House Bill No. 158

Introduced By barnhart



A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act allowing a credit against certain taxes for a portion of wages paid to certain persons receiving publicly provided cash assistance or various other types of public assistance; and providing a delayed effective date and an applicability date."



Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:



NEW SECTION. Section 1.  Tax credit for wages paid to certain employees. (1) Subject to the provisions of subsections (2) through (5), an employer is entitled to a credit against taxes otherwise due under this chapter for a portion of the amount of wages paid to a person who, at the time of being hired, was receiving cash assistance or was participating in or enrolled in:

(a) the job supplement program described in 53-4-603(2);

(b) the pathways component of the families achieving independence in Montana (FAIM) project described in 53-4-603(4);

(c) the community services program described in 53-4-603(5);

(d) the job opportunities and basic skills training (JOBS) program described in 53-4-703;

(e) the Montana medicaid program described in 53-6-101; or

(f) vocational rehabilitation services described in 53-7-108 and provided by or through the department of public health and human services.

(2)  The tax credit is available only to employers:

(a)  who have been in business in Montana for at least 12 months;

(b)  whose workforce is composed of at least 80% of employees who each work for the employer at least 20 hours a week; and

(c) who provide employer-sponsored health insurance and pay at least 50% of each employee's health insurance premium.

(3)  Subject to the provisions of subsection (4), an employer is entitled to a tax credit equal to the lesser of $25 a month or 6% of the wages paid during the month to each employee eligible under subsection (1) if the employee:

(a) worked for the employer for 20 hours or more a week during the month; or

(b) was otherwise in a paid status for the employer for 20 hours or more a week during the month.

(4)  The credit may not exceed $450 for each employee eligible under subsection (3) and may not be claimed for a single employee for a period of more than 18 consecutive months.

(5)  The credit allowed under this section may not be claimed as a carryback or carryforward and may not be refunded if the employer has no tax liability.



NEW SECTION. Section 2.  Codification instruction. [Section 1] is intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 15, chapter 31, and the provisions of Title 15, chapter 31, apply to [section 1].



NEW SECTION. Section 3.  Effective date -- applicability. [This act] is effective January 1, 1998, and applies to all tax revenue recorded on or after January 1, 1998, regardless of when the tax obligation accrued.

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