CHARLESTON — The 2026 legislative session is less than 60 days away, but Gov. Patrick Morrisey is considering calling lawmakers into a special session as soon as December to accelerate cuts to personal income tax rates, though some lawmakers raised concerns about moving too quickly.

According to several sources, Morrisey wants to present lawmakers a tax reform package that could include a 3.88% flat personal income tax rate, which could return as much as $277 million to taxpayers if approved.

To help pay for the proposed tax cut, Morrisey’s proposal would do away with the 100% income tax credit rebate for ad valorem property taxes paid on motor vehicles put in place in 2023 by House Bill 2526, the tax reform package negotiated between the Legislature and former governor Jim Justice. Eliminating the rebate could provide the state between $150 million and $200 million.

State agencies and departments were also asked to submit budget proposals for the fiscal year 2027 general revenue budget – that will be presented to lawmakers at the start of the 2026 regular legislative session beginning Wednesday, Jan. 14 – contemplating at least a 2% reduction from current fiscal year spending.

West Virginia has a graduated personal income tax for individuals and married couples broken into five brackets, with those earning less than $10,000 paying 2.22%, those earning more than $10,000 paying 2.96%, those earning more than $25,000 paying 3.33%, those earning more than $40,000 paying 4.44%, and those earning more than $60,000 paying 4.82%.

When asked Tuesday during a press conference at the State Capitol Building about the possibility of a tax reform special session, Morrisey did not confirm any specific details. But he did confirm that discussions were being had with legislative leadership.

“We are always looking at ways to lower taxes, and I can tell you that that’s what we’re going to be doing, whether it’s now or sometime early next year, I will say that we’re going to keep pushing to do that,” Morrisey said.

“I take seriously that when you bring people together, whether it’s a special session or during the normal legislative session, it’s good to have your I’s dotted and your T’s crossed,” Morrisey continued. “We’re having good conversations with people and I’m very hopeful that we can provide some tax relief to our citizens.”

 Through HB 2526, West Virginia cut its personal income tax rates by a combined 21.25% that went into effect retroactive to tax year 2023. Justice and the Legislature passed an additional 2% personal income tax cut in a 2024 special session which into effect Jan. 1, 2025. And a formula within HB 2526 that triggers additional income tax rate cuts put in place a 4% cut that also went into effect at the beginning of 2025.

Personal income tax collections at the end of fiscal year 2025 on June 30 were $2.126 billion, representing nearly 39% of the total $5.519 billion in total tax collections for the general revenue budget in the previous fiscal year. Surplus personal income tax collections accounted for 40% of the $254.8 million surplus at the end of the fiscal year.

Morrisey is on the record supporting the elimination of the personal income tax, though he was critical of the most recent 2% personal income tax cut, saying that the previous administration had failed to cut spending to pay for the cut. 

“It’s been my goal for a long time to have tax cuts, and I think you know that, going back to the State of the State and going back to the campaign. But I’ve always said you have to pay for them,” Morrisey said. “We made some real strides last year during the legislative session. The kind of structural changes in the spending discipline that we showed, I think has helped tremendously.”

When Morrisey first took office in January, revenue officials projected a nearly $400 million gap in fiscal year 2026 spending versus revenues in an early six-year budget forecast. The Legislature passed – and Morrisey signed – a $5.323 billion balanced general revenue budget for fiscal year 2026, the current fiscal year which began on July 1 and continues through the end of June 2026.

Morrisey said he is being mindful of financial conditions. The effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on federal funding to the state remain hard to predict, and the recent 43-day federal government shutdown could have negative economic impacts. 

“Obviously, we have to always be cautious,” Morrisey said. “We’re going to keep watching the numbers to see what the impact of the shutdown had on the economy and what may occur in the future… A lot of West Virginians are still hurting. They’re hurting from some of the inflation and the high electricity bills. And I’d like to give…people a tax break if I can.”

According to the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index, West Virginia ranked 27th for individual income taxes. The only one of West Virginia’s surrounding states with a better ranking was Kentucky at 25th.

“I do not want to have other states gain a competitive advantage over us, because West Virginia needs to lead the region in terms of having the lowest income taxes around,” Morrisey said.