BILL NUMBER: SB 1148	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Stone

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2016

   An act to amend Section 17072 of, and to add Section 17206.2 to,
the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to taxation, to take effect
immediately, tax levy.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1148, as introduced, Stone. Personal income taxes: deductions:
education expenses.
   The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal
income tax laws, allows various deductions from gross income in
computing adjusted gross income under that law, including deductions
for payments to individual retirement accounts, alimony payments, and
interest on educational loans.
   This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1,
2016, would allow a deduction in computing adjusted gross income for
those amounts paid or incurred by a qualified taxpayer, as defined,
during the taxable year for qualified education expenses, as
provided.
   This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 17072 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
amended to read:
   17072.  (a) Section 62 of the Internal Revenue Code, relating to
adjusted gross income defined, shall apply, except as otherwise
provided.
   (b) Section 62(a)(2)(D) of the Internal Revenue Code, relating to
certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers, shall
not apply.
   (c) Section 62(a)(21) of the Internal Revenue Code, relating to
attorneys fees relating to awards to whistleblowers, shall not apply.

   (d) Section 62(a) of the Internal Revenue Code is modified to
provide that the deduction under Section 17206.2 shall be allowed in
determining adjusted gross income. 
  SEC. 2.  Section 17206.2 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code,
to read:
   17206.2.  (a) For taxable years beginning on or after January 1,
2016, there shall be allowed as a deduction the amount paid or
incurred by a qualified taxpayer during the taxable year for
qualified education expenses at a public four-year university or
community college.
   (b) For the purposes of this section, both of the following apply:

   (1) "Qualified education expenses" means both of the following:
   (A) Costs of attendance that include, but are not limited to,
payments for books, supplies, equipment, tuition, and fees, and
similar payments.
   (B) Payments of principal of a qualified education loan, as
defined in Section 221 of the Internal Revenue Code, relating to
interest on education loans.
   (2) "Qualified taxpayer" means an individual who pays or incurs
qualified education expenses during the taxable year for any natural
person including, but not limited to, the taxpayer, the taxpayer's
spouse, or any dependent of the taxpayer and who has a federal
adjusted gross income of two hundred fifty thousand dollars
($250,000) or less during the taxable year in which those expenses
are paid or incurred.
   (c) For each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2017,
the Franchise Tax Board shall recompute the federal adjusted gross
income limitation described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b). That
computation shall be made in the same manner as described in
subdivision (h) of Section 17041.
  SEC. 3.  This act provides for a tax levy within the meaning of
Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect.