Frequently Asked Questions
Program Basics
I received a tax credit for 2025. Now what?
If you receive notification of being allowed a tax credit, you must claim it on your 2025 Idaho Form 40, Individual Income Tax Return. This return is due April 15, 2026, or explore what a valid filing extension entails. If you filed before you received the notice of award, you must file an amended return to take the tax credit.
If you received a notification, the Tax Commission is giving permission for you to claim the tax credit, up to the amount specified – it didn’t preapprove your expenses. (You submitted expenses on your application so the agency could gauge how much money was needed from this program’s budget.) Keep the paid invoices or receipts for actual, qualifying expenses you paid in 2025 that you’re claiming. Everyone is still subject to audit.
Qualifying expenses: The tax credit is for tuition to a nonpublic school or a single, unified curriculum that covers, at a minimum, all four core subjects of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Then, it could pay for tutoring in the four core subjects, textbooks for the four core subjects, reasonable transportation to and from the nonpublic school, and certain academic testing. The law doesn’t mention any other kinds of expenses.
I received an advanced payment awarded in 2026. Now what?
After you receive notice of the advance payment award for 2026, the money goes to the bank account you specified in the application. You’ll receive it within 60 days of the award notification or by August 30 at the latest.
Qualifying expenses: The advance payment is for tuition to a nonpublic school or a curriculum that covers, at a minimum, all four core subjects of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Then, it could pay for tutoring in the four core subjects, textbooks for the four core subjects, reasonable transportation to and from the nonpublic school, and certain academic testing. The law doesn’t mention any other kinds of expenses.
No later than December 31, 2027, you’ll have to reconcile any money you got with receipts for qualifying expenses. You’ll have to pay back any money you didn’t spend on qualifying expenses, or for which you don’t have proper receipts.
You must have submitted your Idaho Form 40, Individual Income Tax Return, on time to continue to be eligible. It was due April 15, 2026. Or, explore what a valid filing extension entails.
How do I know if my school is a nonpublic school?
A nonpublic school means a private school, microschool, or learning pod that provides academic instruction to eligible students. Nonpublic academic instruction can 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 aren’t eligible for the parental choice tax credit or the advance payment.
What if my child’s nonpublic school doesn’t include the required core subjects?
To be eligible to apply for the parental choice tax credit or advance payment, academic instruction must include the core subjects of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies, at a minimum.
What if my child’s nonpublic school isn’t accredited?
If the nonpublic school that your child is attending isn’t accredited, you must document their growth as a student using a portfolio of evidence or a learning record.
What if my student takes a class or participates in an activity at a public school?
For expenses in 2025, you can’t use the money for any semester when your student was enrolled in a public school or a publicly funded entity for any reason.
For expenses in 2026 and beyond, you can’t use the money for any semester when your student is enrolled in public school or publicly funded entity. However, your child isn’t considered enrolled if they participated in activities for which no academic credit is awarded, participated in sports or other extracurricular activities at a public school, or took Idaho Digital Learning Alliance (IDLA) courses that the state doesn’t pay for.
Check with the public school if you’re unsure whether your child is enrolled.
What if my child attends IDLA, IHLA, or IDVA?
For expenses in 2025, you can’t use the money for any semester when your child was enrolled in a public school or public-school entity for any reason. The Idaho Digital Learning Alliance (IDLA), Idaho Home Learning Academy (IHLA), and the Idaho Virtual Academy (IDVA) are either public schools or receive public funds for every enrollment.
For expenses in 2026 and beyond, you can’t use the money for any semester when your student is enrolled in public school or publicly funded entity. However, your child isn’t considered enrolled if they participated in activities for which no academic credit is awarded, participated in sports or other extracurricular activities at a public school, or took IDLA courses that the state doesn’t pay for.
Who’s considered a parent?
Parent means an eligible student’s parent, legal guardian, or foster parent who’s licensed and in good standing under Idaho law Title 39, chapter 12.
What’s the definition of a student with a disability?
For a student to be considered for the $7,500 as a student with a disability, the parent must do one of these:
- Document the student’s diagnosis or other determination that an Idaho licensed health care provider made.
- Document the student’s eligibility for services under an individualized education program in accordance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
And, the student must also require ancillary personnel as defined in Idaho Code Section 33-2001(1): “Ancillary personnel” means those persons who render special services to exceptional children in regular or in addition to regular or special class instruction as defined by the state board of education.
How is transportation cost calculated?
The cost of transportation is for the trip between your home and the qualifying nonpublic school for your eligible students.
The parental choice tax credit or advance payment won’t cover trips to other places or activities, such as to field trips, music lessons, or sports.
The state will reimburse qualifying mileage claims at the state mileage rate. We recommend you keep a log of dates, destinations, and miles traveled.
Do parents and children need to be residents of Idaho to get the parental choice tax credit?
Yes. To be eligible, you, as the parent, and your eligible children must be full-year Idaho residents.
For the 2025 parental choice tax credit or advance payment awarded in 2026, you must have been full-year residents in 2024 and 2025 to apply. You must have filed a 2024 Form 40, Idaho Individual Income Tax Return, that lists the children as dependents.
Eligible Students
Will an Idaho resident student be eligible if the nonpublic school is out of state?
Yes, as long as the school meets the requirements of the law. If the nonpublic school that your child is attending isn’t accredited, you must document their growth as a student using a portfolio of evidence or a learning record.
Is there a limit to how many children in my family can get the parental choice tax credit?
No. You can apply for all your eligible children on one application.
Can my child still be eligible if they turn 19 in high school?
For the 2025 tax credit, your child must be at least 5 and no older than 18 by December 31, 2025. If they have a qualifying disability, they must have been no older than 21 by December 31, 2025.
For the advance payment awarded in 2026, your child must have been at least 5 and no older than 19 by December 31, 2026. If they have a qualifying disability, they must be no older than 22 by December 31, 2026.
Application Process
What’s the advance payment?
The advance payment is a one-time award that you can use to pay for expected, qualifying expenses you paid related to nonpublic academic instruction for an eligible student. The amount of the advance payment is up to $5,000 per eligible student, or up to $7,500 per eligible student with a qualifying disability. The advance payment will be offered every year of the program, but parents can only take advantage of it once for each eligible child. They can’t apply for it every year.
The parent must apply for a tax credit in future years after a child receives an advance payment. Also, anyone who has received a tax credit for a child can’t apply for an advance payment later.
The advance payment awarded in 2026 will be taxable on the 2026 federal return.
To be considered for the advance payment awarded in 2026:
- Your modified adjusted gross income can’t exceed 300% of the 2024 federal poverty level. Find your modified adjusted gross income on line 7 of your 2024 Form 40, Idaho Individual Income Tax Return.
- You, your student, and the nonpublic instruction must meet the other criteria that exist for the parental choice tax credit.
If you get the advance payment awarded in 2026, you must save receipts for actual, qualifying expenses you paid. You’ll have to provide them to the Tax Commission no later than December 31, 2027, using the reconciliation tool in TAP. You must repay any funds from the advance payment that you didn’t use for qualifying expenses, or don’t have proper receipts for.
What happens if my expenses don’t qualify?
For the 2025 parental choice tax credit, you must submit copies of receipts for expenses paid in the year for which you received the award. Everyone is subject to audit.
For the advance payment awarded in 2026, you must provide receipts to the Tax Commission to prove that you spent the money you received on qualifying expenses. (You’ll do that no later than December 31, 2027, using the reconciliation tool in TAP.) You must repay any money you spent on nonqualifying expenses or for which you don’t have proper receipts.
What if I’m not required to file a 2024 Idaho Form 40 tax return?
To apply for the 2025 parental choice tax credit or advance payment awarded in 2026, you must file a 2024 Idaho Form 40, Individual Income Tax Return, even if you don’t have taxable income. See the special filing instructions. It takes 7 to 11 weeks to process a return from the time the Tax Commission receives it.
Can I claim the parental choice tax credit without completing an application?
No. Parents must complete an application and have received notification from the Tax Commission that they were awarded the parental choice tax credit before claiming it on their tax return. Claims made without prior approval won’t be eligible, and the state won’t provide the credit.
Is the Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit program a voucher program?
No. Once the Tax Commission awards the parental choice tax credit or advance payment through the application process, it goes directly to a parent, guardian, or foster parent of each eligible student.
What if I share custody with another parent?
Only one parent can receive the parental choice tax credit for an eligible student each year. If more than one parent files for the credit for the same child, Idaho law Section 63-3029L(2) decides which parent will get it.
My spouse and I file as “married filing jointly” on our individual income tax return. Do both of us need a TAP account?
No, just one of you needs the TAP account, and it can be either one of you. Make sure to sign up for the TAP account using your Social Security number (or ITIN). You can’t use a TAP account you set up using your business’s federal employer identification number (EIN).
Other Considerations
Do purchases made using the Empowering Parents grant qualify for the Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit program?
No. You can’t claim the parental choice tax credit or advance payment for items or services purchased with the Empowering Parents grant.
Do funds from the Advanced Opportunities reimbursement qualify for the Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit program?
No. You can’t claim the parental choice tax credit or advance payment for any expenses that the Advanced Opportunities reimbursement covers.
Can I use an Idaho Ideal 529 plan to pay for qualifying tuition expenses and still claim the parental choice tax credit?
Yes.
Do I have to complete the satisfaction and engagement survey at the end of each tax year?
Yes. Each parent will be sent a parent satisfaction and engagement survey by the legislative services office. Each parent must complete and submit the survey by March 15, 2027. Failure to complete and submit the survey means you won’t be eligible to receive the parental choice tax credit for subsequent years.
What happens if I misuse the funds?
If you receive the parental choice tax credit or advance payment and spend the funds outside the provisions of the law, you must repay those funds. A financial penalty and interest might apply. If you receive the parental choice tax credit or advance payment and are found to have willfully provided false information to obtain them, that’s considered tax fraud. Civil and criminal penalties — up to felony charges — might apply.