West Virginia Code 11-1A-10 – Valuation of farm property
(a) With respect to farm property, the Tax Commissioner shall appraise such property so as to ascertain its fair and reasonable value for farming purposes regardless of what the value of the property would be if used for some other purpose, and the value shall be arrived at by giving consideration to the fair and reasonable income which the property might be expected to earn in the locality wherein situated, if rented. The fair and reasonable value for farming purposes shall be deemed to be the market value of such property for appraisement purposes.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 11-1A-10
- Commissioner: means the State Tax Commissioner. See West Virginia Code 11-22-1
- Corporation: means a corporation or joint-stock association, organized under the laws of this state, the United States or any other state, territory or foreign country or dependency including, but not limited to, banking institutions. See West Virginia Code 11-22-1
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Farm: shall mean and include land currently being used primarily for farming purposes, whether by the owner thereof or by a tenant, and which has been so used for at least seasonally during the year next preceding the then current tax year, but shall not include lands used primarily in commercial forestry or the growing of timber for commercial purposes. See West Virginia Code 11-1A-3
- Farming purposes: shall mean the utilization of land to produce for sale, consumption or use, any agricultural products, including, but not limited to, livestock, poultry, fruit, vegetables, grains or hays or any of the products derived from any of the foregoing, tobacco, syrups, honey, and any and all horticultural and nursery stock, Christmas trees, all sizes of ornamental trees, sod, seed and any and all similar commodities or products including farm wood lots and the parts of a farm which are lands lying fallow, or in timber or in wastelands. See West Virginia Code 11-1A-3
- Person: means every natural person, association or corporation. See West Virginia Code 11-22-1
- Value: means in the case of any document not a gift, the amount of the full actual consideration for the document, paid or to be paid, including the amount of any lien or liens assumed. See West Virginia Code 11-22-1
(b) A person is not engaged in farming if he is primarily engaged in forestry or growing timber. Additionally, a corporation is not engaged in farming unless its principal activity is the business of farming, and in the event that the controlling stock interest in the corporation is owned by another corporation, the corporation owning the controlling interest must also be primarily engaged in the business of farming.