The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.West Virginia Bill 4741 Requires Oil and Gas Lessees to Withhold Royalty Taxes
Last action · January 22, 2026: To House Energy and Public WorksSponsor: Chuck Sheedy
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
What This Bill Proposed
House Bill 4741 requires operators and s of West Virginia real estate who make natural resources royalty payments to withhold state personal income tax from those payments and remit the funds to the Tax Commissioner. The measure applies to all taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026.
- State tax withholding laws in West Virginia govern personal income tax obligations across various income categories, with employer wage withholding established under chapter 11 of the state code. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Lessees of West Virginia real estate
Lessees must calculate, deduct, withhold, and remit state personal income tax from natural resources royalty payments, file annual reconciliations, and comply with electronic filing mandates.
Lessors of natural resource properties
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is required to withhold the tax?
What happens if taxes are withheld in excess of what the lessor owes?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
4 actions- Jan 22, 2026HouseCommitteeTo House Energy and Public Works
- Jan 22, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced in House
- Jan 22, 2026HouseCommitteeTo Energy and Public Works then Finance
- Jan 22, 2026HouseIntroducedFiled for introduction
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Introduction of Mandatory Royalty Withholding
The bill shifts the responsibility of paying personal income tax on natural resource royalties directly to lessees through a mandatory withholding framework modeled on employer withholding rules.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.wvlegislature.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy50Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz35Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools