Give $1,700.
Owe up to $1,700 less.

Yes. Any U.S. citizen or resident can claim it by giving to an SGO on a participating state's list. Utah opted in for 2027, so scholarship groups in Utah can be certified and sent to the IRS by February 15, 2027. You can also give to an SGO in any other participating state.

No. The federal credit is the same everywhere: up to $1,700 per person, or $3,400 for married couples filing jointly. If Utah gives you its own tax credit for the same gift, that state credit reduces the federal credit.

A new federal income tax credit under section 25F of the tax code, created in 2025. The IRS calls it the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit. When you give cash to an approved scholarship granting organization (SGO), up to $1,700 of the gift comes straight off your federal income tax. SGOs fund K–12 scholarships for private school tuition, tutoring, special needs services, books, computers and similar costs.

Up to $1,700 per person each year. A married couple filing jointly can claim up to $3,400, but only if each spouse gives at least $1,700 in their own name. If one spouse gives $3,400 alone, the couple gets $1,700.

It covers gifts made on or after January 1, 2027. You claim it on your 2027 return, which you file in 2028. A gift made in 2026 doesn't qualify, even if it goes to an SGO.

No. It can bring your federal income tax down to zero, but it won't create a refund. It's limited to your tax after the child tax credit, education credits, the child and dependent care credit and a few others. Unused credit carries forward for up to five years, and the oldest carryforward is used first.

Not the part that earns the credit, and that includes any part you carry forward. Anything you give above that may still be deductible as a regular charitable gift. From 2026, people who take the standard deduction can deduct up to $1,000 of cash gifts to charity ($2,000 for joint filers).

Your federal credit equals your qualified gifts minus any state tax credits on those gifts, capped at $1,700. Only a state credit reduces it. A state deduction doesn't. The proposed rules apply a state credit first to the part of your gift that isn't marked as a qualified section 25F contribution. So to keep both credits in full, give $1,700 plus your state credit amount and ask the SGO to mark $1,700 as qualified.

No. You can give to an SGO on any participating state's list, wherever you live. Your state's choice decides whether SGOs in your state, and the students they serve, take part. 30 states had opted in as of October 22, 2026.

As of October 22, 2026 the IRS lists 30 states: 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 and Wyoming. More may join, and the IRS updates its list.

Participating states must send the IRS their lists of approved SGOs by February 15, 2027, and the IRS will publish a combined list on irs.gov. You can rely on that list as of the day you give. Ask for a reminder above and we'll email you when your state's list is out.

Students who are eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school and whose household income is no more than 300% of the area median gross income. Treasury estimates about 96% of children in participating states would qualify under the proposed rules.

Not for this credit. Only gifts made directly by individuals count. A partner's share of a partnership's gift, or an S corporation shareholder's share, doesn't qualify.

Ask the SGO to treat your gift as a qualified section 25F contribution. Keep the written acknowledgement, which includes your unique donor number. Then report each SGO and donor number on Form 8525 with your 2027 tax return.