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Committee reviews proposal to create consumer restitution account for victims of scams; tax treatment clarified
Summary
A bill to establish a consumer-protection restitution account that would hold a portion of collected restitution for distribution to victims received committee consideration; sponsors sought to ensure returned funds are non-taxable and excluded from income calculations for property tax/renter credits.
Senators reviewed a bill to create a consumer protection restitution account intended to return some proceeds recovered from fraud and scam cases to victimized individuals.
Senate File 447 (as amended with an A15 amendment acknowledged in committee) would establish an account to hold a portion of civil recoveries and restitution obtained through actions brought by the Attorney General for distribution to victims. Sponsor testimony described safeguards to ensure funds paid to victims are not treated as taxable income and are excluded from calculation of household income for property tax/renter credits. The bill contains transparency language and limits annual distributions to no more than $1 million in a given year, subject to availability of recoveries.
Sponsor Senator Rest said the legislation was advanced by AARP as a priority and that the committee’s jurisdiction focused on the tax treatment of restitution dollars. Committee members asked procedural and transparency questions and the bill was laid over for possible inclusion in future legislation.
Ending: The committee laid the bill on the table for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill; staff and the Attorney General’s office remain available for questions on implementation and transparency.
