Cathy Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 Hi Lynn, Please give me your opinion on my take of the Education Credit that the instructions says: "Act 375 of the 2017 Regular Legislative Session sunsets the credit. The credit is no longer available to be claimed on the 2017 tax return and thus, has been removed. (RS 47:297 (D)". It appears that the credit is still intact for the non-public students with the same $5,000 limit for those taxpayers. ACT No. 375 (appears to me) to have ended the credit for the home schooled and public students regarding the $18 credit (that used to be $25) as well, and those same students will no longer have 50% of uniforms, supplies, etc.. applied as a credit. RS 47:297.10 appears to leave in place the $5,000 deduction for the non-public students and the students who attend a public school that is run by a college (such as U-High run by LSU in Baton Rouge) whereby the student has to pay tuition, etc such that a non-public school does. Also Act No. 375 appears to also leave the non-public credit in place with the language in the ACT 375 in 297 (D)(1) which states in the last sentence in that section: "unless the deduction for the payment of tuition and fees for nonpublic elementary and secondary school tuition is taken for the child as provided for in RS 47:297.10. The form for the credits for both public and non-public schools is still included in the return, and both are functional with figures. When the bill for the credits was first introduced, it was done so by a Senator from our area. He left out the non-public students but I called his office and pretended like they just made an error. They then included the non-public students. He has since left the legislature so I don't know whose bright idea it was to make this change. Hate to bother you....just wait until you have time....August, or September would be fine.... I can understand why the instructions for the Education Credit aren't complete as it looks like the author is possibly someone who hates injustice as much as I do. The instructions are in the 4th paragraph on page 1, under "What's New for Louisiana 2017 Individual Income Tax". Take care, Cathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn EA USTCP in Louisiana Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 Cathy, I will re-read this in the next few days. I will also send an inquiry to Barbara reeves, LDR Tax Practitioner Liaison, to see if she has any other comments on this issue,. Remember for 2016 those with children had a choice, either the $25 (then $18) credit, OR the school tuition deduction. So the legislature appears to have left in place the tuition deduction and removed the minuscule credit. I went to the LDR Practitioner meeting in BR Alastair November -'I will also check those materials for comments on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathy Posted February 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2018 Thanks, Lynn! I appreciate your help! The $25 ($18) credit had a section number for just that particular credit...and of course I'm away from my computer but will pass it on to you in the morning. Rather than the Act sunsetting the credit as it did with the uniforms, fees, etc..for public schools, the language of the act was that this credit was repealed. Thanks again! Cathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn EA USTCP in Louisiana Posted February 23, 2018 Report Share Posted February 23, 2018 Cathy, remember in prior years LDR (on behalf of the state legislature) offered both an education CREDIT and a school/tuition DEDUCTION. Up until (I think) the 2016 tax year taxpayers could take BOTH, if they had qualifying children and expenses. For 2016 the legislature changed the rules so that taxpayers could take the measly $18 (reduced from the prior $25) credit OR the (up to) $5,000 school/tuition deduction. New for 2017 the legislature has removed the measly $18 credit and left taxpayers only the option of the (up to) $5,000 school/tuition deduction. Does this help? Lynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathy Posted February 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2018 Hi Lynn, I do agree that the $18 credit is gone as Act No. 375 of the 2017 Regular Session, in part, states the following: (In reference to R.S. 47:197(D)(2)) "Section 2. R.S. 47:297(D)(2) as amended by Section 5 of Act No. 125 of the 2015 Regular Session of the Legislature is hereby repealed." There is more to Act No. 375 that just the repeal of the $18 credit. They "sunset" the tax credit of the tuition, cost of supplies, etc...to "before January 1, 2017" which eliminates the credit for all intents and purposes for the 2017 tax year....HOWEVER, that same section of R.S. 47:297(D)(1) goes on to state: "unless the deduction for the payment of tuition and fees for nonpublic elementary and secondary school tuition is taken for the child as provided for in R.S. 47:297.10. If you take a look at 47:297.10 you'll see that the nonpublic and the public schools that are run by a public college or university still have the tuition credit available. Cathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn EA USTCP in Louisiana Posted February 23, 2018 Report Share Posted February 23, 2018 Cathy, I guess I'm not understanding your dilemma. Act 375 d/c'd the $18 credit for 2017, stated that for 2016 it was either the $18 credit OR the tuition deduction. Repeat of 47:297(D)(2) does away with the $18 credit altogether. What am I missing in your quandary? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathy Posted February 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2018 Thanks Lynn, Unfortunately, I was born in December and as a result, I'm a stickler for details and had to take a look at the new law itself (Act No. 375). I also looked at the history of the Act from when the bill was filed until it became Act 375. It appears that it started off just to repeal the $25-$18 credit, but upon amendments, etc...it ended up doing more than that. I don't know if it's a case of some single Senator or Rep. or several of them that wanted more placed into the bill, but however, it did happen. Last minute inserts in bills is a common way for one or more to get what they want without having to discuss it, etc.. It's happened before and will continue to happen...just the way it works in Louisiana anyway. I'm going to give the legal department what I found and forget about it so I can get some work done. If it needs to be "fixed", they can do it in the regular session this year. If not...so be it. I had enough of dealing with every single division of the DOR the year I discovered the financial problem that was going to plague Louisiana concerning the generation of hefty refunds to those who bought vehicles that were labeled "Flex Fuel" for those vehicles that could use regular unleaded gasoline or unleaded gasoline with 10% ethanol. Thanks for your help, Cathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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