La. R.S. 47:297.15 — Tax deduction; educational expenses; COVID-19 pandemic in 2020

A.(1) There shall be allowed a deduction from tax table income for the sum of
amounts paid from March 13, 2020, through December 31, 2020, during the COVID-19
pandemic for expenses for educational coaching services for an in-person facilitator of virtual
education delivered by a public or approved nonpublic elementary or secondary school.
(2) The amount of the deduction authorized by this Section shall be equal to the
actual amount of eligible educational coaching services paid by the taxpayer per eligible
child or five thousand dollars per eligible child, whichever is less. The amount of the
deduction authorized in this Section shall not exceed the total taxable income of the
individual.
B. For purposes of this Section, the following words shall have the following
meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) "Approved nonpublic elementary or secondary school" shall mean a nonpublic
elementary or secondary school located in Louisiana which complies with the criteria set
forth in Brumfield, et al. v. Dodd, et al. 425 F. Supp. 528 (E.D. La. 1977) and Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or any public elementary or secondary laboratory
school which is operated by a public college or university.
(2) "Eligible child" shall mean a student who qualifies as a dependency exemption
on the taxpayer's Louisiana income tax return for either the taxable year or the prior taxable
year.
(3) "Immediate family" shall mean the taxpayer's spouse, the children of the
taxpayer, the spouses of the taxpayer's children, the taxpayer's brothers or sisters and their
spouses, the taxpayer's parents, and the parents of the taxpayer's spouse.
(4) "In-person facilitator of virtual education" shall mean an individual providing in-person instruction or assistance to one or more elementary or secondary school students who
is at least eighteen years of age at the time services are provided or, if not eighteen years of
age at the time services are provided, who graduated from high school. The individual
providing the in-person instruction or assistance shall not be the taxpayer or a member of the
taxpayer's immediate family.
C. Expenses claimed by a taxpayer pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall
not be eligible for the deductions provided for in R.S. 47:297.10, 297.11, or 297.12 or the
credit provided for in R.S. 47:297.4.
Acts 2020, 2
nd
Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. Oct. 28, 2020.
NOTE: See Acts 2020, 2
nd
Ex. Sess., No. 13, re: applicability.