Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A. General
Description.
1. The Donation to Qualified
Foster Care Charitable Organization credit provides a nonrefundable income tax
credit for donations made on or after January 1, 2022 to the QFCCO. To qualify
for the credit, the donation must be used by the QFCCO to provide services to
qualified individuals.
2. QFCCOs
are certified by the Department to receive contributions eligible for the tax
credit. This certification only pertains to the Donation to Qualifying Foster
Care Charitable Organization Credit. This program does not apply to general
licensing, operations, or the deductibility of donations to charitable
organizations.
3. The credit shall
be earned in the year in which the donation was made and shall be equal to the
lesser of $50,000 or the actual amount of donations used by the QFCCO to fund
qualified services for qualified individuals.
4. The credit shall be allowed against the
income tax for the taxable period in which the credit was earned. If the tax
credit allowed pursuant to
R.S.
47:6042 exceeds the amount of such taxes due,
any unused credit may be carried forward as a credit against subsequent tax
liability for a period not to exceed five years.
B. Definitions
Affiliated-any entity possessing either
a:
a. significant common purpose and
substantial common membership; or
b. direct or indirect substantial common
direction or control.
Department-the Department of Revenue.
QFCCO-qualifying foster care charitable
organization.
Qualified Individual-a child in a foster
care placement program established by the Department of Children and Family
Services.
Qualified Services-cash assistance, medical
care, child care, food, clothing, shelter, job placement, and job-training
services or any other assistance reasonably necessary to meet immediate basic
needs that are provided to a qualified individual and used in Louisiana.
Qualifying Foster Care Charitable
Organization-an organization that meets all of the following
criteria:
a. is exempt from federal
income tax pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code;
b. provides services to at
least 25 qualified individuals each operating year.
c. spends at least 75 percent of its total
budget on providing services to qualified individuals or spends at least 75
percent of its funds budgeted for Louisiana on providing services to qualified
individuals and the organization certifies to the department that 100 percent
of the donations it receives from Louisiana residents will be spent on
providing services to qualified individuals.
d. is approved by the department after
applying as provided in Subsection G of this Section.
Related-the donor's spouse, the children of
the donor, the spouses of the donor's children, the donor's brothers or sisters
and their spouses, the donor's parents, and the parents of the donor's
spouse.
Secretary-secretary of the Department of
Revenue, or their designee.
Taxpayer-a person who is required to file a
Louisiana income tax return.
C. Qualified Services
1. The qualified service must be provided by
the QFCCO directly to the qualified individual. Qualified services include the
following:
a. Cash Assistance
i. Cash assistance, including cash in the
form of gift cards, must be provided directly for the qualified individual for
the purpose of assisting the qualified individual in meeting ongoing basic
needs.
ii. Cash payments or
scholarships to schools, camps, activities, or team sports do not qualify as
cash assistance.
b.
Medical Care
i. Medical care must be provided
by the QFCCO directly, or indirectly, by providing access to medical care by
means of paying for the medical care, providing round trip transportation to
the medical care provider, or connecting the qualified individual to the
medical care.
ii. Medical care must
be provided by medical professionals including, but not limited to, doctors,
nurses, physician's assistants, optometrists, ophthalmologists, dentists,
chiropractors, phycologist, psychiatrists, and licensed therapists.
c. Child Care
i. Child care means the compensated service
that is provided to a child who is unaccompanied by a guardian during a portion
of a twenty-four hour period.
ii.
Child care must be regular and predictable to be considered a basic need
service.
d. Food
i. Food includes food products for home meal
preparation as well as the provision of prepared meal(s).
e. Clothing
i. Qualified clothing includes, but is not
limited to infant attire, shirts, pants, skirts, school uniforms, socks,
undergarments, shoes, footwear, coats, and interview attire.
ii. Clothing does not qualify as a basic need
if it consists of a single item of clothing per qualified individual for
attendance or participation in an event.
iii. Sports team uniforms do not qualify as
clothing.
f. Shelter
i. Shelter is the provision of permanent or
temporary housing for a qualified individual.
ii. Shelter includes furnishings of a home,
rental or mortgage assistance, payment for home maintenance services or
supplies and utility expenses.
g. Job Training
i. Job training must be for a specific job or
industry, not simply general education to obtain a GED or prepare for
college.
ii. Round trip
transportation to the job training is considered a basic need
service.
D. Claiming the Tax Credit
1. Taxpayers claiming the Donations to
Qualifying Foster Care Organization credit must attach Form R-68009,
Receipt for Donation to Qualifying Foster Care Charitable Organization
Credit to their return. The receipt shall consist of a QFCCO portion
and a donor portion and must be issued by the QFCCO to the donor.
2. The credit must be claimed for the taxable
year in which the donation was made.
E. Tax Credit Cap
1. For each calendar year, the department
shall not approve credits in excess of $500,000. Taxpayers shall be allowed to
claim the credit on a first-come, first serve basis as determined by the
received date of the taxpayer's income tax return with all required documents.
A taxpayer claiming the donations to qualifying foster care organization credit
must attach Form R-68009 to their return and provide any additional information
requested by the department. A shareholder of an S corporation or other
pass-through entity must also attach a copy of the Schedule K-1 to substantiate
the credit.
2. All returns received
on the same business day shall be treated as received at the same time, and if
the aggregate amount of requests received on the same business day exceeds the
total amount of the available credits:
a. tax
credits shall be approved on a pro rata basis; and
b. the excess shall be treated as having been
applied for on the first day of the subsequent year.
F. Other Tax Benefits Disallowed
1. A taxpayer shall not receive any other
state tax credit, exemption, exclusion, deduction, rebate, or any other state
tax benefit for a donation for which the taxpayer has received a tax credit
pursuant to
R.S.
47:6042.
2. The credit may be used in addition to any
federal tax credits earned for the same donation.
G. Application for Certification as a
Qualifying Foster Care Charitable Organization.
1. An organization that seeks to become a
QFCCO may apply for certification at any time during the year and must submit
the following to the Department:
a. Completed
Form R-68010, Application for Certification as a Qualifying Foster Care
Charitable Organization.
b. A copy
of the Internal Revenue Service ruling establishing the organization is exempt
from federal income tax pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code.
c. A copy of the
organization's operating budget for the prior operating year and a schedule
detailing the amount of the budget spent on providing qualified services to
qualified individuals.
d. A copy of
Federal Form 990 and 990-T and all attachments filed by the organization for
the last tax year filed.
e. A copy
of the financial statements and detailed schedule of expenses for the QFCCO
from the prior year.
f. A schedule
detailing how the organization calculated the percentage of its budget spent on
providing services to qualified individuals.
g. A statement that the organization intends
to continue spending at least seventy-five percent of its total budget on
providing services to qualified individuals or intends to continue spending at
least seventy-five percent of its funds budgeted for Louisiana on providing
services to qualified individuals and that one hundred percent of the donations
it receives from Louisiana residents will be spent on providing services to
qualified individuals.
2. Within two months of receipt of an
Application for Certification as a Qualifying Foster Care Charitable
Organization, the department shall notify the applicant of their
status by way of approval notated on the application to the mailing address
designated on the application. Certification is valid beginning January 1 of
the year that an organization is approved.
3. If the application is denied, the
department will inform the applicant of its grounds for denial and allow 15
business days from date on the status letter for the applicant to correct any
defects. Ground for denials include, but are not limited to:
a. failure of the applicant to submit any
information required by the application;
b. failure of the applicant to submit any
additional information requested by the Department.
H. QFCCO Reporting
1. A QFCCO must file a report, prepared by an
independent certified public accountant not related to a donor or affiliated
with the QFCCO, with the department no later than January 31 of each year to
the below address:
Louisiana Department of Revenue
P.O. Box 44098
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
2. This annual report shall contain the
following information:
a. a certification that
the QFCCO continues to meet the requirements set forth by
R.S.
47:6042;
b. a certification that the QFCCO spent 100
percent of the donations received from Louisiana residents on providing
qualified services to qualified individuals;
c. a listing of all donations made that
includes:
i. the name, social security number,
or Louisiana Revenue Account Number, and federal taxpayer identification
numbers of each taxpayer who donated to the QFCCO during the prior calendar
year;
ii. the amount of each
donation received during the prior calendar year;
iii. the amount of each donation utilized
during the prior calendar year to provide qualified services to qualified
individuals and the services provided;
d. notification to the department of changes
that may affect certification eligibility.
I. Forms
a.
Form R-68009, Receipt for Donation to Qualifying Foster Care Charitable
Organization Credit, shall require information including, but not limited to:
the taxpayer's name, mailing address, Louisiana revenue account number or last
four digits of the taxpayer's Social Security number, the date the donation was
made, the name of the QFCCO and amount of the donation used by the QFCCO to
provide services to qualified individuals.
b. Form R-68010, Application for
Certification as a Qualifying Foster Care Charitable Organization, shall
require information including, but not limited to: the QFCCOs name, address,
Louisiana revenue account number (if applicable), federal employer
identification number, contact individual's e-mail address and telephone
number, and certification that the QFCCO meets certain criteria under
R.S.
47:6042(F)(4).
AUTHORITY
NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with
R.S.
47:1511 and
6042.