HOUSE BILL 1093

47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2005

INTRODUCED BY

Teresa A. Zanetti

AN ACT

RELATING TO TAXATION; CREATING A TAX CREDIT FOR PARENTS WHO REMAIN AT HOME TO PREPARE A CHILD FOR KINDERGARTEN.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     Section 1. A new section of the Income Tax Act is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] INCOME TAX CREDIT--PRE-KINDERGARTEN CHILD HOME SCHOOLING.--

          A. A taxpayer who files an individual New Mexico income tax return and who is not a dependent of another taxpayer may claim a credit for providing pre-kindergarten training to prepare the taxpayer's child for kindergarten during the taxable year if:

                (1) the child is four years of age and eligible to attend a pre-kindergarten program approved by the state;

                (2) the taxpayer identifies a curriculum to be used to provide pre-kindergarten training to the taxpayer's child and presents it to the public education department for approval prior to either August 1 or January 1 of the income tax year for which the credit will be claimed and receives a certificate from the children, youth and families department approving the curriculum and stating the dates during which the pre-kindergarten training will be provided by the taxpayer;

                (3) the taxpayer certifies to the department that the taxpayer provided training pursuant to the approved curriculum to the taxpayer's child during the taxable year; and

                (4) the taxpayer who provides the pre-kindergarten training is the parent, grandparent or legal guardian with whom the child resides or who shares custody of the child pursuant to a court order.

          B. The credit provided in this section shall be five hundred dollars ($500) per eligible child to be claimed against a taxpayer's income tax liability in the taxable year in which the training is provided. If the resident's income tax liability is less than five hundred dollars ($500) for the taxable year, the balance of income tax credit claimed that exceeds the tax liability of the taxpayer shall be refunded to the taxpayer by the department.

          C. A husband and wife maintaining a household for one or more qualifying dependent children and filing separate returns for a taxable year for which they could have filed a joint return may each claim only one-half of the credit that would have been claimed on a joint return.

          D. The tax credit created in this section is available only to taxpayers whose adjusted gross income does not exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or for a husband and wife filing jointly, an adjusted gross income that does not exceed seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000)."

      Section 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is January 1, 2006.

- 3 -