Arizona lets you decide where a portion of your state income taxes go. Instead of sending those dollars to the state government, you can redirect them — dollar for dollar— to Scholarkids, a certified School Tuition Organization (STO), to fund private-school scholarships for K–12 students. It costs you nothing out of pocket: every dollar you contribute reduces your Arizona tax bill by the same amount. This page explains exactly how the credit works, who qualifies, how much you can give, and how to claim it.

Arizona residents who owe Arizona state income tax are eligible. Individuals who live outside Arizona or who do not have an Arizona state income tax liability are not eligible to participate in this program.

How do I determine my Arizona tax liability? 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.

Arizona offers two individual STO tax credits that work together — the Original Individual Credit and the PLUS/Switcher Credit. Combined, the maximum total donation amounts eligible for a 100 percent Arizona state tax credit for the 2026 tax year are:

 Married filing jointly: $3,131 combined ($1,570 Original + $1,561 PLUS/Switcher)
 Single / Married filing separately / Head of Household: $1,571 combined ($787 Original + $784 PLUS/Switcher)

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. See the “Are There Two Types of Arizona STO Credits?” section below for how the two credits work individually.

Yes — and we recommend it. Starting monthly donations in June 2026 and continuing through March 2027 gives you exactly 10 comfortable installments to reach the full annual maximum before the April 15, 2027 tax filing deadline for the 2026 tax year. That is just $313 per month for married filing jointly or $157 per month for single filers. No last-minute scramble. The full tax credit waiting at filing time.

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, 2026 through April 15, 2027 are eligible to be claimed on your 2026 Arizona tax return. Donations made by ACH should allow a few extra days before the deadline to ensure receipt is confirmed.

We accept credit card, ACH bank transfer, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. ACH is recommended for larger or recurring donations as it avoids credit card processing fees— meaning more of your donation reaches scholarships directly.

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

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.

Once Arizona opts into the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program launching January 2027, a different stacking structure may become available. See our FSTC page for details.

Yes — with important limitations.

You may recommend an eligible K–12 student who is not your own child or dependent, or you may recommend a specific qualifying Arizona private school. Scholarkids honors recommendations to the full extent the law allows.

However, Arizona law prohibits an STO from awarding, restricting, or reserving scholarships solely on the basis of a donor’s recommendation. Our scholarship decisions are determined by financial need — lowest household income ranked first. A recommendation does not override the income ranking.

You may not recommend your own dependent. Arizona law also prohibits taxpayers from arranging to swap donations with another taxpayer to benefit either taxpayer’s own dependent — even informally.

After you donate, Scholarkids issues 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. If you need a duplicate receipt at any time, email us at info@scholarkids.org.

Yes. Arizona operates two individual STO tax credit programs:

Original Individual Credit (Form 323). Available to most Arizona taxpayers donating to a certified STO. This is the primary program most donors use. The 2026 maximum is $1,570 for married filing jointly and $787 for single filers.

PLUS/Switcher Credit (Form 348). A separate, additional credit available to Arizona taxpayers who have already maxed out their Original Individual Credit. This credit benefits specific student categories including kindergartners, newly enrolled students, former ESA recipients, military dependents, and prior PLUS credit recipients. The 2026 maximum is an additional $1,561 for married filing jointly and $784 for single filers.

If you max out both credits, a married couple filing jointly can direct up to $3,131 in Arizona state taxes to Scholarkids in a single tax year — entirely dollar for dollar. A single filer can direct up to $1,571.

How does Scholarkids decide who receives a scholarship? We rank every scholarship applicant by household income — lowest first. The families with the lowest income move to the front of the line. We do not use donor recommendations, school affiliations, or application timestamps as the basis for awards. Financial need is the only criterion. This is our north star, and it is how we ensure your donation reaches the families who need it most.

Has Arizona’s STO program historically reached the lowest-income families? 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 have flowed 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 have quietly ended up last in line across most of the Arizona STO ecosystem.

Scholarkids was built to do this differently. We rank every applicant by household income — lowest first, every time — so the dollars donated through us go where the data shows the system as a whole has been missing the mark.

Arizona has dozens of certified STOs. Here is why the mechanism of giving to Scholarkids produces a fundamentally different outcome than giving elsewhere.

Scholarkids was built to correct what the ADOR data reveals. We rank every applicant by household income — lowest first. We award complete scholarships, not partial ones. We pay directly to the school, never to the family. And we are transparent about every dollar.

Your donation through the Arizona STO program works the same tax credit mechanism regardless of which STO you choose. What changes is what happens to the money when it arrives. At Scholarkids, it goes to the family that needs it most — verified, ranked, and delivered with full integrity.

When we award a scholarship, we don’t see it as a one-year transaction. Our goal is multi-year continuity — staying with a family year after year, so a child isn’t pulled out of a school that’s working because funding disappeared.

Every year, the lowest-income families come first — including the families we have already committed to, who in nearly every case remain among those who need us most. We renew a scholarship as long as the family still qualifies within the income range that first made them eligible and our donors make it possible.

Arizona law means we cannot guarantee any future award, and every year depends on the generosity of our donors. Our commitment is to grow fast enough that keeping a promise to one child never comes at the expense of reaching the next lowest-income family on our list.