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Committee adopts fix to valuation formula and advances property transfer tax overhaul

West Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee · March 9, 2026

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Summary

Lawmakers amended a committee substitute for House Bill 4625 to calculate transfer-tax exemptions using assessed value divided by 0.6 (rather than multiplied by 1.66) and reported the strike-and-insert to the full Senate; the measure raises the personal exemption threshold and adds family and mineral-interest exemptions.

The Senate Judiciary Committee adopted an amendment to House Bill 4625 that changes how real property value is calculated for the title (transfer) tax exemption and then voted to report the bill to the full Senate.

Counsel told the committee the strike-and-insert replaces a section in the tax code and broadly seeks to prevent filers from understating market value for transfers. The substitution raised the exemption threshold on transfers from $100 to $1,000 and initially required that the exemption threshold be calculated by multiplying assessed value by 1.66, intended to approximate market value.

Senator (Brooke) raised a mathematical concern, noting that multiplying the assessed value by 1.66 would not recover market value in many counties; he asked whether the statute should instead divide assessed value by 0.6 to approximate market value. “If you go to 1a3, the assessed value is $60,000 … if we were to multiply the assessed value by 1.66, we only come up with $99,600,” the senator said; counsel and other members agreed dividing by 0.6 would restore market-value approximation. The committee adopted the senator’s amendment to change the language from "multiplied by 1.66" to "divided by 0.6." Counsel said the change prevents gaming the exemption by declaring a sale price well below market.

The strike-and-insert also added three exemptions (transfers without consideration between natural persons and wholly owned LLCs, transfers among specified family relationships, and transfers involving mineral interests) and clarified certain LLC-member definitions. After discussion and the adopted numerical fix, the committee voted to report HB 4625 as amended; the record shows a voice vote with the ayes prevailing.

What’s next: HB 4625 will be placed on the Senate calendar; fiscal impacts were discussed as intended to close loopholes but counsel said there is a fiscal note with no impact to the state in the committee substitute.