Give tax credit dollars to a public school before December 31

by David Safier

Yeah, yeah, I don't much like school tax credits. The backdoor vouchers for private schools are flat out reprehensible, and I would much rather have the public school funds evenly distributed rather than having them end up mainly in the hands of schools with affluent parents.

But we have to make the most of what we've got, so I give my public school tax credit every year, and always to schools with a high percentage of low income students.

Here's how it works. Give a total $200 per person, $400 for a couple, to public schools before December 31. Give it all to one school or divvy it up. Get a receipt. You'll get 100% of your money back as a credit — not a deduction, a straight credit — at tax time, assuming you make enough to pay taxes. It costs you nothing.

Here are links to two district tax credit web pages whose schools I recommend you give your tax credit dollars to. I'll write a separate post about why I'm not listing the others.

• TUSD tax credit form. TUSD also has a very helpful page listing past donations to schools. Notice the schools with the more affluent students get the most in tax credits? Right. Give to the others.
• Sunnyside School District tax credit form. Lots of schools in this district can make good use of this cash.

A new option is UA's College of Science Field Trip Fund. It allows you to give your tax credit money to schools and teachers where it will fund science-related field trips. An online form starts the process. (I haven't looked into this, but it looks promising.)

TWO NOTES: First, the tax credit money can only go for extracurricular, not classroom activities. Second, if you want the most bang for your buck, give your money to schools with low income students. They get fewer donations, and the students need the added funds more than students whose parents can afford to give their kids the kind of enrichment experiences money can buy.