HB 1164 Income tax, corporate; public/private education investment tax credit

About HB-1164

Income tax; Public/Private Education Investment tax credit. Creates income tax credits for business entities and individual taxpayers who make contributions to eligible public school foundations and eligible scholarship foundations. For individual taxpayers, the amount of the annual credit is 100 percent of the contribution but may not exceed $800 for individual taxpayers and $1,200 for married taxpayers filing jointly. The amount of the annual credit for business entities is 90 percent of the contribution with no limit on the dollar amount. The public school foundations are required to disburse annually 90 percent of the contributions for capital improvement projects approved by the local school board and for extracurricular activities. The scholarship foundations are required to disburse 90 percent of the contributions for qualified educational expenses through scholarships. There is a $20 million cap on total tax credits awarded annually, with $10 million allocated for contributions made to public school foundations and $10 million allocated for contributions made to scholarship foundations. The credit would be effective for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2010. No tax credit shall be approved until teacher salaries meet the national average and until the Commonwealth attains the standards of quality for public education.