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2008 SESSION
086908652Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 58.1-339.10 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 58.1-339.10. Riparian forest buffer protection for waterways tax credit.
A. For all taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2000, any individual who owns land abutting a waterway on which timber is harvested, and who forbears harvesting timber on certain portions of the land near the waterway, shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed by § 58.1-320 as set forth in this section. For purposes of this section, "waterway" means any perennial or intermittent stream of water depicted on the then most current United States Geological Survey topographical map. For purposes of this section and for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2008, "individual" means an individual person and grantor's trusts.
B. The State Forester shall develop guidelines setting forth
the general requirements of qualifying for the credit, including the land for
which credit is eligible. To qualify for the credit, the individual must comply
with an individualized Forest Stewardship Plan to be certified by the State
Forester. In no event shall the distance from such waterway to the far end of
the timber buffer, on which the tax credit is based, be less than thirty-five
feet or more than three hundred feet. The minimum duration for the buffer shall
be fifteen years. The State Forester shall check each certified buffer annually
to verify its continued compliance with the taxpayer's individual's Forest Stewardship Plan. If the State Forester
discovers that the timber in that portion of the land retained as a buffer has
been harvested prior to the end of the required term, written notification of
such violation shall be delivered to the taxpayer individual by the State Forester.
C. The tax credit shall be an amount equal to twenty-five
percent of the value of timber in that portion of the land retained as a
buffer. The amount of such credit shall not exceed $17,500 or the total amount
of the tax imposed by this chapter, whichever is less, in the year that the
timber outside the buffer was harvested. If the amount of the credit exceeds
the taxpayer's individual's
liability for such taxable year, the excess may be carried over for credit
against income taxes in the next five taxable years until the total amount of
the tax credit has been taken. For purposes of this section, the amount of any
credit attributable to qualified buffer protection by a partnership or electing
small business corporation (S Corporation) shall be allocated to the individual
partners or shareholders in proportion to their ownership or interest in the
partnership or S Corporation. The land which is the subject of a tax credit
under this section cannot again be the subject of a tax credit under this
section for at least fifteen years. The State Forester shall check each
certified buffer annually to verify its continued compliance with the taxpayer's individual's Forest Stewardship Plan. If the State Forester
discovers that the timber in that portion of the land retained as a buffer has
been harvested prior to the end of the required term, written notification of
such noncompliance shall be delivered to the taxpayer individual by the State Forester.
D. To claim the credit authorized under this section, the taxpayer individual shall apply to the State
Forester, who shall determine the amount of credit, using the assessed value of
the timber in that portion of land retained as a buffer, and issue a
certificate thereof to the taxpayer individual.
The taxpayer individual shall attach the certificate to the Virginia tax return
on which the credit is claimed. In the event the timber in that portion of land
retained as a buffer is harvested by the taxpayer individual or any other person prior to the end of the term
originally established in the taxpayer's individual's individualized Forest Stewardship
Plan, the taxpayer individual
shall repay the tax credit claimed. Within sixty days after receiving written
notification from the State Forester that the taxpayer's individual's
plan no longer qualifies for the credit, repayment shall be made
to the Department of Taxation. If repayment is not made within the sixty-day
period, the State Forester shall notify the locality's Commonwealth Attorney
for assistance in collecting the funds from the taxpayer individual.