Would you be interested using your Arizona tax credit and support public or charter schools through non-profit charity organizations? Yes, it is possible. The State of Arizona offers a dollar-for-dollar tax credit opportunity when you donate your tax liabilities to a qualified charitable organization registered in the state.
These tax credit opportunities can help you change someone else’s life. It may be a child or an entire family in need of support for their care services, particularly for the schooling needs. Arizona gives you an opportunity to allocate your taxpayer dollars for your charity donations and taxes.
How Do You Differentiate a Public from a Charter School?
For most non-profit charity organizations, you can recommend a school to receive your donations. An Arizona taxpayer can choose either a public or a charter school, which shares the same goal of giving children and young adults the best possible education for a better future. But, how do you precisely differentiate these two school types to help you pick your recommended beneficiary?
Public Schools
A significant number of school-aged children in the country get educated from public schools. Learners can typically enroll in kindergarten classes up to their 12th grade. Nevertheless, some selected districts around the state can offer pre-kindergarten classes, too. While the US government mandates a K-12 education for all children in the country, the age requirement differs from one state to another.
Typically, US public schools get their funds from the state, local, and federal governments. The state government provides the majority of its funding. More than half of it comes from property and income taxes. The subsequent significant financing comes from the local government from the city or town where it is located. And last but not least, the US federal government still gives about 10% of the overall funding for public schools. More often, most non-profit charity organizations help to fund children’s extracurricular activities and training.
Students accepted in public schools should be legal residents within the district. The grade level, curriculum, testing standards, and class size will also be under the mandate of the state and local laws.
Charter Schools
On the other hand, learning institutions that are managed privately but funds that come from the public are called charter schools. Their enrollment figures are the basis for the public funding they will receive for the school year. About 6 to 7% of American kids in the K-12 program get their education from a charter school.
Students enrolled in a charter school do not have to pay for their tuition, pretty much like how it is in public schools. These learning institutions’ foundations are based on principles set by administrators, teachers, parents, and sponsoring groups, which are called a charter, hence the name. Most sponsors are from non-profit charity organizations, private companies, other educational institutions, or private individuals.
Private Schools
Let us give you an idea as well about private schools. Private schools are institutions where the students typically pay for their tuition and are not funded by the government or state tax. Sometimes, they also get additional funding from grant money or private donors. The new tax credit opportunity in Arizona cannot be applied as they cannot use your charity donations and taxes for funding.
Donating to a Public or Charter School
So, the next question you might have in mind is, how do you make use of the new tax credit opportunity, the Arizona tax credit, to donate to a public or charter school? You, as an Arizona taxpayer, can use your state tax liabilities for donations to non-profit charity organizations of up to $800 for joint accounts or $400 for single applications.
Donations can be made to non-profit charitable organizations, which in turn can give you a dollar-for-dollar Arizona tax credit. The funds are typically used to support public or charter schools for their character education programs, extracurricular activities, child supervision, and after-care services.
Most schools use the resources gathered for:
- Sports activities
- Art classes
- Field trips
- Technical education training and certification
- Character education and career preparation programs
- Materials and costs for college credit or readiness testing
- CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training
- And many more
Non-profit charitable organizations have varying processes, but most offer various means of payment, typically by cash, check, or online transfer. Once your donation has been received, the qualified charitable organization will send you a receipt with the details you placed in a specific form you need to sign for Arizona tax credit conversion. The receipt will be your proof, which you can use as a supporting document when you file your taxes.
According to the recent Arizona tax filing guidelines, the contributions that an Arizona taxpayer made between the 1st of January 2022 and the 15th of April 2022 may be filed as an Arizona tax credit for either your 2022 or 2021 tax returns.
Takeaway Thought
Helping a student through your donation for a public or charter school’s use is not so far-fetched and complicated as it was before. You can now simply donate to qualified non-profit charitable organizations to convert your donation into tax credits, which you can actually use during your tax filing.
Children’s Care Arizona is one of Arizona’s long-standing qualified non-profit charity organizations, established in 2017. If you are keen on changing a family’s life for the better, join our cause. Help a low-income family with your Arizona tax credit and get a dollar-for-dollar reduction from your state taxes. Call us at (480) 795 3775 or email support@childrenscareaz.org for more information.
