Title: Employment of Student Interns

Summary: Creates "Florida Student Intern Employment Program"; provides tax credit against corporate income tax for hiring student interns; provides qualifying criteria for business & student intern; authorizes DOR to adopt rules.

Full Text:
An act relating to the employment of student interns; creating s. 220.198, F.S.; creating the "Florida Student Intern Employment Program"; providing a tax credit against the corporate income tax for hiring student interns; providing qualifying criteria for a business and a student intern; providing that the tax credit is equal to a specified percentage of the wages paid to the student intern, subject to a ca pon the total amount of credit claimable by the business; authorizing the Department of Revenue to adopt rules; authorizing a business to carry forward unused tax credit for a specified period; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legisl ature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Section 220.198, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 220.198 Corporate income tax credits for employment of student interns.-(1) This section may be cited as the "Florida Student Intern Employment Progr am." (2) A business qualifies for a corporate income tax credit against the tax imposed by this chapter in a total amount of not more than $3,600 per student for hiring a student as an intern HB 2016 within the student's field of study if: (a) The business has been in existence continuously for at least years. (b) The business claims a tax credit for no more than two student interns in any tax year. (c) The student has not previously participated in an internship under this section. (d) The business hir es the student as an intern for no more than days. (e) Before being hired by the business as an intern, the student earns at least or more semester hours of credit from a college, trade school, or university accredited by a regional accrediting as sociation as defined by State Board of Education rule. (f) While working for the business as an intern, the student maintains at least a 2.0 grade point average. (3) Subject to the cap provided under subsection (2), the amount of tax credit that a busi ness may claim against the tax imposed by this chapter is equal to percent of the wages paid to a student intern during the intern's period of employment by the business. (4) The Department of Revenue may adopt rules governing the manner and form of a pplications for the tax credit. The department may establish guidelines for making an affirmative showing of qualification for the tax credit under this section. (5) A qualifying business that is awarded a credit under HB 2016 this section may carry forward any unused credit for years. Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.