A. Every domestic business trust, and every 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 for a domestic business trust that became a domestic business trust by conversion from a domestic stock corporation or limited liability company, or by domestication from a foreign business trust that was registered to transact business in the Commonwealth at the time of the domestication, the initial annual registration fee to be paid by the domestic business trust shall be due in the year after the calendar year in which the conversion became effective when the annual registration fee of the domestic stock corporation or limited liability company or foreign business trust was paid for the calendar year in which the conversion or domestication became effective. 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. A domestic or foreign business trust shall not be required to pay the annual registration fee assessed against it pursuant to subsection B in any year if (i) the Commission issues or files any of the following types of certificate or instrument and (ii) the certificate or instrument is effective on or before the annual registration fee due date:
1. A certificate of cancellation of existence or a certificate of trust surrender for a domestic business trust;
2. A certificate of cancellation for a foreign business trust;
3. A certificate of merger or an authenticated copy of an instrument of merger for a domestic or foreign business trust that has merged into a surviving domestic business trust or other business entity or into a surviving foreign business trust or other business entity; or
4. An authenticated copy of an instrument of entity conversion for a foreign business trust that has converted to a different entity type. The Commission shall cancel the annual registration fee assessments specified in this subsection that remain unpaid.
E. Annual 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.