We anticipated it was going to be a busy day for the folks at the Louisiana Legislature on Monday. And they certainly didn’t disappoint!
Tornadoes, thunderstorms, floods, and power outages couldn’t stop the Louisiana House Ways & Means Committee from meeting late into the night yesterday to discuss – and pass through – many tax bills, all in an attempt to address the current Louisiana budget shortfall. It seems, based on what has been passed out of committee, that the legislature is currently keeping their options open. Bills were flying out of committee left and right. As Camille Conaway at LABI noted, blink and you could miss a tax increase!
The following bills were some of those that passed out of Ways & Means yesterday:
- HB 383 – removes carryback of net operating loss (NOL) deductions and refunds; amended by Ways & Means to make this change apply to any tax return filed on or after July 1, 2015 regardless of the tax year to which it applies.
- HB 218 – removes three year carryback and adds an additional five year carryforward for NOL deductions; amended by Ways & Means to make this change apply to any tax return filed on or after July 1, 2015.
- HB 426 – allows for one year carryback and seven year carryforward for NOL deductions; amended by Ways & Means to make this change apply to any tax return filed on or after July 1, 2015.
- HCR 7 – suspends NOL deduction for 18 months.
- HB 775 – creates a combined reporting regime (reported favorable). The bill’s author would like to convert this to a study resolution, but that was apparently not the will of the committee at this stage.
- HB 506 – creates a pro forma combined reporting study. The bill, which was added to the agenda yesterday, was amended to make clear this will be a two year study with a report back to the legislature after 2017.
- HB 531 and HB 628 – create an add-back statute.
- HB 119 – hikes the cigarette tax 32 cents per pack (as amended), to match the current overall tax rate in Mississippi of 68 cents per pack.
HB 366 – which would implement part of the Governor’s budget plan and convert refundable tax credits to nonrefundable credits – wasn’t considered by Ways & Means yesterday; rather, discussion of this bill was postponed to a later date.
In addition, yesterday, the House passed HCR 70, which suspends all credits, exclusions, exemptions, and deductions allowed against Louisiana’s corporation income tax and corporation franchise tax until 60 days after final adjournment of the 2016 regular session of the legislature. HCR 70 was introduced last week and was not considered by committee; rather, it was sent directly from the House to the Senate yesterday following its passage.
The House also sent HCR 71 to the House Ways & Means Committee. HCR 71 suspends all credits, exclusions, exemptions, and deductions allowed against Louisiana’s individual income tax until 60 days after final adjournment of the 2016 regular session of the legislature.
And if that isn’t enough, the Ways and Means Committee began meeting again today starting at 9:00 AM. On today’s agenda are the following bills:
- HB 276 – Limits the amount of motion picture investor tax credit applications certified by the office and paid by the state each year
- HB 355 – Provides for the collection of sales and use taxes due on sales made in Louisiana by a remote dealer
- HB 536 – Provides for the definition of a “dealer” for purposes of collection of sales and use taxes due on sales made in Louisiana by a remote dealer
- HB 555 – Provides relative to the collection of state sales and use taxes due on sales made in Louisiana by a remote dealer
- HB704 – Establishes an annual cap on the amount of motion picture investor tax credits that can be certified annually
- HB829 – Provides changes to the motion picture investor tax credit (including new definitions and a cap on the maximum amount of credits which may be certified annually)
The Jones Walker SALT Team will continue to update you on the status and progress of these bills as they continue to move along through the 2016 Louisiana legislative session.
Also, for even quicker updates on the status of this pending legislation, you can follow the Jones Walker SALT Team on Twitter at: @JonesWalkerSALT
Stay tuned!
