§297.13. Tax deduction; employment of certain qualified disabled individuals; requirements; limitations

A.(1) There shall be allowed a deduction from income taxes imposed by this Chapter for each taxpayer who provides continuous employment to a qualified disabled individual within Louisiana. A taxpayer shall be eligible to claim the deduction provided for in this Section after employing a qualified individual with a disability for four continuous months for no less than an average of twenty hours a week at a rate comparable to and in the same setting as other employees of the taxpayer performing the same or similar task.

(2) For purposes of this Section, the term "qualified individual with a disability" shall mean the following:

(a) A person with a severe, chronic disability that is attributable to an intellectual or physical impairment or combination of intellectual and physical impairments that is manifested before the person reaches the age of twenty-two and is likely to continue indefinitely which results in substantial functional limitations in three or more major areas of life activity, including but not limited to self-care, receptive and expressive language, learning, mobility, self-direction, capacity for independent living, and economic self-sufficiency. A qualified individual with a disability, as defined in this Subparagraph, shall include an individual who has been determined to be eligible for and is receiving services through the office for citizens with developmental disabilities. A qualified individual with a disability shall also include an individual who receives facility-based vocational or pre-vocational services through the Home and Community Based Waiver programs, including the New Opportunities Waiver, Supports Waiver, and Residential Options Waiver.

(b) An individual with a service-connected disability rating of fifty percent or more as designated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. A qualified individual with a service-connected disability, as defined in this Subparagraph, shall include an individual who receives facility-based vocational or pre-vocational services through the Home and Community Based Waiver programs, including the New Opportunities Waiver, Supports Waiver, and Residential Supports Waiver.

B. The amount of the income tax deduction shall be equal to fifty percent of the gross wages paid to a qualified disabled individual during the individual's first four continuous months of employment and thirty percent of the gross wages paid to the qualified individual with a disability during each subsequent continuous month of employment. The taxpayer shall be entitled to the deduction for each qualified individual with a disability the taxpayer employs each taxable year; however, there shall be no more than one hundred employees for which the deduction is allowed program wide. The Department of Revenue and the Louisiana Department of Health shall approve applications claiming the deduction and may promulgate rules and regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act in consultation with the Department of Veterans Affairs for the purpose of implementing the provisions of this Section. The Louisiana Department of Health shall maintain records indicating the limit of one hundred employees eligible for this deduction. The rules and regulations may include provisions requiring taxpayers to submit documentation with their returns or to specifically retain records that will enable the department to determine the taxpayer's eligibility for and amount of the tax deduction claimed under this Section. To the extent practicable, the deductions shall be apportioned equitably to employers who are geographically representative of all portions of the state.

C. The taxpayer claiming this deduction shall maintain all records necessary to verify that the employer and the qualified individual with a disability for which the taxpayer is claiming the deduction meets all of the requirements as provided for in this Section.

D. The Louisiana Department of Health shall monitor the implementation and operation of the provisions of this Section. The Louisiana Department of Health shall also provide a written evaluation of the program and its effectiveness in generating employment opportunities for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities or individuals with service-connected disabilities, as well as whether there was any savings in Medicaid waiver expenditures.

Acts 2015, No. 117, §1, eff. June 19, 2015.