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Editor, News-Register:
Concerning the proper valuation of tax on mineral rights in West Virginia. While the West Virginia legislature is in session, I wonder if they may be able to suspend the current bill that is now law in order to correct any errors in the math equation.
It is obviously creating a lot of confusion amongst property owners with mineral rights contracts.
The West Virginia state legislature should also look into the possibility of eliminating this tax all together. I personally believe this is a double tax on mineral rights that have already been taxed when they have been removed from beneath the ground and sold to the market.
I do not understand how you can tax something that has yet to be sold for a profit.
If you are receiving a royalty check from the sale of minerals beneath your property you are paying a tax on that. That is an income of course. But to tax something that you have no proof that it is even there is ludicrous. Clearly this is an issue that requires our elected officials to act quickly.
Richard Armstrong
Wheeling