SS/SCS/SB 876 - For all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, this act authorizes a tax credit in the amount of fifty percent of an eligible taxpayer's qualified railroad expenditures and qualified new rail infrastructure expenditures. "Qualified railroad expenditures" are defined as gross expenditures for maintenance, reconstruction, or replacement of railroad infrastructure, as described in the act. "Qualified new rail infrastructure expenditures" are defined as gross expenditures for new rail infrastructure, as described in the act.

A tax credit for qualified railroad expenditures shall not exceed $5,000 multiplied by the number of miles of railroad track owned or leased in the state by a railroad, and the total amount of tax credits for qualified railroad expenditures authorized in a calendar year shall not exceed $4.5 million. A tax credit for qualified new rail infrastructure expenditures shall not exceed $1 million for each new rail-served customer project, and the total amount of tax credits for qualified new rail infrastructure expenditures authorized in a calendar year shall not exceed $10 million.

An eligible taxpayer shall submit a certificate of eligibility to the Department of Economic Development after the completion of the qualified railroad expenditures or qualified new rail infrastructure expenditures.

Tax credits authorized by the act shall not be refundable, but may be carried forward for five subsequent tax years. Tax credits may be transferred as described in the act.

This act shall sunset on December 31, 2030, unless reauthorized by the General Assembly.

This act is substantially similar to HB 1824 (2024), SB 385 (2023), and HCS/HB 657 (2023), and to a provision in HCS/HB 1935 (2024) and HCS/HB 939 (2023).

JOSH NORBERG