COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH

OVERSIGHT DIVISION



FISCAL NOTE



L.R. No.: 3105-01

Bill No.: SB 806

Subject: Taxation and Revenue - Income Tax; Children and Minors

Type: Original

Date: February 23, 2004




FISCAL SUMMARY



ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON GENERAL REVENUE FUND
FUND AFFECTED FY 2005 FY 2006 FY 2007
General Revenue ($1,500,000 to Unknown) (Unknown - Greater than $100,000) (Unknown - Greater than $100,000)
Total Estimated

Net Effect on

General Revenue

Fund*

($1,500,000 to Unknown) (Unknown - Greater than $100,000) (Unknown - Greater than $100,000)



ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON OTHER STATE FUNDS
FUND AFFECTED FY 2005 FY 2006 FY 2007
Total Estimated

Net Effect on Other

State Funds*

$0 $0 $0

*The fiscal impact could be divided between the General Revenue Fund and the County Foreign Insurance Fund (which ultimately goes to local school districts) if some of the tax credits are utilized against insurance premium taxes.



Numbers within parentheses: ( ) indicate costs or losses.

This fiscal note contains 5 pages.



ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON FEDERAL FUNDS
FUND AFFECTED FY 2005 FY 2006 FY 2007
Total Estimated

Net Effect on All

Federal Funds

$0 $0 $0



ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON LOCAL FUNDS
FUND AFFECTED FY 2005 FY 2006 FY 2007
Local Government* $0 $0 $0

*The fiscal impact could be divided between the General Revenue Fund and the County Foreign Insurance Fund (which ultimately goes to local school districts) if some of the tax credits are utilized against insurance premium taxes.





FISCAL ANALYSIS



ASSUMPTION



Officials from the Department of Revenue (DOR) state this legislation removes the $2 million cap that currently applies to the Adoption Tax Credit. The Division of Taxation will see an increase in the number of credits, but will not see an increase in workload due to the time currently spent denying credits over the $2 million cap. Therefore, there is no impact to DOR.



As of January 23, 2004, of this fiscal year, DOR has approved credits for 786 returns, totaling $2,000,000. It has also denied 566 returns due to the cap being reached, totaling $1,496,543. Because the amount denied is only for half of the fiscal year, DOR believes the total loss to general revenue will be more than $1.5 million. However, DOR cannot estimate the total loss to general revenue and assumes it will be $1.5 million to UNKNOWN.



Officials from the Department of Social Services assume there will be no direct fiscal impact on their agency.







ASSUMPTION (continued)



In response to a similar proposal, officials from the Office of Administration - Budget and Planning (BAP) assumed they had no empirical basis for estimating the increased cost of this tax credit if the cap was removed. The removal of the cap could negatively impact general revenue. BAP deferred to the Department of Social Services and the Department of Revenue for information related to the potential cost of this proposal.



Oversight assumes the anticipated amount of credits to be submitted over the annual cap this year could be a result of the previous years' buildup of denied claims plus additional claims from this year. Therefore, if the cap on the tax credits was taken out of statutes, the first fiscal year (FY 2005) could have a large impact of previous year' denied credits being allowed, and then future years not so large. Therefore, with this possibility and with the lack of information available regarding the number of special needs adoptions in the state and the non-recurring expenses related to them, Oversight will utilize DOR's estimate of ($1.5 million to Unknown) for FY 2005, but for future years, assume (Unknown - greater than $100,000) in losses to GR.



These tax credits can be sold to and utilized by insurance companies against their premium tax liability. Premium tax revenue is split evenly between General Revenue Fund and the County Foreign Insurance Fund which is later distributed to school districts. Therefore, Oversight has footnoted the possibility that some of the additional tax credits resulting from this proposal could be utilized by insurance companies and therefore, reduce revenue to the local school districts.



This proposal would reduce Total State Revenues.





























FISCAL IMPACT - State Government FY 2005

(10 Mo.)

FY 2006 FY 2007



GENERAL REVENUE FUND


Loss - General Revenue

Increase in adoption tax credits



($1,500,000 to Unknown)
(Unknown - Greater than $100,000) (Unknown - Greater than $100,000)


ESTIMATED NET EFFECT TO THE GENERAL REVENUE FUND*


($1,500,000 to Unknown)
(Unknown - Greater than $100,000) (Unknown - Greater than $100,000)

*The fiscal impact could be divided between the General Revenue Fund and the County Foreign Insurance Fund (which ultimately goes to local school districts) if some of the tax credits are utilized against insurance premium taxes.





FISCAL IMPACT - Local Government FY 2005

(10 Mo.)

FY 2006 FY 2007
$0 $0 $0





FISCAL IMPACT - Small Business



No direct fiscal impact to small businesses would be expected as a result of this proposal.





DESCRIPTION



This proposal modifies the adoption tax credit by eliminating the aggregate cap on the credit.



This legislation is not federally mandated, would not duplicate any other program and would not require additional capital improvements or rental space.









SOURCES OF INFORMATION



Department of Social Services

Department of Revenue

Office of Administration

Budget and Planning











Mickey Wilson, CPA

Director

February 23, 2004