct of a licensed horse or dog race meeting;

3.4.7. The sale of any commodity during the conduct of a licensed horse or dog race meeting;

3.4.8. The services of owners, trainers or jockeys which are essential to the effective conduct of a licensed horse or dog race meeting; or

3.4.9. Occasional or casual sales of property or services.

3.5. "Business registration certificate" means a certificate issued by the Tax Commissioner in accordance with W. Va. Code §11-12-1 et seq., authorizing the person named in the certificate to conduct the business, activity, or trade for which the certificate is issued at or from the location specified in the business registration certificate.

3.5.1. A business registration certificate is not assignable to any other person, W. Va. Code §11-12-6.

3.6. "Employed exclusively" means that the preponderant and sole gainful use is for the designated purpose.

3.7. "Grazing" means the use of land for pasturage.

3.8. "Horticulture" means plant production of every character except forestry.

3.9. "Includes" and "including" when used in this rule may not be determined to exclude other things otherwise within context of the sentence in which the term is used.

3.10. "Occasional sale" or "casual sale" of tangible personal property means a sale of tangible personal property not held or used by a seller in the course of an activity for which a business registration certificate is required. This includes the bulk sale or exchange of all or substantially all the assets of any business and the reorganization or liquidation of any business, when the sale or exchange is not one of a series of sales or exchanges sufficient in number, scope and character to constitute a business activity requiring the holding of a business registration certificate.

3.10.1. "Occasional sale" or "casual sale" of a service means a sale of a service not furnished by a provider in the course of an activity for which a business registration certificate is required: Provided, That the sale is not one of a series of sales sufficient in number, scope and character to constitute a business activity requiring the holding of a business registration certificate.

3.10.2. A sale of tangible personal property or service shall not be designated a casual sale or occasional sale because the species or type of property sold or the service sold is unusual or of a type not typically the subject of a sale by the Taxpayer. If a sale of tangible personal property or service is undertaken in the course of business, other than a bulk sale or exchange of all or substantially all the assets of any business and the reorganization or liquidation of the business, and other than the performance of services related to the bulk sale or exchange or reorganization or liquidation, then a sale of tangible personal property or services will be presumed to be neither casual nor occasional within the meaning of this rule.

3.11. "Officer or employee of this State" includes, but is not limited to, any former officer or employee of the state of West Virginia.

3.12. "Office of Tax Appeals" means the West Virginia Office of Tax Appeals created by W. Va. Code §11-10A-3.

3.13. "Person" includes, but is not limited to, any individual, firm, partnership, limited partnership, copartnership, joint venture, association, corporation, organization, estate, trust, guardian, executor, administrator, business trust, receiver, syndicate, club, society, or other group or combination acting as a unit, or body politic or political subdivision (whether public or private, or quasi-public) and in the plural thereof as well as the singular, unless the intention to give a more limited or broader meaning is disclosed by the context of this rule.

3.14. "Personal property," for purposes of this rule, means personal property used, or held for use, or sale, in the conduct of business activity and includes all fixtures attached to land, if not included in the valuation of the land entered in the proper landbook; all things of value, moveable and tangible, which are the subjects of ownership; and all chattels real and personal. "Personal property" for purposes of this rule does not include real property or personal property owned by an individual unless the property is used in business activity.

3.15. "Products of agriculture" means those things, the existence of which follows directly from the activity of agriculture, horticulture or grazing, including dairy, poultry, bee and any other similar products, whether in the natural form or processed as an incident to the marketing of the raw material.

3.16. "Producer of a product of agriculture" means the person who is actually engaged in the agriculture, horticulture and grazing which gives existence and fruition to products of agriculture as distinguished from the broker or middleman, or third party manufacturer or food processor.

3.17. "Property tax year" or "tax year" when used in reference to property taxes means the calendar year that begins after the July first assessment day for property assessed by the county assessor. That calendar year is also the year for which property taxes are assessed by the Board of Public Works on operating property of public service businesses. For example, if the assessment day is July 1, 2005, the property tax year begins January 1, 2006.

3.18. "Property taxes" means ad valorem taxes assessed or levied on property in accordance with provisions of articles 1A, 1C, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6A, 6B, 6C, 6E, 6F, 6G or 8, chapter 11, of the Code, as may be applicable to the specie or species of property being taxed.

3.19. "Registration period" means a period of twenty-four calendar months beginning the first day of July and ending twenty-four months later on the thirtieth day of June.

3.20. "Registrant," as used in W. Va. Code §11-12-5 and this rule, means any person who (1) has applied for a business registration certificate under W. Va. Code §11-12-1 et seq., (2) has applied for renewal of a business registration certificate, or (3) has been issued a business registration certificate for the current registration period.

3.21. "Service" means all activities engaged in for other persons for a fee, retainer, commission, or other monetary charge, which involve predominantly the performance of a service as distinguished from selling property.

3.22. "Tax," "taxes," "taxable," and "taxation," as used in this rule with respect to property taxes, means all levies on personal property made by any of the taxing units named in W. Va. Code §11-8-4. Those tax units are (1) the State, (2) county commissions, (3) county boards of education, and (4) municipalities.

3.23. "Tax Commissioner" or "Commissioner" means the Tax Commissioner of the State of West Virginia, or his or her designee.

3.24. "Taxpayer," as used in this rule with respect to property taxes, means any person required to file a property return or report for ad valorem property tax purposes with the county assessor or the Board of Public Works, or any person liable for the payment of any ad valorem property tax collected by the county sheriff or the State Auditor under the laws of this State.

3.25. "The Code" means the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended.

3.26. "This State" means the State of West Virginia.

3.27. "While owned by the producer of a product of agriculture" means while title is in the producer of a product of agriculture as defined in subsection 3.16 of this section.