§ 135.690 RSMo — Faculty preceptors tax credit — definitions — amount — procedure — fund created, use of moneys — rules

1. As used in this section, the following terms mean:

(1) "Community-based faculty preceptor" , a physician or physician assistant who is licensed in Missouri and provides preceptorships to Missouri medical students or physician assistant students without direct compensation for the work of precepting;

(2) "Department" , the Missouri department of health and senior services;

(3) "Division" , the division of professional registration of the department of commerce and insurance;

(4) "Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)" , a reimbursement designation from the Bureau of Primary Health Care and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the United States Department of Health and Human Services;

(5) "Medical student" , an individual enrolled in a Missouri medical college approved and accredited as reputable by the American Medical Association or the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or enrolled in a Missouri osteopathic college approved and accredited as reputable by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation;

(6) "Medical student core preceptorship" or "physician assistant student core preceptorship" , a preceptorship for a medical student or physician assistant student that provides a minimum of one hundred twenty hours of community-based instruction in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, or obstetrics and gynecology under the guidance of a community-based faculty preceptor. A community-based faculty preceptor may add together the amounts of preceptorship instruction time separately provided to multiple students in determining whether he or she has reached the minimum hours required under this subdivision, but the total preceptorship instruction time provided shall equal at least one hundred twenty hours in order for such preceptor to be eligible for the tax credit authorized under this section;

(7) "Physician assistant student" , an individual participating in a Missouri physician assistant program accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant or its successor organization;

(8) "Taxpayer" , any individual, firm, partner in a firm, corporation, or shareholder in an S corporation doing business in this state and subject to the state income tax imposed under chapter 143 , excluding withholding tax imposed under sections 143.191 to 143.265 .

2. (1) Beginning January 1, 2023, any community-based faculty preceptor who serves as the community-based faculty preceptor for a medical student core preceptorship or a physician assistant student core preceptorship shall be allowed a credit against the tax otherwise due under chapter 143 , excluding withholding tax imposed under sections 143.191 to 143.265 , in an amount equal to one thousand dollars for each preceptorship, up to a maximum of three thousand dollars per tax year, if he or she completes up to three preceptorship rotations during the tax year and did not receive any direct compensation for the preceptorships.

(2) To receive the credit allowed by this section, a community-based faculty preceptor shall claim such credit on his or her return for the tax year in which he or she completes the preceptorship rotations and shall submit supporting documentation as prescribed by the division and the department.

(3) In no event shall the total amount of a tax credit authorized under this section exceed a taxpayer's income tax liability for the tax year for which such credit is claimed. No tax credit authorized under this section shall be allowed a taxpayer against his or her tax liability for any prior or succeeding tax year.

(4) No more than two hundred preceptorship tax credits shall be authorized under this section for any one calendar year. The tax credits shall be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. The division and the department shall jointly promulgate rules for determining the manner in which taxpayers who have obtained certification under this section are able to claim the tax credit. The cumulative amount of tax credits awarded under this section shall not exceed two hundred thousand dollars per year.

(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (4) of this subsection, the department is authorized to exceed the two hundred thousand dollars per year tax credit program cap in any amount not to exceed the amount of funds remaining in the medical preceptor fund, as established under subsection 3 of this section, as of the end of the most recent tax year, after any required transfers to the general revenue fund have taken place in accordance with the provisions of subsection 3 of this section.

3. (1) Funding for the tax credit program authorized under this section shall be generated by the division from a license fee increase of seven dollars per license for physicians and surgeons and from a license fee increase of three dollars per license for physician assistants. The license fee increases shall take effect beginning January 1, 2023, based on the underlying license fee rates prevailing on that date. The underlying license fee rates shall be determined under section 334.090 and all other applicable provisions of chapter 334 .

(2) (a) There is hereby created in the state treasury the "Medical Preceptor Fund", which shall consist of moneys collected under this subsection. The state treasurer shall be custodian of the fund. In accordance with sections 30.170 and 30.180 , the state treasurer may approve disbursements. The fund shall be a dedicated fund and, upon appropriation, moneys in the fund shall be used solely by the department and the division for the administration of the tax credit program authorized under this section. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 33.080 to the contrary, any moneys remaining in the fund at the end of the biennium shall not revert to the credit of the general revenue fund. The state treasurer shall invest moneys in the medical preceptor fund in the same manner as other funds are invested. Any interest and moneys earned on such investments shall be credited to the fund.

(b) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or any other provision of law to the contrary, all revenue from the license fee increases described under subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be deposited in the medical preceptor fund. After the end of every tax year, an amount equal to the total dollar amount of all tax credits claimed under this section shall be transferred from the medical preceptor fund to the state's general revenue fund established under section 33.543 . Any excess moneys in the medical preceptor fund shall remain in the fund and shall not be transferred to the general revenue fund.

4. (1) The department shall administer the tax credit program authorized under this section. Each taxpayer claiming a tax credit under this section shall file an application with the department verifying the number of hours of instruction and the amount of the tax credit claimed. The hours claimed on the application shall be verified by the college or university department head or the program director on the application. The certification by the department affirming the taxpayer's eligibility for the tax credit provided to the taxpayer shall be filed with the taxpayer's income tax return.

(2) No amount of any tax credit allowed under this section shall be refundable. No tax credit allowed under this section shall be transferred, sold, or assigned. No taxpayer shall be eligible to receive the tax credit authorized under this section if such taxpayer employs persons who are not authorized to work in the United States under federal law.

5. The department of commerce and insurance and the department of health and senior services shall jointly promulgate rules to implement the provisions of this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010 , that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028 . This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2022, shall be invalid and void.