HB3474 amends the Illinois Income Tax Act to create a new individual income tax credit for taxpayers who plant cover crops in Illinois beginning with taxable years on or after January 1, 2026. The credit is equal to the taxpayer’s cost of planting the cover crops, and it applies against Illinois income taxes imposed on individuals. The bill is framed as a revenue measure and is limited to cover crops planted at a location in the state.
The bill also sets basic administration rules for the credit. It cannot reduce a taxpayer’s liability below zero, and any unused credit may be carried forward for up to five taxable years. If multiple credits are available, the earliest credit must be used first. The bill begins defining “cover crop” in the text provided, but the definition is cut off in the excerpt, so the full statutory definition is not visible here.
Impact
If enacted, HB3474 would add a new Section 246 to the Illinois Income Tax Act and create a state income tax incentive for agricultural conservation practices. It would directly affect individual taxpayers who incur costs to plant cover crops in Illinois, potentially reducing their state income tax liability and encouraging adoption of soil-health and erosion-control practices. The bill would not change corporate tax rules in the text provided, but it would create a new personal income tax credit with carryforward treatment.
Sentiment
No committee transcripts or recorded votes are available in the provided material, so there is no documented debate or formal sentiment history to assess. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears policy-driven and supportive of agricultural conservation, with a straightforward tax incentive structure and no visible opposition in the supplied record.
Contention
The main potential points of contention are fiscal and policy-related: the cost to state revenue from creating a refundable-like incentive structure (though the credit is not refundable because it cannot reduce liability below zero), whether the credit should be limited to individuals rather than businesses, and how the undefined or truncated statutory definition of “cover crop” would be interpreted in practice. Another possible issue is whether the credit should cover all planting costs or only certain qualifying expenses, but the provided text does not include any limiting details beyond the carryforward rules.