Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship

In August, 2017, the Illinois legislature passed the new Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship Program bill, Invest in Kids, which allows for a 75% income tax credit for individuals and corporations who make authorized contributions to a Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO). A SGO is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization approved by the Illinois Department of Revenue. The primary goal of an SGO is to award scholarships to qualifying students. If desired, an individual may elect to direct their contribution to Loyola Academy.

We strongly encourage you to meet with your personal tax professional to see whether making a gift to an SGO or directly to Chicago Waldorf School stands to make the greatest impact for you and our needy families. However, the most efficient and flexible means by which you can impact CWS students is by making a gift directly to CWS.

• A taxpayer must request approval to make a contribution and receive the income tax credit prior to making your contribution. Applications for the 2020 tax year will be available starting at 12:01 a.m., Tuesday, January 1, 2021 and must be requested online through MyTax Illinois.
• Important: You must have a registered MyTax Illinois account for filing either individual income tax or business income tax in order to apply for approval to make a contribution. If you want to apply, you are encouraged to create a MyTax Illinois account as soon as possible to avoid any processing delays when the application system goes live.
• View the State of Illinois Invest in Kids video on Activating a MyTax Illinois account.
• Additional information is available on the State of Illinois Invest in Kids web site.
• Please use the Empower Illinois SGO as the primary giving vehicle when designating your gift to Chicago Waldorf School.
• CWS suggests consulting your personal tax professional about the implications, advantages and process of donating to this scholarship program.

Empower Illinois is the preferred Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO) if you are planning to designate a gift to Chicago Waldorf School. Additional information will be available on the Empower Illinois website in mid-December. Information will include resources for schools and partner organizations as well as functionality for donors and students, including FAQs and how-to tutorials.

Students whose household income is below 300 percent of the federal poverty level ($73,800 for a family of four) are eligible to receive a scholarship. Prior to April 1, 2019, a priority will be given to students whose household falls below 185 percent of the federal poverty level ($45,510 for a family of four). It is important to know that this year, over 150 Chicago Waldorf School families had a household income below 300 percent of the federal poverty level and met the criteria for tax credit scholarships.

Yes. However, the SGO must liquidate the stock or securities and issue a COR to the taxpayer within 30 days of the receipt of authorized contribution as required by Section 1000.500(c) for the net amount realized by the SGO from the sale of the stock or securities.

Gifts to the Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship Program cannot be credited toward an existing pledge. This is due to a number of federal and state tax guidelines. All gifts made through this new tax credit program must be new gifts.

Since this is a new program, details are still being finalized. More information about this scholarship program can be found on our website or at the Illinois Department of Revenue’s website or at the Empower Illinois website (which will be available in the middle of December).

If you have any follow up questions, please contact Rebecca Moskowitz at bmoskowitz@chicagowaldorf.org.