Establishing a shortline railroad restoration tax credit, and including effective date and retroactive applicability provisions

329 (credit union taxation). To qualify for the tax credit under the bill, the taxpayer must be classified as a class II or class III railroad by the federal surface transportation board, and have a qualifying shortline railroad restoration project expenditure during the tax year. For a class III railroad, the amount of the tax credit shall not exceed the product of $7,000 multiplied by the number of miles of railroad track owned or leased within this state by the taxpayer at the close of the tax year when the qualifying shortline railroad restoration project expenditure occurred. For a class II railroad, the amount of the tax credit shall not exceed the product of $2,000 multiplied by the number of miles of railroad track owned or leased within the state by the taxpayer at the close of the tax year when the qualifying railroad project expenditure occurred. The amount of the tax credit shall equal percent of the total expense of the qualifying shortline railroad restoration project. The bill specifies that a qualifying shortline railroad restoration project expenditure is deemed to have occurred on the date the expenditure is incurred. The tax credit is not refundable, but any credit not used by the taxpayer may be carried forward for up to five years. However, a tax credit shall not be carried back to a tax year prior to the tax year in which the taxpayer first receives the tax credit. The bill allows the tax credit to be transferred to any individual or entity. The department of revenue is required to develop a system for the application, review, and authorization of tax credits awarded pursuant to this bill and shall control the issuance of all tax credit certificates. The bill takes effect upon enactment and applies retroactively to January 1, 2019, to tax years beginning on or after that date.