Archive for the ‘Louisiana’ Category

Parents can get new school tax break

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

“BATON ROUGE — Parents who racked up bills sending their children to public and private elementary and secondary schools can now write off half of some of the costs.

The Louisiana Department of Revenue next week will host a series of statewide public education forums to explain the new Louisiana School Tuition & Expense Tax Deduction. Teams will be in a number of cities at 6 p.m. on Feb. 9 to present details of the new tax break for filing on this year’s tax forms, which are due May 15.

Whether it’s tuition, fees, uniforms, books or supplies, parents who keep records of those expenses made on or after Jan. 1, 2009, can claim a 50 percent deduction — up to $5,000 per child — as long as the purchases are required by their children’s schools.

 

The deduction is not available to non-residents. Students attending schools in some border cities actually live across state lines.

 

The legislation started off as allowing the deduction for private school tuition but state lawmakers expanded it to also include expenses incurred for attending public schools and home-schooling students.>>>’

For the complete text please visit:  http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20100202/NEWS01/100202011/1060

Posted in Louisiana, Taxes, legislative | No Comments »

Tax cuts for businesses find broad favor

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

“….Similar bills were filed in both the House and Senate, providing a dual track for final passage.

The biggest contention over a Jindal bill Monday was a discussion in the Ways and Means Committee over Greene’s House Bill 7, which would allow parents of students in private and parochial schools to take a tax deduction of 50 percent of tuition up to $5,000 per pupil, offering a tax break of roughly $60 to $300 per student for most nonpublic-school families.

In its original form, the bill also offered an unlimited deduction for home-schooling expenses. …

Rep. Frank Hoffmann, R-West Monroe, said he “was thrilled” by Jindal’s proposals for the session except for the private school tuition deduction. He offered an amendment, which passed 15-3, that would give parents of public school students a tax deduction for the cost of school uniforms, supplies and expenses required for core curricula. The deduction would not apply to extracurricular activities such as band, sports and clubs.

Some members said Hoffmann’s amendment, by giving a nod to public school parents, made the bill more “palatable” to those who might have opposed it.

The committee also amended the bill to limit the deduction allowed for home schooling expenses. Some of the members expressed a concern that the unlimited deduction would invite parents to take their children on educational trips and count the expenses as a tax deduction. The amendment limited the deduction to 50 percent of the actual expenses up to $5,000.

The amended bill passed, 15-3. ”

For the complete article visit:

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1205212941281810.xml&coll=1

Posted in Louisiana, legislative | No Comments »