2015 ProSeries/Louisiana Readme
Release 2015.320 / June 3, 2016
Contents
Items addressed in this release
Items addressed previous releases
What's new for ProSeries/Louisiana
Forms
Electronic filing
Additional Information
Items addressed in this release
Nonresident and Part-Year Resident (NPR) Worksheet: If there is a value in the Louisiana column of this worksheet, there must be a corresponding federal value. Error checks have been added for this.
Items addressed in previous releases
Education Credit: This credit is not allowed if the Deduction for Elementary and Secondary School Tuition (code 17E) is claimed on Schedule E for the same child. A diagnostic has been added to check for this.
540B Adjusted Gross Income Ratio: Calculation for line 9 was corrected for when Federal Adjusted Gross Income on line 7 is either negative or zero.
Schedule F & F-NR: Updated the tax credit calculation for Inventory (50F) and Natural Gas (51F) for when the amount is $10,000 and over. Calculation follows LA Schedule R-10610.
Schedule H & H-NR: Federal Tax Credit amounts will no longer automatically transfer from the federal return to the schedule worksheet. Those credit amounts associated with federal disaster relief efforts for Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita need to be entered directly on the Louisiana worksheet.
Nonresident Part-Year Resident Income Allocation Worksheet: If there is a value in the federal column of this worksheet, there must be a corresponding state value. Error checks have been added for this.
Nonresident and Part-Year Resident (NPR) Worksheet: Zeros were not being allowed in the Louisiana column for wages, interest, dividends and total adjustment to income. This has been fixed with this release. Zeros, but not negative amounts, are allowed.
What's new for ProSeries/Louisiana
The following items are new for tax year 2015:
- Refund Options: The Louisiana MyRefund Card is no longer available.
- Donation Funds: Louisiana Youth Leadership Seminar Corporation, Lighthouse for the Blind in New Orleans, Louisiana Association for the Blind,
Louisiana Center for the Blind, Affiliated Blind of Louisiana, and Louisiana State Trooper Charities have been added to the list of organizations or funds.
National Lung Cancer Partnership, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Louisiana Bicentennial Commission, Center of Excellence for Autism Spectrum Disorder,
Alliance for the Advancement of End of Life Care, New Opportunities Waiver Fund, and Friends of Palmetto Island State Park Funds have been removed.
- Tax Credit Reductions:
Certain income tax credits have been reduced according to Acts 109, 125 and 133 of the 2015 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature.
- Education Credit Reduced:
This credit, available to resident taxpayers, has been reduced From $25 to $18 for each child.
- Credit for Taxes Paid to Other States:
The credit is now limited to the amount of Louisiana income tax calculated on the income earned in the other states.
- Schedule F & G Change, Research and Development:
This credit no longer a refundable credit (code 72F) on the Schedule F. It is now a nonrefundable credit (code 231) on the Schedule G.
- Child Care Credit Carried Forward From 2011 Through 2014: The child care tax
credit for taxpayers whose federal adjusted gross income exceeds $25,000
may not be refunded and any unused credit amounts can be carried forward for up to
five years. For the 2015 tax year, credits from 2011 through 2014 can be applied on
Line 12C. Any remaining child care credit from 2010 can not be applied to the 2015 tax liability. (R.S. 47:297.4)
- School Readiness Credit Carried Forward From 2011 Through 2014: The school readiness credit
for taxpayers whose federal adjusted gross income
exceeds $25,000 may not be refunded and any unused credit amounts can be carried
forward for up to five years. For the 2015 tax year, credits from 2011 through 2014 can
be applied on Line 12E. (R.S. 47:297.7)
Forms
All Louisiana state forms are fileable with this release.
Electronic filing
General information for electronic filing:
You can file returns electronically with this version of ProSeries/Louisiana.
Individual Returns
Revised Statute 47:1520(A)(1)(c)The Louisiana Department of Revenue requires that tax preparers who prepare 100 or
more Louisiana individual income tax returns for the 2015 tax year to file 90% of individual income tax returns for all subsequent taxable years using electronic means or software that produces a two dimensional (2D) barcode reflecting information contained in the returns. ProSeries supports both these methods.
R.S. 47:1520(A)(1)(e) mandates electronic filing for any professional athlete, including Form IT-540B-NRA for
nonresident athletes and Form IT-540 for resident athletes.
R.S 47:1520.1 mandates direct deposit of the state refund for a taxpayer who electronically files their individual income tax
returns through the Federal/State E-file Program and elects to direct deposit the federal tax refund. An exception will be
made if the taxpayer does not have a personal checking account
For a list of forms that can be e-filed, first open a state return, and then go to What's New This Year in Help Center.
Additional information
Check all returns after printing
The Louisiana Department of Revenue scans computer-generated forms to quickly
process the income tax returns it receives. To meet the requirements for producing
computer-generated forms, ProSeries is required to limit the width of the tax information
printed on forms that are scanned. In certain cases, data you entered may be truncated.
After completing a tax return, review the information that prints (for example, mailing
address information), make any necessary changes, and reprint the return before mailing it.
About bar codes on printed state returns
Some states use bar codes on computer-printed tax forms. This special formatting allows
the state taxing authorities to process returns more quickly and efficiently. On-screen,
you'll see only a small representation of the bar code on the lower-left side of the form.
This image is static and does not change based on the information in the return. However,
when you print the return, the bar code appears as a large rectangular box on the first page
of the form. The width of the bar code is constant; the height varies according to the data
in the return. In general, the more complex the return, the larger the printed bar code.
Returns that contain special formatting may be processed at a different location than manually
prepared returns. Therefore, the filing instructions that print with the state return may contain
a mailing address that's different from the mailing address in the package that is sent to taxpayers.
Be sure to have your clients mail their returns to the address in the filing instructions that
print with the return.
Important: Because the bar code image is a function of the data in the tax return,
it's important that you reprint the page with the bar code if changes are made to any part of
the return. Also, do not print blank copies of the main form and prepare them manually.
The Louisiana taxing authority may attempt to scan the form and reject it.
Use a recommended printer
We recommend you use a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet Series 4 or later (or 100% compatible printer).
The minimum requirement is a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet or PCL compatible printer with 2MB of
printer memory.
If you do not use a recommended printer, the two-dimensional bar codes on some state
returns do not print properly. The states still accept the returns, but they might take longer to
process.
End of ReadMe file for ProSeries/Louisiana