Idaho

Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit

  • Individual Tax Credit/Deduction
  • Enacted 2025
  • Launched 2026

Idaho provides a refundable tax credit of up to $5,000 per eligible student (and up to $7,500 per eligible student who has a disability) for qualifying expenses, including private school tuition and fees, tutoring, fees for standardized assessments, textbooks, and curricular materials. Students may begin benefitting from the program at the start of the 2025-2026 school year. Applications for reimbursement of qualifying expenses made in 2025 will be processed beginning in January, 2026.  

We do not administer this program.

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  • 1st

    Idaho’s first educational choice program

  • $5,000

    Tax credit value for all students, $7,500 tax credit value for students with certain disabilities

  • 100%

    Student Eligibility

  • 52%

    Tax Credit Value as a Percentage of Public School Per-student Spend

Student Funding

Use of Funds 

Parents may receive tax credit for out-of-pocket expenses related to certain qualifying expenses related to the education of their children. These expenses include tuition and fees for enrollment at a private school, a microschool, or a learning pod; tutoring; nationally standardized assessments; assessments used to determine college admission; industry-recognized certification exams; preparatory courses for standardized assessments; textbooks; curricula; and costs incurred for transportation to a private school, microschool, or learning pod. For school tuition and fees to qualify for this program, either the school must be accredited, or the parent must provide evidence of their student’s academic progress (which may include proof that the student is being instructed in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies).  

Funding Amount and Source  

This program is funded by a continuous appropriation of $50 million to a fund administered by the state tax commission. In their application form for this program, a parent may elect a one-time advance payment of the credit for each eligible student. The parent will receive this payment within 60 days. This advance payment is authorized solely for parents whose modified adjusted gross income is at or below 300% of the federal poverty level.  

(Last updated February 27, 2025)

Student Eligibility

All Idaho residents who are 18 or younger are eligible to participate. Students who have a disability that requires ancillary personnel, as defined in state law, are eligible through age 21.  

If more than$50 million in valid qualifying expenses are claimed before the annual deadline, the program will prioritize applicants whose modified adjusted gross income was at or below 300% of the federal poverty level on their most recent tax return. In 2027, priority will first be given to parents who received credit from this program during the previous year, followed by applicants whose modified adjusted gross income was at or below 300% of the federal poverty level. 

(Last updated February 27, 2025)

EdChoice Expert Feedback

A program’s universality is measured on three points: Student eligibility, funding amount and source, and use of funds. Eligibility and funding amount and source have been explained above. Here, we explain how funds for this program may be used. Nebraska’s education scholarships may be used to fund all or part of the cost to educate a participating child to attend a qualified privately operating school located in Nebraska. (Last updated June 5, 2024)  

Rules and Regulations

Rules and Regulations  

  • Income Limit: None  
  • Prior year public school requirement: None  
  • Geographic limit: Statewide   
  • Enrollment Cap: Yes, if credits exceed $50 million 
  • Account Value: 52% of Per-Pupil Spending  
  • Testing Mandates: None   
  • Budget Cap: $50 million 

Parent Requirements:  

  • Initial application: The window is January 15, 2026 through March 15, 2026.   
  • Have claimed each eligible student as a dependent on their state individual income tax return. 
  • Not claim a credit for any semester in which a student was enrolled full-time or part-time in a public school, charter school, virtual charter school, magnet school, or part-time public kindergarten.  
  • Not claim a credit for tuition and fees related to any academic instruction provided by the parent to an eligible student. 
  • Ensure no other parent claims a tax credit for an eligible student. 
  • Submit a satisfaction and engagement survey concerning their experience with this program.  

School Requirements: 

  • Any school must provide academic instruction to its students in the required topics of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. The school may deliver its instruction in person, online, virtually, or in any combination thereof. 
  • If a school is not accredited, it must provide parents with information that allows the parent to create a portfolio or learning record that proves that the child is receiving academic instruction in the required topics. 

SGO Requirements: 

  • N/A 

(Last updated February 27, 2025)

Governing Statutes

Idaho Code Sec. 63–3029N, 67–1230 

(Last updated February 27, 2025)