What replaced the Kansas food sales tax refund starting in 2013?

Plain-English summary

Kansas Notice 13-12 (July 1, 2013) explains the switch from the food sales tax refund to a new food sales tax credit.

Refund repealed. Section 40 of 2012 Senate Substitute for House Bill 2117 repealed the food sales tax refund statutes (K.S.A. 79-3633 through 79-3639) as of January 1, 2013 -- so those refunds are no longer allowed for tax year 2013 (see Notice 12-13).

New credit. New Section 7 of 2013 House Bill 2059 created a food sales tax income tax credit for tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2013. To qualify, a taxpayer must:

1. have purchased food in Kansas;
2. have federal adjusted gross income not exceeding $30,615;
3. have been domiciled in Kansas the entire year (domicile excludes correctional facilities, jails and prisons); and
4. be either (a) a person with a disability (any age), (b) a person without a disability age 55 or older, or (c) a person without a disability under 55 who claims an exemption for a dependent child under 18.

Amount and limits. The credit is $125 for every exemption claimed on the federal return, except no exemption is counted for a dependent unless the dependent is a child under 18 (head-of-household filers get no extra exemption). It is applied after all other credits, is not refundable, and cannot be carried forward. "Disability" is defined in Section 7(g) of HB 2059.

What this means for you

Low-income Kansas residents

• If you bought food in Kansas, had federal AGI of $30,615 or less, lived in Kansas all year, and meet the disability/age/dependent-child test, you may claim a $125-per-exemption nonrefundable credit instead of the old refund.

Tax preparers

• Confirm the AGI ceiling, full-year domicile, and the disability/age-55/dependent-child qualifier; the credit does not carry forward.

Common questions

What replaced the food sales tax refund? A $125-per-exemption nonrefundable income tax credit, starting in 2013.

What is the income limit? Federal adjusted gross income of $30,615 or less.

Who qualifies? Full-year Kansas residents who bought food in Kansas and are disabled, 55 or older, or under 55 with a dependent child under 18.

Is it refundable? No, and it cannot be carried forward.

Citations and references

• K.S.A. 79-3633 through 79-3639 -- the repealed food sales tax refund statutes.
• New Section 7 of 2013 House Bill 2059 -- the new nonrefundable food sales tax credit.
• K.S.A. 75-5202 and 38-2302 -- the correctional and juvenile-facility definitions excluded from the homestead "domicile" test.

Source

• Landing page: Kansas Department of Revenue Policy Information Library
• Original document: Notice 13-12

Original ruling text

Policy & Research Phone: 785-296-3081
915 SW Harrison St FAX: 785-296-7928
Topeka KS 66612-1588 www.ksrevenue.org
Nick Jordan, Secretary Department of Revenue Sam Brownback, Governor
Richard Cram, Director

                                       NOTICE 13-12

                                 FOOD SALES TAX CREDIT
                                     (July 1, 2013)

 During the 2012 Legislative Session Senate Substitute for House Bill 2117 was passed and

signed into law. Section 40 of the Bill provides that as of January 1, 2013, the food sales tax
refund statutes found in K.S.A. 79-3633 through 79-3639 are repealed. As a result, effective for
tax year 2013, food sales tax refunds are no longer allowed under these provisions. See Notice
12-13 for further information in this regard.

  During the 2013 Legislative Session House Bill 2059 was passed and signed into law.

New Section 7 of this Bill provides an income tax credit for certain individuals who purchased
food in Kansas. The credit, which will be available for tax years commencing on or after
January 1, 2013, will be claimed on the individual's Kansas income tax return. In order to
qualify for the credit:

 (1)    The taxpayer must have purchased food in Kansas.
 (2)    The taxpayer must have had federal adjusted gross income for the year that did
        not exceed $30,615.
 (3)    During the entire tax year a taxpayer filing single, head of household, or married
        filing separate, or the taxpayer and the taxpayer's spouse if married filing
        jointly, must be domiciled in Kansas. Domicile does not include a correctional
        facility, jail or prison.
 (4)    During the entire tax year a taxpayer filing single, head of household, or married
        filing separate, or the taxpayer or the taxpayer's spouse if married filing jointly,
        must be either:
        (a) A person having a disability, regardless of age;
        (b) A person without a disability who is 55 years of age or older; or
        (c) A person without a disability who is younger than 55 years of age who
               claims an exemption for one or more dependent children under 18 years of
               age.

 The term "disability" is defined in Section 7(g) of HB 2059.

  The amount of the credit is $125 for every exemption claimed on the taxpayer's federal

income tax return, except that no deduction shall be counted for a dependent unless the
dependent is under 18 years of age. Those filing as head of household will not be allowed an
extra exemption.

  The credit is to be applied against the taxpayer's Kansas income tax liability after all other

credits allowed under the Kansas income tax act. The credit is not refundable, and cannot be
carried forward.

 The language of the new statute provides as follows:

   New Sec. 7. (a) For any taxable year commencing after December 31, 2012, a credit shall

be allowed against the tax imposed by the Kansas income tax act on the Kansas taxable income
of an individual income taxpayer who purchased food in this state, had federal adjusted gross
income for the tax year that did not exceed $30,615, and meets the qualifications in subsections
(b) and (c).
(b) During the entire tax year a taxpayer filing single, head of household, or married filing
separate, or the taxpayer and the taxpayer's spouse if married filing jointly, must be domiciled in
this state. For purposes of this credit, "domicile" shall not include any correctional facility, or
portion thereof, as defined in K.S.A. 75-5202, and amendments thereto, any juvenile correctional
facility, or portion thereof, as defined in K.S.A. 38-2302, and amendments thereto, any
correctional facility of the federal bureau of prisons located in the state of Kansas, or any city or
county jail facility in the state of Kansas.
(c) During the entire tax year a taxpayer filing single, head of household, or married filing
separate, or the taxpayer or the taxpayer's spouse if married filing jointly, must be either: (1) A
person having a disability, regardless of age; (2) a person without a disability who is 55 years of
age or older; or (3) a person without a disability who is younger than 55 years of age who claims
an exemption for one or more dependent children under 18 years of age.
(d) The amount of the credit shall be $125 for every exemption claimed on the taxpayer's
federal income tax return, except that no exemption shall be counted for a dependent unless the
dependent is a child under 18 years of age.
(e) The credit allowed under this provision shall be applied against the taxpayer's income
tax liability after all other credits allowed under the income tax act. It shall not be refundable and
may not be carried forward.
(f) (1) Every taxpayer claiming the credit shall supply the division in support of a claim,
reasonable proof of domicile, age and disability.
(2) A claim alleging disability shall be supported by a report of the examining physician of
the claimant with a statement or certificate that the applicant has a disability as defined in
subsection (g).
(g) "Disability" means: (1) Inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason
of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in
death or has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months,
and an individual shall be determined to be under a disability only if the physical or mental
impairment or impairments are of such severity that the individual is not only unable to do the
individual's previous work but cannot, considering age, education and work experience, engage
in any other kind of substantial gainful work which exists in the national economy, regardless of
whether such work exists in the immediate area in which the individual lives or whether a
specific job vacancy exists for the individual, or whether the individual would be hired if
application was made for work. For purposes of this paragraph, with respect to any individual,
"work which exists in the national economy" means work which exists in significant numbers
either in the region where the individual lives or in several regions of the country; and "physical

or mental impairment" means an impairment that results from anatomical, physiological or
psychological abnormalities which are demonstrable by medically acceptable clinical and
laboratory diagnostic techniques; or
(2) blindness and inability by reason of blindness to engage in substantial gainful activity
requiring skills or abilities comparable to those of any gainful activity in which the individual
has previously engaged with some regularity and over a substantial period of time. For purposes
of this paragraph "blindness" means central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with
the use of a correcting lens. An eye which is accompanied by a limitation in the fields of vision
such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees
shall be considered for the purpose of this paragraph as having a central visual acuity of 20/200
or less.
(h) The secretary of revenue is hereby authorized to adopt such rules and regulations as
may be necessary for the administration of the provisions of this section.

                                 Taxpayer Assistance

Additional copies of this notice, forms or publications are available from our web site,
www.ksrevenue.org. If you have questions about this Notice, please contact:

                              Taxpayer Assistance Center
                             Kansas Department of Revenue
                             915 SW Harrison St., 1st Floor
                                Topeka, KS 66612-1588
                                 Phone: 785-368-8222
                                  Fax: 785-291-3614