Personal income tax: credit: back-to-school items.

The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax credit to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would allow a credit against those taxes for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2027, in an amount equal to the amount of sales tax collected from a qualified taxpayer during the first week of August of the taxable year for purchases of back-to-school items, as defined, not to exceed $2,500 per taxable year per household. The bill would define qualified taxpayer as a parent with a schoolchild, a student attending a postsecondary institution, or an educator. The bill would require a qualified taxpayer to have a household income at the time of filing that is at or below the federal poverty threshold, except as otherwise specified. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to submit a report by January 1, 2026, to the Legislature on the amount of credits used by qualified taxpayers, and would provide findings and declarations relating to the goals of this credit. Existing law establishes the continuously appropriated Tax Relief and Refund Account and provides that payments required to be made to taxpayers or other persons from the Personal Income Tax Fund are to be paid from that account, including any amount to be paid as an earned income tax credit in excess of any tax liabilities. This bill would require the amount of the credit exceeding the taxpayer's liability to be credited against other amounts due, if any, and would require the balance to be paid from the Tax Relief and Refund Account and refunded to the taxpayer. By authorizing new payments from that account for additional amounts in excess of personal income tax liabilities, this bill would make an appropriation.