A taxpayer may claim a Louisiana tax deduction for certain educational coaching expenses paid between March 13, 2020 and December 31, 2020, subject to a per-child cap and an overall income limit.
§297.15. Tax deduction; educational expenses; COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 A.(1) There shall be allowed a deduction from tax table income for the sum of amounts paid from March 13, 2020, through December 31, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic for expenses for educational coaching services for an in-person facilitator of virtual education delivered by a public or approved nonpublic elementary or secondary school. (2) The amount of the deduction authorized by this Section shall be equal to the actual amount of eligible educational coaching services paid by the taxpayer per eligible child or five thousand dollars per eligible child, whichever is less. The amount of the deduction authorized in this Section shall not exceed the total taxable income of the individual. B. For purposes of this Section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: (1) "Approved nonpublic elementary or secondary school" shall mean a nonpublic elementary or secondary school located in Louisiana which complies with the criteria set forth in Brumfield, et al. v. Dodd, et al. 425 F. Supp. 528 (E.D. La. 1977) and Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or any public elementary or secondary laboratory school which is operated by a public college or university. (2) "Eligible child" shall mean a student who qualifies as a dependency exemption on the taxpayer's Louisiana income tax return for either the taxable year or the prior taxable year. (3) "Immediate family" shall mean the taxpayer's spouse, the children of the taxpayer, the spouses of the taxpayer's children, the taxpayer's brothers or sisters and their spouses, the taxpayer's parents, and the parents of the taxpayer's spouse. (4) "In-person facilitator of virtual education" shall mean an individual providing in-person instruction or assistance to one or more elementary or secondary school students who is at least eighteen years of age at the time services are provided or, if not eighteen years of age at the time services are provided, who graduated from high school. The individual providing the in-person instruction or assistance shall not be the taxpayer or a member of the taxpayer's immediate family. C. Expenses claimed by a taxpayer pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall not be eligible for the deductions provided for in R.S. 47:297.10, 297.11, or 297.12 or the credit provided for in R.S. 47:297.4. Acts 2020, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. Oct. 28, 2020. NOTE: See Acts 2020, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 13, re: applicability.