Idaho

How it works

A refundable tax credit for nonpublic education expenses, first come first served, with priority for households at or below 300% of the federal poverty level. Those households can instead take a one-time advance payment per child, reconciled later with receipts. You must have filed the prior year’s Idaho Form 40 and have a TAP account before applying.

Programme

Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit (House Bill 93)

Administered by

Idaho State Tax Commission (applications through its TAP online system)

Credit amount

Up to $5,000 per student, or up to $7,500 for a student with a qualifying disability. Refundable. The state programme totals nearly $50 million.

For homeschoolers

Homeschoolers can use it

Who qualifies

Full-year Idaho residents with a child aged 5-18 (up to 21 with a qualifying disability) who is not enrolled in a public school or publicly funded programme for the semester — that includes Idaho Home Learning Academy and Idaho Virtual Academy. Families above 300% of the poverty level can apply for the credit but are waitlisted behind priority applicants.

How to claim it

1. Confirm you qualify for this year — see "Who qualifies" above.
2. Check this year's window. Closed for this round. Applications for the 2025 credit (or the advance payment awarded in 2026) ran 15 January to 15 March 2026, with a second period from 21 May to 17 July 2026; 7,055 applications for 12,561 students were received. The next window is 15 January to 15 March 2027, for expenses paid in 2026 or an advance payment awarded in 2027 — so keep your 2026 receipts now. Dates move every year, so confirm on the official page before you plan around them.
3. Buy what you need and keep every receipt. Read this before you buy: the law covers nonpublic school tuition or a base curriculum covering at least English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies, plus textbooks, tutoring in those four subjects and certain tests. From 2026 expenses on, that curriculum may come from more than one developer, so a history curriculum can be one part of a four-subject plan. Extracurricular and non-academic activities, and a parent’s own instruction, do not qualify. The separate Empowering Parents grant is a different programme with different rules.
4. Claim it the way the programme directs — on your state return, or through its application where it has one. A credit repays documented spending; it does not pay a vendor for you, so your paperwork is the whole thing.

Official programme page: myschoolchoice.idaho.gov/about-the-program. Amounts, deadlines and eligibility are set by the state and change every year — always confirm there before you plan around them.

Sources

Checked 18 September 2026 against these sources:

• myschoolchoice.idaho.gov/about-the-program
• myschoolchoice.idaho.gov/how-to-apply
• myschoolchoice.idaho.gov/qualifying-expenses
• myschoolchoice.idaho.gov/faqs