WHEELING — A Wheeling accountant says he has discovered that the names on vehicle property tax tickets in West Virginia and the form needed to receive a rebate on that tax must match or the state will reject the claim — even if the person owns the car and clearly paid the tax on time.

Legislation passed last year in West Virginia allows state residents to claim a rebate on the vehicle property tax they paid to the county, and the state sends the taxpayer an MV-1 form with that amount listed on it. The taxpayer enters an identification number on the form on their state tax return to receive that money.

But for some, a rebate is not happening that easily, according to accountant Jeff Yourkovich.

“West Virginia residents were under the impression that on the car they own, drive and they pay taxes on they would be able to get a refundable credit when they filed their 2024 tax returns,” Yourkovich said. “But the State Tax Department Division is rejecting credit claims when the name on the personal property tax ticket — or the MV1 claim form — does not match the name on the tax return filed.”

It’s a “naming issue,” he continued. “So we’re seeing an issue when a person gets married and changes their legal name to their married surname, they will get denied.” 

There are also instances where, in estate planning, the vehicle has been placed in a trust, and the claim is denied when the person paying the taxes has a different name on their return than is on the trust, he continued.

“What really raises eyebrows is when we are seeing the name on the tax ticket is a deceased spouse,” Yourkovich said. “The man’s name is first, or maybe it was in the man’s name — he dies, it is still in his name. He has been deceased for over a year, and the surviving spouse is still filing a tax return. 

“She owns the car, drives the car and it’s parked in her parking lot. The claim form is mailed to her house, but because it has the name of her deceased husband on there, they are denying those credits.”

The West Virginia Tax Division denied it was outright rejecting claims when a person’s name on the MV-1 form doesn’t match the name on the tax ticket.

“The Tax Division does not automatically reject tax credits if the taxpayer’s name doesn’t match the name of the vehicle’s registered owner,” explained Alicia E. Clark, executive assistant for the State Tax Division. “However, if upon review we are unable to establish a connection between the taxpayer filing an income tax return and the name of the taxpayer eligible to claim the credit, we will initially deny the credit and request more information.

“Usually it is just a matter of getting documentation together to help us establish the connection.”

Ohio County Assessor Tiffany Hoffman said Friday she couldn’t speak to the matter, and Marshall County Assessor Eric Buzzard wasn’t available and couldn’t be reached for comment. Employees at the Brooke County Assessor’s Office have not been hearing about problems with MV-1 forms and corresponding names on tax tickets.

Yourkovich said he doesn’t think it was the intent of West Virginia lawmakers when establishing the legislation to reject the claims of anyone who rightfully paid their taxes. He believes the tax office is just being extra careful in discouraging fraud within the new policy.

“They’re denying tickets if they don’t match, and they are telling people, ‘Go talk to your county assessor,'” Yourkovich added. “But when this law was passed, the county assessor didn’t know about this, and there was no issue before. It is really a new law.

“It shouldn’t be denied, but it is. They’re just telling us it’s unfortunate, and sometimes these claims are for hundreds or thousands of dollars in credits.”

Yourkovich has an idea he thinks could simplify the vehicle property tax system.

“To prevent the need to file a tax return and wait for a refund and the need for the Tax Division to issue millions of MV-1 credit claim forms, why doesn’t the county assessor immediately issue a WV logoed prepaid debit card for the amount of personal property taxes at the time of payment?” he asked. “We can immediately realize the benefits that our Legislators intended without the additional hassles and the money can be spent in our state at our local businesses. 

“That way we know the person who paid the tax gets the benefit and has the money returned immediately.”

As an accountant, Yourkovich said he sends in about 900 tax returns a year to the state of West Virginia, and he explained having a client’s tax claim rejected can reflect negatively on him.

“It makes us look bad,” he explained. “We’re sending correspondence back to the state, and in some cases it is still being denied. They are telling us ‘we’re trying to prevent fraud,’ and if it doesn’t match they (taxpayers) don’t get it.”