Establishing an income, privilege and premium tax credit for employers that employ members of the Kansas army and air national guard and establishing an income tax credit for employees that are members thereof.
Impact
The proposed bill would allow qualified employers a tax credit amounting to 10% of the compensation paid to eligible employees, with a cap of $15,000 per employee per year. Additionally, for the employees themselves, the bill grants a separate income tax credit of $5,000 for those who meet the qualifications during the tax years specified in the legislation, which is from 2024 to 2035. The non-refundable nature of these credits could impact the overall tax liabilities of both employees and employers, encouraging more businesses to hire veterans.
Summary
House Bill 2544 seeks to establish tax credits for employers who hire members of the Kansas army and air national guard. This legislation is aimed at incentivizing businesses to employ individuals who serve in these military branches, by providing financial relief in the form of tax credits against income, privilege, and premium tax liabilities. The bill defines a qualified employee as one who is a current member in good standing of the Kansas National Guard during the taxable year, and a qualified employer includes various business entities recognized under Kansas law.
Contention
While the bill provides significant benefits to members of the National Guard and incentivizes employment within Kansas, there may be concern regarding the limits on fiscal impacts as these credits are not refundable or carry forward. This could place pressure on employers who may not have the necessary tax liabilities to utilize these credits fully. There may also be discussions in the legislature about the effectiveness of such incentives in truly increasing employment among Guardsmen and whether this approach adequately serves the intention of honoring and supporting military service members.
Enacting the Kansas film and digital media industry production development act, providing a tax credit, sales tax exemption and loans and grants to incentivize film, video and digital media production in Kansas, establishing a program to be administered by the secretary of commerce for the purpose of developing such production in Kansas, requiring the secretary of commerce to issue reports on the economic impact, providing sales tax exemptions for purchases by a certain community theaters and purchases and sales made by the friends of cedar crest association and establishing an income, privilege and premium tax credit for employers that employ members of the Kansas army and air national guard and establishing an income tax credit for employees that are members thereof.
Establishing a refundable income, privilege and premium tax credit for direct payments made by employers to student loans on behalf of a qualified employee.
Establishing the Kansas employee emergency savings account (KEESA) program to allow eligible employers to establish employee savings accounts, providing an income and privilege tax credit for certain eligible employer deposits to such employee savings accounts and providing a subtraction modification for certain employee deposits to such savings accounts.
Establishing the Kansas employee emergency savings account (KEESA) program to allow eligible employers to establish employee savings accounts, providing an income and privilege tax credit for certain eligible employer deposits to such employee savings accounts and providing a subtraction modification for certain employee deposits to such savings accounts.