Vermont S 269: An act relating to immunity from liability for agritourism activities

Bill Text

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VT LEG #385118 v.2
S.269 1
Introduced by Senator Chittenden 2
Referred to Committee on 3
Date: 4
Subject: Taxation and finance; education property tax; homestead property tax 5
credit and renter credit; household income; Social Security; 6
Supplemental Security Income 7
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to exclude 8
Supplemental Security Income payments from the definition of “household 9
income” for purposes of calculating the homestead property tax credit and 10
renter credit. 11
An act relating to excluding Supplemental Security Income payments from 12
household income 13
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 14
Sec. 1. 32 V.S.A. § 6061 is amended to read: 15
§ 6061. DEFINITIONS 16
As used in this chapter unless the context requires otherwise: 17
* * * 18

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VT LEG #385118 v.2
(3)(A) “Household” means, for any individual and for any taxable year, 1
the individual and such other persons as the other persons who resided with the 2
individual in the principal dwelling at any time during the taxable year. 3
* * * 4
(4)(A) “Household income” means modified adjusted gross income, but 5
not less than zero, received in a calendar year by: 6
(i) all persons of a household while members of that household; 7
and 8
(ii) the spouse of the claimant who is not a member of that 9
household and who is not legally separated from the claimant in the taxable 10
year as defined in subdivision (9) of this section, unless the spouse is at least 11
62 years of age and has moved to a nursing home or other care facility with no 12
reasonable prospect of returning to the homestead. 13
(B) “Household income” does not mean: 14
(i) the modified adjusted gross income of the spouse or former 15
spouse of the claimant for any period that the spouse or former spouse is not a 16
member of the household, if the claimant is legally separated or divorced from 17
the spouse in the taxable year as defined in subdivision (9) of this section; or 18
(ii) the modified adjusted gross income of the spouse of the 19
claimant, if the spouse is subject to a protection order as defined in 15 V.S.A. 20

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VT LEG #385118 v.2
§ 1101(5) that is in effect at the time the claimant reports household income to 1
the Department of Taxes. 2
(5) “Modified adjusted gross income” means “federal adjusted gross 3
income”: 4
(A) Before the deduction of any trade or business loss from a sole 5
proprietorship, loss from a partnership, loss from a limited liability company or 6
“subchapter S” corporation, loss from a rental property, or capital loss, except 7
that in the case of a business that sells a business property with respect to 8
which it is required, under the Internal Revenue Code, to report a capital gain, 9
a business loss incurred in the same tax year with respect to the same business 10
may be netted against such capital gain, and except that a business loss from a 11
sole proprietorship may be netted against a business gain from a sole 12
proprietorship, as long as the loss and the gain are incurred in the same tax 13
year with respect to different business. 14
(B) With the addition of the following, to the extent not included in 15
adjusted gross income: alimony, support money other than gifts, gifts received 16
by the household in excess of a total of $6,500.00 in cash or cash-equivalents 17
cash equivalents, cash public assistance and relief (not including relief granted 18
under this subchapter), cost of living cost-of-living allowances paid to federal 19
employees, allowances received by dependents of servicemen and women 20
service members, the portion of Roth IRA distributions representing 21

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VT LEG #385118 v.2
investment earnings and not included in adjusted gross income, railroad 1
retirement benefits, payments received under the federal Social Security Act 2
other than Supplemental Security Income payments, all benefits under 3
Veterans’ Acts, federal pension, and annuity benefits not included in adjusted 4
gross income, nontaxable interest received from the state or federal 5
government or any of its instrumentalities, workers’ compensation, the gross 6
amount of “loss of time” insurance, and the amount of capital gains excluded 7
from adjusted gross income, less the net employment and self-employment 8
taxes withheld from or paid by the individual (exclusive of any amounts 9
deducted to arrive at adjusted gross income or deducted on account of excess 10
payment of employment taxes) on account of income included under this 11
section, less any amounts paid as child support money if substantiated by 12
receipts or other evidence that the Commissioner may require. 13
(C) Without the inclusion of: any gifts from nongovernmental 14
sources other than those described in subdivision (B) of this subdivision (5), 15
surplus food