A. Each domestic business trust and each foreign business trust registered to transact business in the Commonwealth, shall pay into the state treasury on or before October 1 in each year after the calendar year in which it was formed or registered to transact business in the Commonwealth an annual registration fee of $50, provided that the initial annual registration fee to be paid by a domestic business trust created by entity conversion shall be due in the year after the calendar year in which it converted.

The annual registration fee shall be imposed irrespective of any specific license tax or other tax or fee imposed by law upon the business trust for the privilege of carrying on its business in the Commonwealth or upon its franchise, property, or receipts.

B. Each year, the Commission shall ascertain from its records each domestic business trust and each foreign business trust registered to transact business in the Commonwealth as of July 1 and, except as provided in subsection A, shall assess against each such business trust the annual registration fee herein imposed.

C. A statement of the assessment, when made, shall be forwarded by the clerk of the Commission to the Comptroller and to each domestic and foreign business trust.

D. Any domestic business trust that has ceased to exist in the Commonwealth because of the issuance of a certificate of cancellation of existence, certificate of trust surrender, or certificate of entity conversion, or any foreign business trust that has obtained a certificate of cancellation, effective on or before its annual registration fee due date pursuant to subsection A in any year, shall not be required to pay the annual registration fee for that year. Any domestic or foreign business trust that has merged, effective on or before its annual registration fee due date pursuant to subsection A in any year, into a surviving domestic or foreign corporation, limited liability company, business trust, limited partnership, or partnership that files with the Commission an authenticated copy of the instrument of merger on or before such date, shall not be required to pay the annual registration fee for that year. Any foreign business trust that has converted, effective on or before its annual registration fee due date pursuant to subsection A in any year, to a different entity type that files with the Commission an authenticated copy of the instrument of entity conversion on or before such date, shall not be required to pay the annual registration fee for that year. The Commission shall cancel the annual registration fee assessments specified in this subsection that remain unpaid.

E. Registration fee assessments that have been paid shall not be refunded.

F. The fees paid into the state treasury under this section and the fees collected under § 13.1-1204 shall be set aside and paid into the special fund created under § 13.1-775.1, and shall be used only by the Commission as it deems necessary to defray the costs of the Commission and of the office of the clerk of the Commission in supervising, implementing, administering and enforcing the provisions of this chapter. The projected excess of fees collected over the costs of administration and enforcement so incurred shall be paid into the general fund prior to the close of each fiscal year, based on the unexpended balance of the special fund at the end of the prior fiscal year. An adjustment of this transfer amount to reflect actual fees collected shall occur during the first quarter of the succeeding fiscal year.

2002, c. 621; 2007, c. 810; 2013, c. 25.