Donating to a Tax Credit Scholarship
General Information
What are tax credit scholarships?
The Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship Program, “Invest in Kids,” provides a 75 percent Illinois state income tax credit to individuals and corporations that contribute money to a non-profit Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO). The SGOs award scholarships to eligible students from low-income families. Donors will use money already owed to the state (taxes) and donate it to a needs-based scholarships instead, all while receiving a 75 percent state tax credit.
Through this program:
- An individual or corporation will receive a 75 percent credit on donations to an SGO. For example, if a person donates $100,000, they will receive a state tax credit of $75,000.
- Individual donors can designate their donations to Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools.
- The credit can be rolled over for five years.
- Donors are prohibited from receiving a federal tax deduction for these donations.
- The program is capped at $100 million in donations, resulting in $75 million in total tax credits issued.
What is the process for donating?
Individual and corporate donors can reserve tax credits through mytax.illinois.gov by following these steps:
- Create a MyTax Illinois account on mytax.illinois.gov. Anyone applying for a scholarship tax credit is required to have an account. If you do not have one, the first step is requesting a Letter ID from the Illinois Department of Revenue.
- CLICK HERE for step-by-step instructions on how to request a Letter ID.
- CLICK HERE for step-by-step instructions on how to activate your my tax account.
- Apply for a tax credit on mytax.illinois.gov. Donors will need to provide the following information:
- Region to which he/she plans to donate
- Name of SGO to which he/she plans to donate (the Archdiocese is partnering with Empower Illinois)
- Amount he/she plans to donate
- CLICK HERE for step-by-step instructions on how to apply for the credit
- Donate to the SGO within 60 days of receiving your application approval and the Contribution Authorization Certificate.
- Designate the donation to Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools.
- Provide certificate from the SGO to use tax credit when filing a 2018 return in 2019.
Interested in donating?
We are here to guide you through the process. Please contact us at tcs@archchicago.org or 312.534.2617 to speak with the Tax Credit Scholarship Office at the archdiocese.
For additional information, please see the Tax Credit Scholarships, Applying for a Tax Credit Scholarship, Frequently Asked Questions, Tax Credit Scholarship Eligibility, and More Information pages.
