HB440 Summary

• Establishes an income tax credit for taxpayers who hire public high school students under age 19 living within a 20-mile radius of the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail during school breaks, after school, weekends, summer, or official holidays.

• Credit amount equals wages paid to the student worker during the taxable year, capped at $2,500 per student employee annually, claimed in the year the nine-month employment period ends and the following year.

• Requires employers to retain student workers as employees for at least nine months to qualify for the credit.

• Credit cannot exceed 50 percent of the taxpayer's tax liability for the year reduced by other allowable credits, with unused portions carried forward for up to five years.

• Effective for the 2016 taxable year and subsequent years, with the act taking effect immediately upon passage and gubernatorial approval.