HOUSE BILL REPORT
HB 2957
As Reported by House Committee On:
Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks
Title: An act relating to extending the expiration date for reporting requirements on timber purchases.
Brief Description: Extending the expiration date for reporting requirements on timber purchases.
Sponsors: Representatives Blake, Orcutt, Kessler, Kristiansen and Dunn.
Brief History:
Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks: 1/26/06, 1/27/06 [DP].
Brief Summary of Bill |
|
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES, ECOLOGY & PARKS
Majority Report: Do pass. Signed by 11 members: Representatives B. Sullivan, Chair; Upthegrove, Vice Chair; Buck, Ranking Minority Member; Kretz, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Blake, Chandler, Dickerson, Eickmeyer, Hunt, Kagi and Orcutt.
Staff: Jason Callahan (786-7117).
Background:
Every harvester of timber is required to pay an excise tax of 5 percent of the stumpage value
of any trees that he or she harvests. The excise tax applies to timber harvested from both
private and public lands.
Every person who purchases more than 200,000 board feet of private timber in a voluntary
sale is required to report certain information to the Department of Revenue (Department).
Information that is required to be reported includes the sale date, the total sale price, total
acreage involved in the sale, net volume of timber purchased, road construction that was
required, data from the timber cruise, and any timber thinning information. The Department
may assess a penalty of $250 for failure to report the required information.
Information gathered in the report is used by the Department to establish tables of stumpage
values. A stumpage table is required for each species of tree that is commercially harvested
in Washington. The values on the tables indicate the amount that each species would sell for
at a voluntary sale made in the ordinary course of business. The stumpage value tables are
used to calculate the excise tax due from each timber harvester.
The requirement to report sales information to the Department expires on July 1, 2007.
Summary of Bill:
The expiration date of the requirement that data about timber purchases be reported to the
Department is extended from July 1, 2007, to July 1, 2010.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Not requested.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.
Testimony For: It is important to extend the sunset on this reporting requirement.
Testimony Against: None.
Persons Testifying: Representative Blake, prime sponsor.