HB 1080: Tax Credit Scholarship Act

• Creates a tax credit scholarship program allowing taxpayers to claim a credit up to 50% of their income tax liability for contributions to nonprofit scholarship organizations serving qualifying low-income students.

• Eligible students must be Mississippi residents aged 5-20 from households earning no more than twice the federal reduced lunch program income threshold and cannot have been enrolled in nonpublic schools the prior year.

• Scholarship organizations must be 501(c)(3) nonprofits that distribute scholarships (capped at 90% of tuition) to students for nonpublic school attendance, with administrative expenses limited to 10% and surplus revenues returned to the state.

• Participating nonpublic schools must comply with antidiscrimination laws, conduct criminal background checks, maintain accreditation, and provide parents with annual educational progress assessments of scholarship recipients.

• Amends the Mississippi tax code to exclude Tax Credit Scholarship amounts from gross income when used for eligible educational expenses including tuition, fees, textbooks, and tutoring services; program becomes effective January 1, 2016.