The Utah Legislature amended a bill that would have offered a 5-percent tax credit for students to be used toward tuition and mandatory student fees.
House Bill 35, which originally would have allowed students to claim the tuition credit on their tax forms, has been changed to require a student to make a contribution to the Utah Educational Savings Plan in order to receive the credit. The students will now be required to open an account with UESP and contribute their tax refunds8212;only then will they be eligible to receive the tax credit.
The amendment was more or less a concession between the parties involved, as was evident by remarks made in defense of the bill by its Senate sponsor, Sen. Wayne Neiderhauser, R-Sandy.
“Instead of seeing this go down in flames because of a fiscal note, we should go ahead and substitute out the tax credit and move ahead with the portion that deals with being able to take your refund and through your tax return, put it towards UESP,” Neiderhauser said.
The bill is awaiting the signature of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.