No — and the difference is significant. A tax deduction reduces the income on which your taxes are calculated, giving you back only a fraction of what you donated depending on your tax bracket. A tax credit reduces your actual tax bill dollar for dollar. If you donate $1,000 to Scholarkids, your Arizona state tax bill goes down by $1,000. You are not giving money away — you are redirecting money you already owe.

Non-refundable means the credit can reduce your Arizona state tax liability to zero but cannot generate a refund beyond what you would normally receive. If you owe $1,000 in Arizona state taxes and donate $1,200, the credit eliminates your $1,000 tax bill entirely — but the extra $200 is not refunded to you. It carries forward instead. Any unused credit amount carries forward for up to five years, so nothing is lost.

No. Federal tax rules prohibit claiming a double tax benefit on the same contribution. You may not claim both a federal charitable deduction and the Arizona state tax credit for the same STO donation. Consult your tax advisor to determine which benefit makes more sense for your situation.

No. The tax credit applies only to cash contributions. You may donate stock to Scholarkids but stock donations are not eligible for the Arizona STO tax credit since they are not considered cash donations.

Review your Arizona state tax return from the prior year. If your income has not changed significantly your liability this year will be similar. Your tax advisor or tax preparer can give you a precise figure. You can donate any amount up to your total Arizona state tax liability.

The maximum donation amounts eligible for a 100 percent Arizona state tax credit for the 2026 tax year are:

• Married filing jointly: $3,131
• Single / Married filing separately / Head of Household: $1,571

You may donate any amount up to your total Arizona state tax liability. If your liability is lower than the maximum listed above, your eligible donation is capped at your actual liability.

Yes — and we recommend it. Using the recurring monthly contribution option gives you 12 comfortable installments to reach the full annual maximum before the April 15 tax filing deadline. No last-minute scramble. The full tax credit will be waiting at filing time.

Scholarkids now offers recurring monthly donations.

You can donate at any time during the calendar year — or up until April 15 of the following year — and still have it count toward the prior tax year. For example, donations made from January 1 through April 15 of the following year are eligible to be claimed on your current year Arizona tax return. Donations made by ACH should allow a few extra days before the deadline to ensure receipt is confirmed.

Not always — and this is exactly why Scholarkids exists. According to the Arizona Department of Revenue’s own annual report, the majority of Arizona STO scholarship dollars flow to families earning above 342 percent of the federal poverty level — above $106,000 a year for a family of four. These are not the families the program was built for. The lowest-income families quietly end up last in line across most of the AZ STO ecosystem. Scholarkids was built to correct that. Every dollar you donate goes as far down the income ladder as our donor base can reach.

That is our north star and the standard we are building toward. Until our donor base reaches the level needed to fund full-tuition awards for every family on our list, scholarships cover the maximum amount our available donations allow — awarded to the two lowest-income families first. As donations grow so do scholarship amounts. Our goal is a complete scholarship — a full school year, fully funded, at no cost to the family.

At least 90 percent of every dollar donated to Scholarkids must be awarded as scholarships — by Arizona law. Not administration. Not overhead. Not salaries. Scholarships. Additionally, every scholarship Scholarkids awards is paid directly to the school, never to the family. Arizona law does not require direct-to-school payment — we chose it as our operating standard because we believe it represents the highest level of integrity. Your donation moves from your hands to a child’s education without passing through anyone else’s.

Recurring monthly and annual donations are the most powerful thing a donor can do. A family that receives a scholarship one year but faces uncertainty the following year cannot fully commit to a school or let their child settle into the community shaping them. Monthly donors and annual renewals build the predictability we need to make multi-year scholarship commitments. When you give repeatedly you are not just funding a scholarship — you are funding the stability that makes that scholarship mean something.

No. Donors may not recommend their own dependent as a recipient even if they are not claiming the child on their taxes. This is prohibited under Arizona law.

Yes. You may identify a specific qualifying Arizona private school and your donation will be directed toward scholarships for applicants from that school.

Scholarkids now offers recurring monthly donations. You can set up a monthly gift when completing your donation online. 

After you donate, Scholarkids will issue a receipt acknowledging your contribution. Keep that receipt and file the following forms with your Arizona state tax return as applicable:

• Form 301 — Arizona tax credit summary
• Form 323 — Original Individual Credit
• Form 348 — PLUS/Switcher Credit

The credit is dollar for dollar against your Arizona tax liability. Unused credits carry forward for up to five years.

Email us at info@scholarkids.org and we will send you a duplicate receipt promptly.

No. Every year, the lowest-income families come first — and the families we’ve already committed to are, in nearly every case, still among those who need us most. We renew a scholarship as long as the family remains within the income range that first qualified them. Where renewal and a new lower-income applicant could compete, our answer is to grow the donor base so that keeping a promise to one child never pushes a needier family down the list.