By EVAN DUNBAR
KU Statehouse Wire Reporter

TOPEKA — Kansas college students are one step closer to having a little more cash in their pockets next school year as the House unanimously approved a bill Wednesday to refund sales tax on textbooks.

With an average of $660 spent per year on textbooks, a student would save $40. The bill now moves to the Senate.

Originally, House Bill 2557 would have made textbooks for students tax exempt. However, Rep. Brandon Whipple, D-Wichita, amended the bill Tuesday to make the refund retroactive, writing: “Sales tax paid on and after July 1, 2014, on the gross receipts received from the sale of required textbooks purchased in Kansas by a student enrolled in a postsecondary educational institution in this state shall be refunded.”

According to a supplemental note on HB2557, the refunds would be claimed pursuant to forms developed by the Director of Taxation. Students looking for the tax refund would also have to accompany the forms with sufficient documentation of the textbook purchases. Essentially students would need to send in the proper forms and their textbook receipts in the mail to receive the refund of the sales tax.

At the end of the amendment, “post-secondary educational institution” is defined as “any university, municipal university, community college and technical college, whether public or private.” This means that many other schools will potentially be affected by this legislation, not just the seven public, Kansas Board of Regents’ universities. But it was the student leaders from those universities who pushed for the legislation at higher education day at the Capitol last week.

“This is a good sign that student voices were heard by legislators,” University of Kansas Student Body President Marcus Tetweiler said.

The bill will now be referred to a Senate committee for consideration.

“The students need to be ready to testify at the Senate,” Rep. Mario Goico, R-Wichita, said. “They need to stay in contact with Sen. Les Donovan (R – Wichita, Assessment and Taxation Committee Chairman). I will also be writing letters to the Senate president.”

But the bill is not quite what student leaders had hoped for when they first proposed the elimination of sales tax on textbooks. Tetweiler said that it is still money coming out of students’ pockets, but he is excited about the bill’s passing the House.

“It is more of a rebate than a complete tax exemption, but again, I’m excited that what was proposed was passed,” Tetweiler said. “We (student leaders) will be completely ready to testify when the time comes. I am very excited for the opportunity.”

Rep. Goico originally sponsored the student leaders’ proposal when they went to the House Taxation Committee last week. Goico said he was surprised when Whipple proposed the amendment to HB2557. Because the student’s proposal is not its own bill, Goico said the bill could be split when it goes to the Senate and that “things might happen.” However, he did say he is confident the bill will pass the Senate.

“I wanted a bill, I did not expect an amendment,” Goico said. “But sometimes we do things to take a shortcut in Legislature.”