2021 ProSeries/Louisiana Readme

Release 2021.410

Contents

What's new for ProSeries/Louisiana

Forms

Electronic filing

Additional Information

Items addressed in this release

What's new for ProSeries/Louisiana

The following items are new for tax year 2021:

• Louisiana refundable Child Care Credit Worksheet: The federal changes are reflected on the 2021 Louisiana refundable Child Care Credit Worksheet.
• Schedule C and C-NR - Small Town Health Professionals - Code 115: This credit is no longer available because Act 342 of the 2017 Regular Legislative Session ended the credit effective December 31, 2020.
• Schedule C and C-NR - Conversion of Vehicle to Alternative Fuel - Code 185: To qualify for the credit for the purchase of a qualifying new vehicle or for vehicle conversions, you must have purchased the new vehicle or for conversion, have purchased and installed, before July 1, 2021.
• Schedule D and D-NR - Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response (STAR) - Line 18: Taxpayers may donate all or part of their adjusted overpayment to the Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response (STAR) organization to support survivors of sexual trauma, improve systems response, and create social change to end sexual violence.
• Schedule D and D-NR - Louisiana State University Agricultural Center Grant Walker Educational Center (4-H Camp Grant Walker) - Line 19: Taxpayers may donate all or part of their adjusted overpayment to the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center Grant Walker Educational Center (4-H Camp Grant Walker) to provide quality field trips, off-season programs and other great educational products.
• Schedule E and Nonresident Part-Year Resident (NPR) worksheet - COVID-19 Relief Benefits – Code 27E: Act 54 of the 2021 Regular Legislative Session provides an exemption for any gratuitous grant, loan, rebate, tax credit, advance refund, or other qualified disaster relief benefit provided directly or indirectly by the state or federal government as a COVID-19 relief benefit if the income was included in the taxpayer’s Federal Adjusted Gross Income.
• Schedule F and F-NR - School Readiness Child Care Directors and Staff – Code 66F and Line 5A: The credit is for eligible child care directors and eligible child care staff based on certain attained qualifications. You must enter the facility license number from Form R-10615 on Line 5A and attach a copy of Form R-10615 to your return.
• SCHEDULE J and J-NR – NONREFUNDABLE PRIORITY 3 CREDITS: IMPORTANT! Some credits have been assigned new codes on Schedule J
• SCHEDULE J and J-NR – Child Care Credit Carried Forward From 2016 through 2020 – Line 3 : 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 used over the next five years. For the 2021 tax year, credits from 2016 through 2020 can be applied on Line 3. Any remaining child care credit from 2015 cannot be applied to the 2021 tax liability.
• SCHEDULE J and J-NR – School Readiness Credit Carried Forward From 2016 through 2020 – Line 5: 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 used over the next five years. For the 2021 tax year, credits from 2016 through 2020 can be applied on Line 5. Any remaining child care credit from 2015 cannot be applied to the 2021 tax liability.
• SCHEDULE J and J-NR – LA Import – Code 460: Act 292 of the 2021 Regular Legislative Session provides a credit to encourage the utilization of Louisiana public port facilities for cargo imports and the development of new port infrastructure facilities for the manufacturing, distribution, and warehousing of imported goods. Taxpayers must apply to the Louisiana Department of Economic Development to receive certification. A copy of the certification of the credit must be attached to the return.
• SCHEDULE J and J-NR – LA Work Opportunity – Code 461: Act 453 of the 2021 Regular Legislative Session provides a credit for a business that hires participants in the work release programs. The Louisiana Department of Public Safety or applicable sheriff must certify that the eligible business employed an eligible re-entrant who is participating in a work release program on or after January 1, 2021 in an eligible job for 12 consecutive months. A copy of the certification of the credit must be attached to the return.
• SCHEDULE J and J-NR – Youth Jobs – Code 462: Act 454 of the 2021 Regular Legislative Session provides a credit for a business that hires one or more eligible youth on or after July 1, 2021. To earn the credit, the eligible youth must work at least three (3) consecutive months in a full-time or part-time position at the business. The credit is equal to $1,250 for each eligible youth hired in a full-time position or $750 for each eligible youth hired in a part-time position. Taxpayers must apply to the Department to receive certification. A copy of the certification of the credit must be attached to the return.
• SCHEDULE J and J-NR – Inventory Tax Credit Carried Forward and ITEP – Code 500: If you have an eligible carryover amount, your carryover period has increased from five years to 10 years.
• SCHEDULE J and J-NR – Ad Valorem Natural Gas Credit Carried Forward – Code 502: If you have an eligible carryover amount, your carryover period has increased from five years to 10 years.

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 more than 100 Louisiana individual income tax returns 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

You can file returns electronically with this version of ProSeries/Louisiana.

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.

End of ReadMe file for ProSeries/Louisiana