“Switcher” Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program

Students in grades K–12 who attended a public or charter school for at least 90 days, or a full semester, in the prior school year and transferred to a private school are eligible for a scholarship. Pre-kindergarten students with disabilities are eligible if attending a qualified school that offers needed services for any of the following conditions: hearing impairment; visual impairment; developmental delay; preschool severe delay; or speech and/or language impairment. Additionally, students who are in, or enrolling in, a private school kindergarten; children of active military members stationed in Arizona; children who were homeschooled before transferring directly to a private school; and children who moved into Arizona from another state or country and transferred directly into an Arizona private school are eligible. To be eligible, kindergarten students must be age 5 by January 1 of their kindergarten school year. Students must attend the private school fulltime to participate. A student who participated in the ESA program and did not renew or accept the scholarship may accept a STO scholarship by transferring into the program. Children remain eligible for the program as long as they are continuously enrolled and attending a private school and receiving the scholarship, and they are also eligible for this scholarship if they received a low-income corporate scholarship or a disabled/displaced corporate scholarship in the prior year. A student who receives Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) money from the Arizona Department of Education is not eligible for a “switcher” tax credit award. Students may receive multiple tax-credit scholarship awards or receive awards from multiple tax-credit scholarship programs as eligible. _(Last updated July 15, 2024)_

Funds from STOs are used to pay for tuition at qualified private schools for full-time enrollment.

Private donors fund this program by donating to STOs and receiving tax credits for their donation, up to certain limits. STOs determine scholarship amounts. These amounts may vary depending on the STO to which a student applies for a scholarship. Students may receive more than one scholarship from STOs. Scholarship values are capped at the school’s tuition but multi-year tuition scholarships are permitted, and scholarships can be combined. Tax credits are worth 100% of the value of the contributions to scholarship organizations, but donors can only claim up to $728 in tax credits annually (or up to $1,451 for married couples filing jointly) after first donating the maximum credit amount for the Original Individual Income Tax Credit ($731 individual, $1,459 joint) in tax year 2024. The credit limit is adjusted annually, on or after January 1, using the Consumer Price Index published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, except that the dollar amount cannot be reduced from the prior taxable year. This credit is not available to corporations. _(Last updated July 15, 2024)_

No legal challenges have been filed against the program. _(Last updated July 15, 2024)_