(a) No person shall willfully refuse to collect or to pay the tax; or shall willfully refuse to make the return required to be made by this article; or shall willfully make any false or fraudulent return or false statement in any return with the intent to defraud any taxing authority; or shall willfully evade the payment of the tax, or any part thereof; nor shall any person willfully aid or abet another in any attempt to evade the payment of the tax, or any part thereof; nor shall any officer, partner or principal of any corporation or association willfully make or willfully permit to be made for such corporation or association any false return, or any false statement in any return authorized by this article, with the intent to evade the payment of this tax.
(b) Whoever willfully violates any provision of this article shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00).
(c) Every prosecution for any offense arising under this article shall be commenced within three years after the offense was committed, notwithstanding any provision of the West Virginia Code to the contrary.
(d) For purposes of this section, the following terms apply:
(1) "Willfully" means the intentional violation of a known legal duty to perform any act, required to be performed by any provision of this article, in respect of which the violation occurs; provided, that the mere failure to perform any act shall not be the willful violation under this article. A willful violation of this article requires that the defendant have had knowledge of or notice of a duty to perform such act, and that the defendant, with knowledge of or notice of such duty, intentionally failed to perform such act.
(2) "Evade" means to willfully and fraudulently commit any act with the intent of depriving the State of payment of any tax which there is a known legal duty to pay.
(3) "Fraud" means any false representation or concealment as to any material fact made by any person with the knowledge that it is not true and correct, with the intention that such representation or concealment be relied upon by the State.
(6-11-85)
CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF BRIDGEPORT