La. Tax Agency Issues New Insurance Tax Credit Form

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Louisiana taxpayers due a credit because of insurance assessments can use a new form to get the money, rather than waiting until the 2008 tax season, the state Department of Revenue said.

The credit is available to nearly everyone who pays property insurance premiums in Louisiana. More than 200,000 people who took advantage of it have pocketed an average of more than $168 each, the revenue department said.

However, more than a million Louisiana homeowners have not yet applied for the tax refund due to them as state reimbursement on their insurance premiums following Hurricane Katrina, state officials say.

To get the money, eligible taxpayers can now fill out a form available on the Internet and submit it anytime to the tax agency. The form is available at the revenue department’s web site, http://www.revenue.la.gov/.

The state estimates that up to $200 million is still on the table for the refund.

In December, the Legislature set aside $239 million to refund special assessments that policyholders paid in 2005 and 2006 to help bail out Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state’s insurer of last resort that was overwhelmed by damage claims from Katrina.

The typical assessment was equal to 15 percent of the homeowner’s annual premium.

As of early July, 214,400 claims had been made for the tax refund, totaling $36.1 million. The refund was supposed to be taken on state income tax forms due in May.

Greg Albrecht, chief economist for the Legislative Fiscal Office, said it was unclear how much the tax refund will actually cost the state because many people who were expected to take the refund might not, either because they don’t know about it or don’t want to bother with the paperwork.

“How much of that we will actually lose is a question mark, but we have made it easier to get at (the refund) now,” he said.

On the Net: Tax refund form is at www.revenue.la.gov/forms/taxforms/540INS(7_07)F.pdf