This is an economic development incentive evaluation that satisfies the requirements in K.S.A. 46-1137. We focused our analysis on the angel investor tax credit program’s general goals rather than economic or fiscal impact because of data limitations and the program's focus on investors instead of businesses.

The angel investor tax credit program gives investors a tax credit for investing in certain Kansas startup businesses. During 2015-2018, investors received $20.2 million in income tax credits for investing $51.5 million in Kansas businesses. The program’s goal is to increase investment in innovative businesses. Department of Commerce officials said they consider how long businesses operate and whether they've created jobs to determine if the program is successful. State law does not define innovative businesses, but we think the businesses that participated in the program from 2015-2018 generally appeared to be in reasonable industries. Further, the participating businesses we reviewed from 2009-2019 stayed in business for 3-to-5 years about as often as non-participants but created fewer average jobs. However, we couldn’t determine whether participating businesses stayed in business or created jobs because of the program or something else.