Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit

It’s a newly enacted refundable tax credit program that provides nearly $50 million in state funds to pay for eligible nonpublic school expenses for Idaho K-12 students and Idaho students up to 21 years of age with a qualifying disability who require ancillary personnel. The program allows parents to apply for a tax credit of up to $5,000 for each eligible student, and up to $7,500 for each eligible student with a qualifying disability.

Prospective applicants should note the following:

• The program requires priority to be given to parents whose total adjusted income doesn’t exceed 300% of the federal poverty level. For this application season, we’ll be using the 2024 calculation. Please visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the 2024 calculation.
• If there are additional funds available after we’ve processed applications for the priority group, we’ll consider applications for families whose income exceeds 300% of the federal poverty level.
• This is a first-come, first-served program. We’ll close the application process when all the funds have been spent.
• To qualify for the program, parents must have filed an Idaho 2024 tax return. We’ll review the return for program eligibility. 
• Before you can apply, you’ll need to get a Taxpayer Access Point (TAP) account. To find out more about TAP, visit our introduction page. Register at tax.idaho.gov/NewTAP.

No. Once the tax credit is awarded through the application process, it goes directly to a parent, guardian, or foster parent of the eligible student(s). 

Unlike a voucher, the tax credit is only available for reimbursable expenses. Keep your receipts of expenses paid in 2025 to your current nonpublic school, or expenses incurred for homeschool instruction. In general, these will include costs paid by you for your eligible child or children’s nonpublic academic instruction in the core subjects of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Examples are tuition or fees paid for attending a nonpublic school, tutoring, textbooks, curricula, and transportation costs. If the nonpublic school that your child is attending isn’t accredited, you’ll be required to document their growth as a student using a portfolio of evidence or learning record.  Please note: Homeschool academic instruction provided by a parent isn’t a qualified expense and would be excluded from eligibility for the credit. Homeschool materials such as textbooks and curricula would be qualified expenses and are eligible for the credit.

Anyone applying for the credit will need to produce receipts of qualified expenses. You won’t be eligible for the tax credit if you don’t show qualified expenses. If you receive a tax credit and spend the funds outside the provisions of the law, you’ll be required to repay those funds. A financial penalty and interest may apply. If you receive the credit and are found to have willfully provided false information to obtain the credit, that’s considered tax fraud and civil and criminal penalties—up to felony charges—may apply.

A nonpublic school means a private school, microschool, or learning pod, that provides academic instruction to eligible students. Nonpublic academic instruction may be delivered in person, online, virtually, or through a combination of these methods. A nonpublic school will charge tuition while a public school doesn’t. For example, students who attend public schools such as the Idaho Home Learning Academy or the Idaho Virtual Academy don’t qualify for the credit.

If you participate in any class or participate in any activity, including sports, you can’t claim the credit for that semester. The law specifically states that eligible students can’t be enrolled full-time or part-time in a public school, public charter school, public virtual charter school, public magnet school, or part-time kindergarten.

Parents can file an Idaho 2024 tax return even if they don’t have taxable income. We’re working on special filing instructions for them. They should file their return as soon as possible to allow time for us to process the return.

You’ll be able to apply for the 2025 program online from January 15, 2026, through March 15, 2026. Please remember this is a first-come, first-served program, so we recommend you apply as soon as possible. The program requires priority to be given to parents whose total adjusted income doesn’t exceed 300% of the federal poverty level. In addition, applicants are required to keep receipts for qualified expenses (see question 3).

Applicants whose total adjusted income exceeds 300% of the federal poverty level will be placed on a wait list until priority applications have been processed. All applications will be processed in the order in which they’re received.

We anticipate that all the funds will be spent during the initial application process. However, if funds are still available, we’ll reopen the application process.

You’ll apply online through our Taxpayer Access Point (TAP). You’ll need to get a TAP account if you don’t already have one for individual income tax. We suggest you register for a TAP account now, so you’ll be ready to fill out your application online in January. It can take from one day to two weeks to register for the account depending on your circumstances.

To find out more about TAP, visit our introduction page. To get a TAP account, register at tax.idaho.gov/NewTAP.   

Please note: To qualify for the program, you must have filed an Idaho 2024 tax return. We’ll review the return for program eligibility.  

No. You can apply for all your eligible children on one application.