Relating to creating the “West Virginia Tax Neutrality Act”

2026 Regular Session Introduced by Chris Anders

West Virginia Tax Neutrality Act treats net gains and losses from investment metal bullion and coins as adjustments to federal AGI/taxable income for state taxes, aiming to neutral

To House Finance

#taxation

Purpose and intent

Introduces the "West Virginia Tax Neutrality Act" (added §11-21-98 to the West Virginia Code).

The central aim is to adjust the treatment of capital gains and losses for certain assets (investment metal bullion and investment coins) for state tax purposes.

The act seeks to create tax neutrality by removing capital gains and losses from the taxpayer’s federal adjusted gross income (AGI) or federal taxable income when computing West Virginia state taxes.

Key provisions and changes

Definitions (for the new section):

A “capital gain transaction” includes both short-term and long-term capital gains, as defined by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) §1222.
“Long-term capital gain” and “Short-term capital gain” are as defined in IRC §1222.

Tax treatment of bullion and coins:

Net capital losses from the sale or exchange of investment metal bullion and investment coins (as defined in §11-15-9r(b) and (c)) must be added back to the federal AGI or federal taxable income for West Virginia tax purposes.
Net capital gains from the sale or exchange of investment metal bullion and investment coins must be subtracted from the federal AGI or federal taxable income for West Virginia tax purposes.

Effective date: The act takes effect upon enactment.

Who is affected

Individuals, corporations, and fiduciaries who have:

Net capital gains or net capital losses from the sale or exchange of investment metal bullion and investment coins.

These taxpayers would see a change in how such gains or losses are treated when calculating West Virginia state income tax, by altering the calculation relative to federal AGI/taxable income.

Procedural and timeline aspects

Status: Introduced and referred to the House Finance Committee.

Sponsor: Delegate Chris Anders (primary), with a co-sponsor.

Action history indicates filing and committee referral occurred on February 13, 2026.

No fiscal notes or committee amendments are provided in the text provided; the bill’s effective date is immediate upon enactment.

Potential impact and considerations

Tax neutrality objective: By aligning West Virginia tax treatment with or against federal treatment for these specific assets, the bill aims to avoid distortions created by federal capital gains/losses treatment for bullion and coins.

Administrative considerations: Taxpayers would need to report adjusted figures when computing WV tax, ensuring proper inclusion of net capital gains/losses from these assets in the state return.

Revenue impact: The bill could affect WV General Fund receipts depending on how many taxpayers have gains or losses from bullion/coin transactions and how these interact with federal AGI/taxable income reporting.

If you’d like, I can add a side-by-side comparison with current WV tax treatment for capital gains/losses and a brief note on how this aligns with or diverges from federal treatment.

Bill