(a) A taxpayer of this State, including each spouse filing a joint return, shall be eligible for a nonrefundable credit against the tax imposed under section 5822 of this title of 10 percent of the first $2,500.00 per beneficiary, contributed by the taxpayer during the taxable year to a Vermont higher education investment plan account under 16 V.S.A. chapter 87, subchapter 7.

(b) A taxpayer who has received a credit under subsection (a) of this section shall repay to the Commissioner 10 percent of any distribution from a higher education investment plan account, which distribution is not used exclusively for costs of attendance at an approved postsecondary education institution as defined in 16 V.S.A. § 2822(6), up to a maximum of the total credits received by the taxpayer under subsection (a) of this section minus any amount of repayment of such credits in prior tax years. Repayments under this subsection shall be subject to assessment, notice, penalty and interest, collection, and other administration in the same manner as an income tax under this chapter. (Added 2003, No. 65, § 2, eff. for tax years beginning on and after Jan. 1, 2004; amended 2005, No. 207 (Adj. Sess.), § 6, eff. May 31, 2006; 2019, No. 51, § 19, eff. Jan. 1, 2019.)