The short answer
A federal tax credit of up to $1,700 per individual for donations to scholarship granting organizations takes effect January 1, 2027, and operates only in states that elect to participate; the IRS’s participating-state list, current as of September 14, 2026 and retrieved October 2026, names 30 states (IRS). Treasury and the IRS published proposed regulations (REG-117199-25) and temporary regulations (T.D. 10057) in the Federal Register on October 2, 2026 (91 FR 62818; 91 FR 62655), with comments due December 1 and a public hearing on December 15. Final rules will follow. The published text does not decide whether the scholarships can pay homeschool expenses. It defines a school by cross-reference to Section 530(b)(3)(B), which provides that a school is one offering K–12 education “as determined under State law,” and says the guidance on qualified expenses and schools will be issued separately under Section 530 (proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62821; proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62826). A family should therefore treat eligibility as settled only when both its state’s participation and its state’s classification of home education point the same way.
The short version
On January 1, 2027, the first federal tax-credit scholarship program takes effect. Section 70411 of P.L. 119-21, the reconciliation law signed July 4, 2025, created a new Section 25F of the Internal Revenue Code that works in three steps: an individual gives cash to a scholarship granting organization, or SGO; the donor claims a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit of up to $1,700 per year; and the SGO turns the pooled donations into scholarships for K–12 students in that state (CRS R48724). The credit applies to taxable years ending after December 31, 2026 (proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62818), so the first returns claiming it will be filed in 2028.
For homeschool families, the credit is the smaller half of the story. The larger half is the scholarship, and whether homeschool expenses can be paid with one comes down to a single sentence of federal law that defers to state law. Treasury’s preliminary answer, given in a June 2026 preview of the regulations, was that a home school would be treated as a school “if it is treated as a school under State law” (Treasury preview). The proposed regulations published on October 2, 2026 do not repeat that sentence. Neither the rule text nor the explanatory preamble addresses home schools or home education; the word “homeschool” appears once, in a cost-analysis footnote citing a survey of parent preferences (proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62840). The regulations define “school” by reference to Section 530(b)(3)(B), whose test is state law, and say the guidance on qualified expenses and schools will come separately under Section 530 (proposed § 1.25F-1(a)(17), 91 FR 62855; proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62821). The state-law hinge therefore stands, and the proposed text neither confirms nor displaces the June preview on home schools.
Thirty states have filed advance elections to participate, per the IRS’s official list dated September 14, 2026, retrieved October 2026 (IRS), the same 30 states that appeared on the July 24 list. The IRS’s October 1 release and the proposed regulations both give the figure as thirty (IR-2026-117; proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62850). The count was 27 on June 8 (IR-2026-76), and it can still move before the 2027 deadlines described below. Private trackers disagreed with the official list and with each other in August, which this guide addresses below.
Where this fits on Every Homeschool
This guide covers the new federal layer only. State education savings accounts are separate programs with their own rules, catalogued in the ESA-by-state guide, with program-level detail for Texas TEFA and West Virginia’s Hope Scholarship. Whether a home school is legally a school in a given state is the province of the state homeschool laws guide.
What the October 2026 regulations say
Treasury and the IRS announced the regulations on October 1, 2026 (IR-2026-117), and the Federal Register published both documents on October 2: temporary regulations, T.D. 10057, on how states elect and list scholarship organizations and on SGO registration and donor reporting (91 FR 62655), and proposed regulations, REG-117199-25, on the credit, the SGO operating requirements, and the remaining definitions (91 FR 62818). The table summarizes the provisions that matter to homeschool families. Each row gives the Federal Register page, retrieved October 2026, so a reader can check the text.
| Question | What the published text says | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Status of the rules | The temporary regulations are effective December 1, 2026, apply on or after September 1, 2026, and expire October 1, 2029. The proposed regulations are not final; they are proposed to apply to taxable years ending on or after the date the final regulations are published in the Federal Register, which follows the comment period and hearing. | 91 FR 62655; temporary § 1.25F-1T(b), 91 FR 62668; proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62836 |
| Who is an eligible student | A member of a household whose income, for the calendar year before the scholarship application, is not greater than 300 percent of area median gross income, and who is eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school. Area median gross income follows the Section 8 method with family-size adjustments, and the rule says the IRS will publish the figures in the Internal Revenue Bulletin each year. | proposed § 1.25F-1(a)(4), 91 FR 62854-62855 |
| How household income is counted | Annual income as defined in 24 CFR 5.609, except that imputed returns on net assets, such as unrealized appreciation in a home, are disregarded and non-cash receipts are excluded. Child support and alimony that are not taxable income are counted. The household is the student plus the people residing with the student; with shared custody, it is the household where the student lives longest (if time is equal, the household with the highest income). | proposed § 1.25F-3(c)(6)(ii), 91 FR 62860 |
| How an SGO verifies income | Documentation of income (pay stubs, prior-year tax returns, IRS transcripts, Forms W-2); an award letter dated within 12 months showing the household receives SNAP, TANF, WIC, Section 8 housing, or SSI; a safe harbor for school-selected tutoring and special-needs scholarships at schools in low-income areas; and a safe harbor for foster children. | proposed § 1.25F-3(c)(6)(iii), 91 FR 62860 |
| What counts as a qualified expense, and as a school | A qualified expense is any expense of an eligible student described in Section 530(b)(3)(A) and any guidance under it, and “school” has the Section 530(b)(3)(B) definition and any guidance under it. The preamble reads that definition as covering schools providing K–12 education “as determined under state law” and says each category of expense depends on the student’s enrollment or attendance at, or otherwise being in, a school. No provision names home schools. Guidance on the permitted types of expense “will be issued separately under section 530.” | proposed § 1.25F-1(a)(14), (17), 91 FR 62855; proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62821; proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62826 |
| How scholarships are paid | No money goes to the family except as a reimbursement against a receipt the SGO verifies. Tuition, fees, and room and board charged by a school are paid to the school. Other vendors may be paid directly if verified as appropriate providers and not related, directly or indirectly, to the scholarship recipient. An SGO may instead pay through a qualified digital wallet. | proposed § 1.25F-3(c)(5), 91 FR 62859-62860; proposed § 1.25F-1(a)(13), 91 FR 62855 |
| Where the student must live | Scholarships go only to students who reside, under state law, in the state on whose list the SGO appears. Attending school in a state or buying goods there is not enough. Dependents of members of the Armed Forces and of people residing on Indian Lands have exceptions. | proposed § 1.25F-3(c)(7), 91 FR 62860-62861 |
| The donor’s credit | The lesser of qualified contributions, reduced by any state credits for them, or $1,700 per individual. Spouses filing jointly are treated as separate taxpayers, so a joint return can claim up to $3,400. The credit is nonrefundable, carries forward five years, and the credited amount cannot also be deducted as a charitable gift. The gift must be cash, not a digital asset, and the donor must designate it as a qualified contribution when it is made; the designation is irrevocable. Gifts made through a partnership or S corporation do not count. | proposed § 1.25F-2(a)(2), (a)(3), (c), 91 FR 62856; proposed § 1.25F-2(e), (f), 91 FR 62856-62857; proposed § 1.25F-1(a)(12), 91 FR 62855 |
| Donor paperwork | The SGO must give each donor a written acknowledgment with a unique donor number by January 31 of the following year and report donor totals to the IRS by February 28. The taxpayer substantiates the credit on Form 8525 using that number. A donor may rely on an organization’s presence on the IRS SGO list at the time of the gift, unless the donor knew the organization did not qualify or was responsible for, or aware of, the conduct that led to its removal. | temporary § 1.25F-4T(c), 91 FR 62668; proposed § 1.25F-2(b), (g), 91 FR 62856-62857 |
| What a state may require | A state may not require SGOs to operate more restrictively than the statute and regulations, such as by limiting the type of school recipients may attend or the types of qualified expenses scholarships may fund. An individual SGO may still narrow its own focus, for example to particular subjects. | temporary § 1.25F-5T(e)(2), 91 FR 62671-62672; proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62820 |
| Reliance in 2027 | Taxpayers, organizations, and states may rely on the proposed regulations for qualified contributions made on or after January 1, 2027, in taxable years ending before final regulations are published, if they follow the portions applicable to each in their entirety and in a consistent manner. | proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62836 |
How the credit-to-scholarship pipeline works
The donor side
Only individuals can claim the credit. A claimant must be a citizen or resident of the United States, and corporations are excluded (Notice 2025-70). The contribution must be cash rather than stock or property, must go to an SGO on a participating state’s list, and the SGO must use it to fund scholarships inside the state where it is listed (Notice 2025-70). The cap is exact: the credit “allowed to any taxpayer for any taxable year may not exceed $1,700,” per the codified statute, retrieved August 2026 (26 U.S.C. §25F).
Three design details matter for household planning. The credit is nonrefundable, but unused amounts carry forward up to five years, applied first-in-first-out (Notice 2025-70). It is reduced by any credit the donor receives on a state return for the same contribution, and a gift claimed for the federal credit cannot also be taken as a charitable deduction (Notice 2025-70). The proposed regulations settle two points the notice left open. The state credit reduces the donor’s qualified contributions before the $1,700 limit applies, and a state credit is treated as attaching first to any part of a gift not designated as a qualified contribution (proposed § 1.25F-2(c), 91 FR 62856). And spouses filing a joint return are treated as separate taxpayers, so a couple can claim up to $3,400 if each spouse contributes at least $1,700 (proposed § 1.25F-2(a)(2), 91 FR 62856; proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62821; IR-2026-117). The credit is permanent; the statute contains no sunset date (§25F).
The recipient side
Scholarships go to “eligible students”: members of a household whose income for the calendar year before the scholarship application is not greater than 300 percent of area median gross income, who are eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school (§25F). The benchmark is area median income, not the federal poverty level, a distinction some early coverage got wrong. The proposed regulations now define the inputs: household income is annual income under the HUD Section 8 rules with imputed returns on assets and non-cash items disregarded, and a household is the student plus the people residing with the student (proposed § 1.25F-3(c)(6)(ii), 91 FR 62860). The rule says the IRS will publish the area-median-income figures in the Internal Revenue Bulletin each year (proposed § 1.25F-1(a)(4)(ii), 91 FR 62855); the IRS’s Federal Scholarship Tax Credit page, retrieved October 2026, listed participating states and no income table (IRS FSTC page), so a family cannot yet compute its limit to the dollar. Treasury and the IRS estimate that about 95 percent of children nationwide live in households below the 300 percent limit (proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62827). Scholarship money a family receives is excluded from gross income under a companion provision, new Section 139K (CRS R48724).
The organizations in the middle are tightly specified. An SGO must be a 501(c)(3) public charity rather than a private foundation, keep Section 25F contributions in separate accounts, spend at least 90 percent of its income on scholarships, serve ten or more students who do not all attend the same school, verify household income and family size against the income limit, give priority to students who received a scholarship the previous year and then to their siblings, and refuse donations earmarked for a particular child (Notice 2025-70). The proposed regulations add operating detail: income for the 90 percent test means total gross receipts, unless a single-State SGO whose activities are at least 85 percent scholarship granting applies the tests to its segregated Section 25F account (a multistate SGO must meet the same 85 percent test and keep a separate account for each state), and the spending may be completed by the end of the taxable year after the income is received (proposed § 1.25F-3(c)(2), (c)(3), (c)(4), 91 FR 62859).
The credit belongs to the donor. The scholarship belongs to the family. A homeschool household can occupy both roles in the same year, but the rules, the caps, and the open questions are different on each side.
The homeschool hinge: one sentence of state law
Section 25F does not carry its own list of qualified expenses. It cross-references Section 530(b)(3)(A), the Coverdell education savings account definition of elementary and secondary expenses: tuition, fees, academic tutoring, special needs services, books, supplies, and other equipment “incurred in connection with the enrollment or attendance of the designated beneficiary as an elementary or secondary school student at a public, private, or religious school,” plus room and board, uniforms, transportation, and supplementary items and services required or provided by such a school, plus computer technology, equipment, and internet access used by the student and family during school years (26 U.S.C. §530, retrieved August 2026).
Everything therefore depends on what counts as a school. Section 530(b)(3)(B) defines one as “any school which provides elementary education or secondary education (kindergarten through grade 12), as determined under State law” (§530(b)(3)(B)). Those last five words carry more weight for homeschool families than anything else in the program. Federal law does not decide whether a home school is a school. State law does.
Treasury addressed the question on June 9, 2026, in remarks by Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy Kevin Salinger previewing the regulations: “Accordingly, a home school would be treated as a school if it is treated as a school under State law.” The same document said the proposed rules would define “school” consistent with Section 530 to include public, private, and religious K–12 schools as determined under state law, and would clarify that schools operated by federally recognized Tribes qualify (Treasury preview; press release). The proposed regulations published on October 2, 2026 keep the cross-reference to Section 530 and omit the home-school sentence. The proposed definition provides that “school” “has the definition set forth in section 530(b)(3)(B) and any guidance issued thereunder” (proposed § 1.25F-1(a)(17), 91 FR 62855). The preamble applies that definition, “as determined under state law,” to the question whether an expense is a qualified expense. It adds that the definition of an eligible student does not itself require enrollment in a school when a family applies, though an expense qualifies only if it satisfies Section 530(b)(3)(A), including that section’s connection to a school, and it says Treasury and the IRS intend to issue Section 530 guidance on qualified expenses and schools “as soon as possible” (proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62821). The rule text does not say how a home school is classified, so the question stays with state law and with the separate Section 530 guidance.
What the hinge looks like on the ground varies by statute book. North Carolina defines a home school as “a nonpublic school consisting of the children of not more than two families or households” (N.C.G.S. §115C-563). In a state with that structure, the state-law test points toward eligibility. In states that regulate home education as its own legal category rather than as a school, the question is genuinely open until Treasury’s Section 530 guidance and, likely, state-level determinations resolve it. The state-by-state homeschool law guide catalogs which legal structure each state uses.
The correct formulation as of October 2026 is therefore not “homeschool expenses qualify.” It is: homeschool expenses can qualify only where the family’s homeschool is treated as a school under that state’s law, and the guidance on which expenses qualify is a separate Section 530 workstream that Treasury says it will issue. The October 2026 regulations leave that formulation unchanged.
On scope, the June preview said Treasury “fully intend[s] that scholarships may be used to support additive academic tutoring and special needs services” (Treasury preview). The proposed regulations treat the expense list as the subject of separate guidance under Section 530, which the preamble calls a high priority, and say an SGO may award scholarships only for expenses reasonably necessary to further its charitable purposes within the outer boundaries that Section 530(b)(3)(A) sets (proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62826). The IRS’s October 1 release describes the covered expenses in general terms: private-school tuition, academic tutoring, special-needs services, books, supplies, computers and other equipment, and other expenses connected with a student’s enrollment or attendance (IR-2026-117). There is no authoritative federal list yet of which homeschool line items qualify. State coverage shows how one state frames the expense list: reporting on North Carolina’s opt-in law describes SGO scholarships as usable for “tuition, tutoring, dual enrollment, special education therapies, transportation, curriculum materials, testing fees, and other qualified educational expenses” (Carolina Journal), though the federal definition, not the state bill’s framing, will control.
Which states are in, as of September 14, 2026
Participation is opt-in, state by state. A state joins by filing Form 15714, the advance election created by Rev. Proc. 2026-6; the IRS opened that process for filings on or after January 1, 2026, after announcing it together with Notice 2025-70 in December 2025 (IRS). The election is made by “the Governor of the State or by such other individual, agency, or entity as is designated under State law to make such elections on behalf of the State with respect to Federal tax benefits” (Notice 2025-70), a clause with practical consequences described below. The temporary regulations carry the same rule into the Treasury regulations: the election is made by the Governor or by the person or agency designated under state law, and it covers a single calendar year (temporary § 1.25F-5T(c)(1), (c)(2), 91 FR 62669).
The authoritative roster is the IRS’s own Federal Scholarship Tax Credit page, which showed 30 states with advance elections for 2027 on its list current as of September 14, 2026, retrieved October 2026 (IRS FSTC page). The same 30 states appeared on the July 24 list, and the count was 27 on June 8, 2026 (IR-2026-76). An advance election is only the first step: a state must perfect it by submitting its list of scholarship organizations, and for 2027 the deadline is February 15, 2027 (see What happens next below).
| Status | States | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Advance election filed (30) | Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming | IRS list, current as of September 14, 2026, retrieved October 2026 |
| Signaled intent, no election on file | New York (Gov. Hochul, reported May 2026) | Commonwealth Foundation; not on the September 14 IRS list |
| Opt-in bill vetoed, veto standing | Wisconsin (AB 602 vetoed March 30, 2026), Arizona (multiple bills vetoed) | DFI tracker, retrieved August 2026 |
| Governor stated the state will not participate | Minnesota, Oregon, New Mexico, Hawaii | DFI tracker, retrieved August 2026 |
| No formal action | California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and the remainder | Commonwealth Foundation, as of August 2026 |
A note on trackers, because the counts circulating online do not match. The Defense of Freedom Institute’s tracker showed 27 advance elections when retrieved in August 2026 (DFI), while a commercial tracker at eftccredit.com claimed 30 states opted in as of August 13, 2026 (eftccredit.com). The IRS page is the primary source and the one to check directly; every count in this guide carries its retrieval date because the total has moved nearly month to month.
How the states got in
Virginia moved first. Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced submission of Form 15714 on January 9, 2026, with an initial list of eight SGOs, and five more were added on January 16 (Ballotpedia News; WVVA). Democrat Abigail Spanberger was sworn in as governor the next day, and Virginia remained on the IRS list through the September 14 update, an early sign that an election can outlast the administration that filed it. Mississippi announced participation on January 19 and Georgia on January 20 (Ballotpedia News). Colorado’s Jared Polis announced the state’s decision to opt in on January 29 (CPR), and Chalkbeat described him in May as the first Democratic governor to opt in (Chalkbeat). Colorado is not the only state on the list with a Democratic governor. Five of the 30 states on the July 24 list had one, each in office before that date: Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Virginia (National Governors Association, retrieved October 2026). What sets Colorado apart is how its election came about: Virginia’s was filed under Youngkin, and the Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina elections came through legislatures overriding a Democratic governor’s veto, as described below, so Colorado is the one state on the list where a Democratic governor opted in himself.
Three states joined over a governor’s veto. North Carolina overrode Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of House Bill 87, the House on May 20, 2026 (73-46) and the Senate on June 3 (30-19); the State Education Assistance Authority, the agency that already runs the Opportunity Scholarship, will maintain the approved-SGO list (Carolina Journal). Kentucky’s legislature overrode Gov. Andy Beshear in March, 77-14 in the House on March 16 and 31-5 in the Senate on March 17, using a bill that assigns the annual election to the secretary of state, the designated-entity route around a governor who objects (Ballotpedia News). Kansas overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s April 8 veto of SB 361, 85-38 in the House and 29-10 in the Senate (The Sentinel).
The 50-state homeschool answer
The table below applies the hinge to all fifty states and the District of Columbia. The legal chain is short. Section 25F takes its expense definition from Section 530(b)(3)(A) (26 U.S.C. §25F); Section 530(b)(3)(B) defines a school as one providing K–12 education as determined under state law; and nothing in Section 530(b)(3) makes any special provision for homeschools (26 U.S.C. §530). The 2025 reconciliation law amended Section 529 to name homeschooling expressly and made no comparable change to Section 530, a gap the American Federation for Children’s legal analysis treats as decisive: coverage turns on each state’s own classification, with Texas homeschools counting as private schools under a 1994 state supreme court ruling while Virginia’s statute says home instruction shall not be classified as a private school (AFC analysis). The proposed regulations published October 2, 2026 adopt the same two cross-references: a qualified expense is one described in Section 530(b)(3)(A), and “school” has the Section 530(b)(3)(B) meaning (proposed § 1.25F-1(a)(14), (17), 91 FR 62855).
The reads in the final column remain provisional. The proposed regulations do not classify any state’s home education, so no read below changed on October 3, 2026. What the text left open is the question every read depends on, whether a state’s home school counts as a “school.” It defers that to state law through Section 530(b)(3)(B), contains no provision on home schools, and points to separate Section 530 guidance on qualified expenses and schools (proposed § 1.25F-1(a)(17), 91 FR 62855; proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62821; proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62826). Three readings appear. Likely eligible: state law classifies home education as a school, usually a private or nonpublic one. Likely not via homeschool route: state law places home education in its own non-school category, so eligibility would depend on enrolling through a school-classified alternative where one exists. Contested-unclear: the statute is arguable, or the state runs parallel legal tracks and the answer depends on which one a family uses. Election and classification are separate columns because they are separate questions; a state can elect in while its homeschool families sit outside the scholarship’s likely reach, and a state whose homeschools are plainly schools can decline to elect at all.
| State | Advance election (dated) | How state law classifies home education | ECCA homeschool read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Elected by executive order, January 16, 2026 (Ballotpedia News); on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | No separate homeschool statute; families use the church-school or private-tutor options of the compulsory-attendance framework, so home programs function as schools (ALSDE Attendance Manual) | Likely eligible |
| Alaska | Elected, January 2026 (Anchorage Daily News); on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Split track: a home-education exemption with no filing, AS 14.30.010(b)(12), or attendance at a private or religious school (AS 14.30.010) | Contested-unclear |
| Arizona | No election; three opt-in bills vetoed January 16, April 13, and May 5, 2026 (DFI tracker); absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct statute that defines a homeschool as a nonpublic school, A.R.S. §15-802(G), separate from its private school definition (A.R.S. §15-802) | Likely eligible |
| Arkansas | Elected, announced January 16, 2026 (Ballotpedia News); on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct Home School Act, Ark. Code Ann. §6-15-501 et seq., which calls the program a school provided by a parent for his or her own child (Ark. Code tit. 6, ch. 15) | Contested-unclear |
| California | No election; absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Private school: home programs file the annual Private School Affidavit under Ed. Code §33190 and claim the exemption at §48222 (CDE) | Likely eligible |
| Colorado | Elected; the governor announced the decision on January 29, 2026 (CPR); on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Split track: home-based education statute, C.R.S. §22-33-104.5, or umbrella enrollment in an independent school (Colorado DOE) | Contested-unclear |
| Connecticut | No election; absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | No homeschool statute; equivalent instruction under Conn. Gen. Stat. §10-184, framed as instruction rather than a school (Connecticut SDE) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Delaware | No election; absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Nonpublic schools by statute: 14 Del. C. §2703A counts single-family and multi-family homeschools as nonpublic schools registered with the state (Delaware DOE) | Likely eligible |
| Florida | Elected; on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Split track: a distinct home education program, Fla. Stat. §1002.41, or enrollment through a private umbrella school (Fla. Stat. §1002.41) | Contested-unclear |
| Georgia | Elected, announced January 20, 2026 (Ballotpedia News); on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct home study program, O.C.G.A. §20-2-690(c), with an annual Declaration of Intent, regulated separately from private schools (GaDOE) | Contested-unclear |
| Hawaii | No election; the governor has said the state will not participate (DFI tracker); absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct administrative-rule track under Hawaii Administrative Rules Title 8, ch. 12, with notice to the local principal (Hawaii DOE) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Idaho | Elected, January 2026, with a separate statute requiring participation (Ballotpedia News; Ballotpedia tracker); on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Exemption for children otherwise comparably instructed, Idaho Code §33-202; no registration, and no school status attaches (Idaho Code §33-202) | Contested-unclear |
| Illinois | No election; absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Private school: since People v. Levisen (1950), home education satisfying the exemption in 105 ILCS 5/26-1 is a private school, with no registration or reporting (105 ILCS 5/26-1) | Likely eligible |
| Indiana | Elected, January 2026, with a legislative mandate for future participation (Ballotpedia tracker); on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Nonaccredited nonpublic schools: the state education department describes homeschools as nonpublic schools keeping attendance records under IC 20-33-2-20 (Indiana DOE) | Likely eligible |
| Iowa | Elected, January 2026 (Ballotpedia News); on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Competent or independent private instruction under Iowa Code ch. 299A, defined as instruction rather than schools (Iowa Code ch. 299A) | Contested-unclear |
| Kansas | Elected by veto override of SB 361, April 9, 2026 (DFI tracker); on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Non-accredited private schools: every homeschool registers with the State Board under K.S.A. §§72-4345 to 72-4347 (KSDE) | Likely eligible |
| Kentucky | Elected by veto override of HB 1, March 17, 2026, with participation required every year (DFI tracker); on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Private school route: state guidance places home schools under the private-school exemption in KRS 159.030(1)(b) (Kentucky DOE) | Likely eligible |
| Louisiana | Elected; on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Two routes: a BESE-approved home study program, La. R.S. 17:236.1, or registration of the home program as a nonpublic school under R.S. 17:236 (Louisiana DOE) | Contested-unclear |
| Maine | No election; absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct home instruction track, 20-A M.R.S. §5001-A(3)(A)(4), regulated separately from private schools (20-A M.R.S. §5001-A) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Maryland | No election; absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Home instruction under COMAR 13A.10.01, with an option for supervision by a church-exempt or approved nonpublic school; the child is supervised by, not enrolled in, that school (MSDE) | Contested-unclear |
| Massachusetts | No election; absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Approval-based instruction: G.L. c. 76, §1 requires advance district approval of home education; no school status attaches (G.L. c. 76, §1) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Michigan | No election; the State Board of Education voted May 12, 2026 to urge against joining (Chalkbeat Detroit); absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Split track: a pure home-education exemption, MCL 380.1561(3)(f), or operation as a nonpublic school under subsection (3)(a) (Michigan DOE) | Contested-unclear |
| Minnesota | No election; the governor said the state would not participate (DFI tracker); absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Schools in the home: the state education department says the compulsory-instruction statutes, Minn. Stat. §§120A.22 to 120A.26, allow parents to create private schools in their home (Minnesota DOE) | Likely eligible |
| Mississippi | Elected, announced January 19, 2026 (Ballotpedia News); on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Legitimate home instruction program, Miss. Code Ann. §37-13-91, listed alongside rather than within private schools (Miss. Code tit. 37, ch. 13) | Contested-unclear |
| Missouri | Elected, filed January 2026 (News Tribune); on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct home school category, Mo. Rev. Stat. §167.031; a separate family-paced education school category exists for families using state scholarship funds (Mo. Rev. Stat. §167.031) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Montana | Elected, 2026 (Ballotpedia tracker); on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct homeschool statute, MCA 20-5-109, a separate compulsory-attendance category rather than a private school (MCA 20-5-109) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Nebraska | Elected; on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Exempt private schools: home schools file under Neb. Rev. Stat. §79-1601, electing out of accreditation while remaining schools (Neb. Rev. Stat. §79-1601) | Likely eligible |
| Nevada | Elected; on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct homeschool chapter, NRS ch. 388D, with a one-time notice of intent; a separate legal category from private school enrollment (NRS ch. 388D) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| New Hampshire | Elected; on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct home education chapter, RSA 193-A, not private-school classification (RSA 193-A) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| New Jersey | No election; the governor said in May 2026 she would evaluate participation once final rules publish (Jewish Insider); absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | No homeschool statute: equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school under N.J.S.A. 18A:38-25, with no notification or registration (HSLDA) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| New Mexico | No election; the governor said the state would not opt in (The 74); absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct home school statute, NMSA 1978 §22-1-2.1, with registration through the Public Education Department (NM PED) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| New York | No election on file; the governor announced intent to opt in on May 8, 2026 (Chalkbeat New York); absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Home instruction by regulation, 8 NYCRR §100.10, with annual plans and quarterly reports to districts; not private schooling (NYSED) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| North Carolina | Elected by statute after a June 3, 2026 veto override (Ballotpedia News; EdNC); on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | A class of nonpublic school: G.S. §115C-563 defines home schools inside the nonpublic-schools article, administered by the Division of Non-Public Education (G.S. §115C-563) | Likely eligible |
| North Dakota | Elected; on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct home education chapter, N.D.C.C. ch. 15.1-23, separate from nonpublic schools (N.D.C.C. ch. 15.1-23) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Ohio | Elected; on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct home education statute, R.C. §3321.042, with annual notification to the district; a category of its own beside nonchartered nonpublic schools (R.C. §3321.042) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Oklahoma | Elected; on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Constitutional exemption for other means of education, Okla. Const. art. XIII, §4; no registration statute and no school classification (HSLDA) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Oregon | No election; the governor said she would not opt in (Education Week); absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct homeschool law, ORS 339.035, with education service district registration and periodic testing, separate from the private-school exemption (ORS ch. 339) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Pennsylvania | No election; the governor remained undecided as of August 18, 2026 (Broad + Liberty); absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct home education program, 24 P.S. §13-1327.1, its own compulsory-attendance category beside private schools and private tutoring (HSLDA) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Rhode Island | No election; a law signed June 18, 2026 requires both the legislature and the governor to approve any opt-in (Ballotpedia News); absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | School-committee-approved home instruction under R.I. Gen. Laws §16-19-2; approval-based, not a school (R.I. Gen. Laws §16-19-2) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| South Carolina | Elected; on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Three statutory homeschool options, §§59-65-40, 59-65-45, and 59-65-47, all distinct from private schools (S.C. Code tit. 59, ch. 65) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| South Dakota | Elected; on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Alternative instruction, SDCL §13-27-3, by one-time notification; a distinct category, not a private school (SDCL §13-27-3) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Tennessee | Elected; on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct statute with three paths, T.C.A. §49-6-3050: independent home school, church-related umbrella school, or accredited online school; the umbrella path makes families private-school enrollees (Tennessee DOE) | Contested-unclear |
| Texas | Elected; on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Private school: under Leeper v. Arlington ISD (Tex. 1994), a bona fide home school qualifies for the private-school exemption at Tex. Educ. Code §25.086(a)(1) (HSLDA) | Likely eligible |
| Utah | Elected; on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct exemption by one-time affidavit, Utah Code §53G-6-204; districts may not require curriculum approval or testing (Utah Code §53G-6-204) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Vermont | No election; the governor is awaiting Treasury guidance (VTDigger), and a law signed June 18, 2026 pre-limits any participation to supplemental uses (Ballotpedia News) | Distinct home study program, 16 V.S.A. §166b, separate from independent schools (16 V.S.A. §166b) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Virginia | Elected, the first state to file, January 2026 (Education Week); on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Distinct home instruction statute, Va. Code §22.1-254.1, with annual notice and evidence of progress; not private-school classification (Va. Code §22.1-254.1) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Washington | No election; the governor is awaiting final program rules (Spokesman-Review); absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Home-based instruction, RCW ch. 28A.200, with annual declaration and assessment, separate from private-school approval (RCW ch. 28A.200) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| West Virginia | Elected; on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Home instruction exemption, W. Va. Code §18-8-1, Exemption B, separate from the private, parochial, and church school exemptions (W. Va. Code §18-8-1) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Wisconsin | No election; the governor vetoed the opt-in bill, AB 602, and declined participation (Education Week); absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Home-based private educational program, defined at Wis. Stat. §115.001(3g) separately from the private-school criteria at §118.165; not private-school classification despite the name (Wis. Stat. §118.165) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| Wyoming | Elected (Ballotpedia tracker); on the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Home-based educational program, W.S. §21-4-101(a)(v), with the exemption at §21-4-102; separate from private schools (W.S. tit. 21) | Likely not via homeschool route |
| District of Columbia | No election; the District may elect under the same process as states (IRS); absent from the IRS list, September 14, 2026 | Home schooling under its own regulations, 5-A DCMR ch. 52, with annual notification to OSSE; distinct from private-school licensure (HSLDA) | Likely not via homeschool route |
Tracker
The table above carries 30 elected rows and 21 without an election, the District of Columbia included, matching the IRS list current as of September 14, 2026. It is maintained as a living record, and the dated log below records each change to the program and to this guide.
| Date | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| October 1-2, 2026 | Treasury and the IRS announced proposed regulations (REG-117199-25) and temporary regulations (T.D. 10057) on October 1, and the Federal Register published both on October 2. Comments are due December 1, 2026, with a public hearing on December 15, 2026. No matrix verdict changed: the text defines school by cross-reference to Section 530(b)(3)(B), adds no home-school rule, and says Section 530 guidance on qualified expenses and schools will be issued separately. The election column was re-checked against the IRS list: the same 30 states, no additions since July 24. | IR-2026-117; 91 FR 62818; 91 FR 62655, all retrieved October 2026 |
| September 14, 2026 | The IRS participating-state list, on a page last reviewed September 16, names 30 states for 2027, the same 30 as the July 24 list. | IRS FSTC page |
| August 27, 2026 | Tracker note: thirty states on the IRS advance-election list current as of July 24, 2026, giving 30 elected rows and 21 without an election in the table. | IRS FSTC page |
| June 8-9, 2026 | Twenty-seven states on the IRS list (June 8). Treasury previewed the regulations it later published on June 9, including its position that a home school is treated as a school if it is treated as one under State law. | IR-2026-76; Treasury preview |
How a family will actually apply
Families will not apply to the IRS, and not to their state. The pipeline in the statute runs through the SGO: once a state’s 2027 SGO list is final, a family applies directly to a listed organization, which verifies household income and family size, applies the priority rules, and pays scholarships only for qualified Section 530(b)(3)(A) expenses (Notice 2025-70).
What the published rules already say about that application:
- Income documentation. The proposed regulations set four verification routes: written documentation of income (pay stubs, prior-year tax returns, IRS transcripts, or Forms W-2); an award letter dated within the last 12 months showing that someone in the household receives SNAP, TANF, WIC, Section 8 housing, or SSI; a safe harbor treating foster children as income-eligible without separate verification; and a safe harbor for school-selected tutoring and special-needs scholarships at schools in low-income areas (proposed § 1.25F-3(c)(6)(iii), 91 FR 62860). Eligibility for free or reduced-price school meals, which applies school-wide, is not accepted as verification (proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62827). The rules are proposed rather than final, but they may be relied on for 2027, so they are a dependable picture of the paperwork to have ready.
- Priority order. Students who received a scholarship the prior year come first, then their siblings, and no donation can be earmarked for a particular child (Notice 2025-70). The proposed regulations let an SGO weigh the type of award: prior-recipient and sibling priority suits tuition and school-attendance awards, while an award for tutoring or special needs services can be prioritized by need for the service (proposed § 1.25F-3(c)(8), 91 FR 62861).
- Payment method. An SGO does not hand scholarship money to the family. It reimburses an expense against a verified receipt, pays a school directly for tuition and fees, pays a verified and unrelated vendor directly, or pays through a qualified digital wallet (proposed § 1.25F-3(c)(5), 91 FR 62859-62860).
- Residence. A scholarship goes only to a student who resides, under state law, in the state whose list names the SGO; attending school in another state does not change that (proposed § 1.25F-3(c)(7), 91 FR 62860-62861).
- Timing floor. The credit applies to gifts from January 1, 2027. A state files its advance election by January 1, 2027 and, for 2027 only, may submit its SGO list as late as February 15, 2027, so a state’s list can arrive after launch (temporary § 1.25F-5T(c)(3), 91 FR 62669).
Virginia is furthest along, with 13 SGOs designated as of January 16, 2026, the earliest concrete answer to the question of which organization a family will actually apply to (WVVA). Any named roster can change before launch, since states must delist noncompliant organizations. North Carolina families have a single agency to watch for the approved list, the SEAA (Carolina Journal). Administrators of existing state programs expect shared-application and digital-wallet models to carry over, on the pattern of Missouri’s single family application connected to multiple funding sources, though no federal family-application procedure existed as of an April 2026 industry writeup (ClassWallet), and that source is a vendor describing its own market.
No SGO had opened a Section 25F scholarship application as of mid-August 2026, and the regulations published in October set verification and payment rules for SGOs but no common family application or application window, so specific windows cannot be stated. Because a state’s 2027 list can arrive as late as February 15, 2027, the listed organizations may not all be known until early 2027, and application windows will vary by organization (temporary § 1.25F-5T(c)(3)(ii), 91 FR 62669).
For the family members who plan to donate as well: the temporary regulations require each SGO to register in an IRS portal, give every donor a written acknowledgment carrying a unique donor number by January 31 of the following year, and report donor totals to the IRS by February 28 (temporary § 1.25F-4T(b), (c), 91 FR 62668). The taxpayer reports the number for each SGO on Form 8525 (proposed § 1.25F-2(g), 91 FR 62857), and the system is designed so that SGOs do not collect donors’ Social Security numbers (IR-2026-117). The practical takeaway for 2027 donors is to designate the gift as a qualified contribution when it is made and to keep the SGO acknowledgment with the year’s tax records. The proposed regulations also protect a donor who gives to an organization shown on the IRS SGO list at the time of the gift, even if the organization is later removed, unless the donor knew the organization did not qualify or was responsible for, or aware of, the conduct that led to its removal (proposed § 1.25F-2(b), 91 FR 62856).
What happens next
The proposed regulations are not final. Written comments are due December 1, 2026 and a public hearing is set for December 15, 2026; final regulations would follow both, and the proposed rules are written to apply to taxable years ending on or after the date the final rules are published (91 FR 62818; proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62836). The state steps for 2027 run on a shorter clock set by the temporary regulations, which take effect December 1, 2026.
| Date | Step | Source |
|---|---|---|
| December 1, 2026 | Written comments on the proposed regulations are due, filed through the Federal eRulemaking Portal under REG-117199-25. Requests to speak at the hearing, with outlines of topics, are due the same day; if no outlines arrive, the hearing is cancelled. The temporary regulations take effect. | 91 FR 62818; 91 FR 62655 |
| December 10, 2026, 5 p.m. ET | Requests to attend the public hearing are due. | 91 FR 62818 |
| December 15, 2026, 10 a.m. ET | Public hearing on the proposed regulations. | 91 FR 62818 |
| By January 1, 2027 | A state must file its advance election for 2027 on Form 15714. The election is made by the Governor or by the person or agency designated under state law, and the IRS publishes the list of states that have made an advance election. | temporary § 1.25F-5T(c)(2), (c)(3), 91 FR 62669 |
| January 1, 2027 | The credit applies to qualified contributions made from this date. Taxpayers, organizations, and states may rely on the proposed regulations for contributions made on or after January 1, 2027, if they follow the portions applicable to each in their entirety and in a consistent manner. | proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62818; proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62836 |
| By February 15, 2027 | For 2027 only, a state perfects its advance election by submitting its State SGO list with the required certifications. After the deadline a state may not add organizations for that year except as guidance provides, and a state that does not perfect its election has no qualifying SGOs for 2027. | temporary § 1.25F-5T(c)(3)(ii), 91 FR 62669; temporary § 1.25F-5T(d)(7)(ii), 91 FR 62671 |
| January 31, 2028 | SGOs give each donor the written acknowledgment, with the unique donor number, for 2027 gifts. | temporary § 1.25F-4T(c)(1)(ii), 91 FR 62668 |
| February 28, 2028 | SGOs report 2027 qualified contributions to the IRS. | temporary § 1.25F-4T(c)(2)(ii), 91 FR 62668 |
| 2028 filing season | Taxpayers claim the 2027 credit on Form 8525 with the 2027 return, entering the donor number for each SGO. | proposed § 1.25F-2(g), 91 FR 62857 |
| No date announced | Treasury and the IRS say they intend to issue the separate Section 530 guidance on qualified expenses and schools as soon as possible, and the IRS is considering alternative temporary procedures, to be outlined in future guidance, for states that cannot complete portal registration for 2027. | proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62821; proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62832 |
| Later years | From 2028, a state's advance-election window runs January 2 to September 30 of the prior year, and a State SGO list may be submitted from October 1 of the prior year through January 1, up to 11:59 p.m. An election covers a single calendar year. | temporary § 1.25F-5T(c)(1), (c)(3)(i)(A), (c)(4), 91 FR 62669; temporary-rule preamble, 91 FR 62659 |
In a state that does not elect, no organization appears on a State SGO list, and a contribution to an organization that is not on a covered State’s list does not give rise to the credit (proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62820; proposed § 1.25F-1(a)(2), 91 FR 62854). A resident of such a state may still give to an SGO on any participating state’s list and claim the credit, since the donor’s residence does not matter, but a scholarship may go only to a student who resides in the state whose list names the SGO, with exceptions for military dependents and for dependents of people residing on Indian Lands (proposed § 1.25F-2(a)(1), 91 FR 62856; proposed § 1.25F-3(c)(7), 91 FR 62860-62861). Homeschool families in the 21 jurisdictions without an election in the matrix above (20 states and the District of Columbia) can therefore be donors to the credit but not recipients of its scholarships.
What is still open
Four questions this guide listed as open in August are answered in the October 2026 text: the regulations themselves, now published; what “income” and “household” mean for the 300-percent test (proposed § 1.25F-3(c)(6)(ii), 91 FR 62860); whether a couple filing jointly has one $1,700 cap or two, which the proposed rule answers with two, for $3,400 (proposed § 1.25F-2(a)(2), 91 FR 62856); and the 2027 state deadlines, set out above. The proposed rules can still change after comment, and the following remain open:
- The final regulations. Comments are due December 1 and the hearing is December 15. The June preview’s sentence that a home school is treated as a school under state law did not carry into the proposed text, so other preview positions should not be assumed final (91 FR 62818).
- The expense list, including homeschool line items. The proposed regulations send the question of which expenses and which schools qualify to separate Section 530 guidance, with no date given (proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62821; proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62826). Scholarship amounts are also unset: the codified statute sets no per-scholarship cap, so award sizes will be SGO decisions (§25F).
- The income thresholds in dollars. The rule says the IRS will publish area-median-income figures in the Internal Revenue Bulletin each year (proposed § 1.25F-1(a)(4)(ii), 91 FR 62855); the IRS page retrieved in October 2026 listed no such table (IRS FSTC page).
- Which organizations each state lists, and what they fund. Lists are due by February 15, 2027 for 2027. A state may not narrow the types of school or expense an SGO may fund, but an individual SGO may narrow its own focus, for example to particular subjects, so whether a given SGO pays for homeschool expenses is a question about its published rules (temporary § 1.25F-5T(e)(2), 91 FR 62671-62672; proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62820).
- How federal scholarships stack with state aid. CRS notes the statute is silent on how the federal scholarships interact with other assistance, including state ESAs and vouchers (CRS), and the proposed regulations contain no provision on state ESAs. The related text is the requirement that SGOs detect duplicate awards to the same student for the same expense when the awards together exceed its cost (proposed § 1.25F-3(c)(5)(i), 91 FR 62859). More on this below.
- The political durability question, in context. Sen. Mark Kelly introduced S. 4297, the Keep Public Funds in Public Schools Act, on April 15, 2026 with 31 cosponsors to repeal the program; it sits in Senate Finance with passage unlikely under the current Republican-controlled Congress (Ballotpedia News). The statute itself is permanent. Durable but contested is the fair description.
How it layers on state ESAs
The federal scholarship is a second layer, not a replacement. A state ESA draws on state funds under state rules; a Section 25F scholarship is privately donated money, federally credited, routed through an SGO. Both can exist in the same state in 2027. Texas and West Virginia both appear on the September 14 IRS list (IRS), which means families there will face a state program and a federal scholarship layer side by side; the state programs are covered in depth in the Texas TEFA guide and the West Virginia Hope Scholarship guide, and the national picture in the ESA-by-state guide.
Two interaction rules are known, both on the donor side. The federal credit is reduced by any state tax credit received for the same contribution, so in states that run their own tax-credit scholarship programs a donor cannot collect both in full, though the proposed regulations apply the state credit first to any part of a gift not designated as a qualified contribution, and the credited amount cannot double as a charitable deduction (Notice 2025-70; proposed § 1.25F-2(c)(2), (f), 91 FR 62856-62857). The recipient-side interaction is the unknown that matters most to homeschool families already drawing state funds: whether accepting a 25F scholarship affects a family’s state ESA eligibility or amounts has no federal answer yet, because the statute is silent on the interaction and the proposed regulations add no provision on state ESAs (CRS), so the answer will likely arrive state by state.
One more layering detail worth noticing: expenses named in state-level coverage of the program, such as dual enrollment and testing fees in North Carolina’s framing (Carolina Journal), sit close to the record-keeping questions covered in the transcript and GPA guide and the college admissions guide. A scholarship that pays for a dual-enrollment course in 2027 will eventually need to show up correctly on a transcript.
Between now and January
A short checklist for a homeschool family that wants to be ready rather than early:
- Confirm the state is participating on the IRS’s official page (Federal Scholarship Tax Credit), not on a third-party tracker, and recheck it after states perfect their elections by the February 15, 2027 deadline.
- Establish how the state’s law classifies a homeschool: as a school, the way North Carolina does (§115C-563), or as a separate home-instruction category. The state laws guide is the starting point; this classification is the eligibility hinge.
- Read the proposed regulations, and comment on them if the homeschool question matters to the household, before the December 1, 2026 deadline; the hearing is December 15 (91 FR 62818). The Section 530 guidance on qualified expenses and schools is the next document to watch (proposed-rule preamble, 91 FR 62826).
- Identify the state’s SGO roster or administering agency, where one exists: Virginia’s designated SGOs (WVVA), North Carolina’s SEAA (Carolina Journal).
- Assemble income documentation along the lines of the proposed verification methods: recent pay stubs, the latest tax return or IRS transcript, Forms W-2, or an award letter dated within 12 months for SNAP, TANF, WIC, Section 8 housing, or SSI (proposed § 1.25F-3(c)(6)(iii), 91 FR 62860).
- For a planned donation: cash only, to an SGO on the IRS list, designated as a qualified contribution when it is made, $1,700 maximum per taxpayer ($3,400 on a joint return when each spouse gives), with the state credit netted against it and no charitable deduction on the credited amount (§25F; proposed § 1.25F-1(a)(12), 91 FR 62855; proposed § 1.25F-2(a)(2), (c), (f), 91 FR 62856-62857).
Families should confirm the tax treatment of any contribution or scholarship with a tax professional before acting; this guide describes the program, not any household’s return.
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