Florida Senate - 2014                                    SB 1608
       
       
        
       By Senator Clemens
       
       
       
       
       
       27-01356-14                                           20141608__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to corporate tax credits; creating s.
    3         220.198, F.S.; providing a short title; providing a
    4         tax credit against the corporate income tax for hiring
    5         student interns; providing qualifying criteria for the
    6         business and the student intern; providing limitations
    7         and requirements with respect to the program;
    8         providing that the tax credit is equal to a specified
    9         percentage of the wages paid to the student intern,
   10         subject to a cap on the total amount of credit
   11         claimable by the business; authorizing the Department
   12         of Revenue to adopt rules; authorizing a business to
   13         carry forward an unused tax credit for a specified
   14         number of years; providing an effective date.
   15          
   16  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   17  
   18         Section 1. Section 220.198, Florida Statutes, is created to
   19  read:
   20         220.198 Student intern tax credit.—
   21         (1) This section may be cited as the “Florida Student
   22  Intern Employment Act.”
   23         (2) A business that hires a student as an intern within the
   24  student’s field of study qualifies for a corporate income tax
   25  credit against the tax imposed by this chapter of up to $3,600
   26  per student if:
   27         (a) The business has been in existence and continuously
   28  operating for at least 3 years.
   29         (b) The student has not previously participated in an
   30  internship under this section.
   31         (c) The business hires the student as an intern for up to
   32  180 days.
   33         (d) The student has earned at least 30 or more semester
   34  hours of credit from a college, trade school, or university
   35  accredited by a regional accrediting association, as defined by
   36  State Board of Education rule, before being hired by the
   37  business as an intern.
   38         (e) While working for the business as an intern, the
   39  student maintains at least a 2.0 grade point average.
   40         (3) Subject to the cap provided under subsection (2), the
   41  amount of the tax credit that a business may claim is equal to
   42  50 percent of the wages paid to a student intern during the
   43  intern’s period of employment by the business. The business may
   44  claim a tax credit for no more than two student interns in any
   45  tax year.
   46         (4) The Department of Revenue may adopt rules governing the
   47  manner and form of applications for the tax credit. The
   48  department may establish guidelines for making an affirmative
   49  showing of qualification for the tax credit under this section.
   50         (5) A qualifying business that is awarded a tax credit
   51  under this section may carry forward any unused credit for up to
   52  2 years.
   53         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.