Last week, the White House held a press conference to preview forthcoming regulations from the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to guide implementation of the federal education tax credit voucher program. While the final regulations are scheduled for release in September, Treasury has been under pressure to release details so that states opting into the program can prepare to implement the program in January 2027. Treasury’s scripted sneak peek addressed a handful of pressing issues, including highlights about how Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs) will be expected to do business in the state in which they are “authorized to do business” and that they expect to allow a multi-state “path” for SGOs who wish to do business in more than one state. In defining what a school is, Treasury noted that the forthcoming rules will likely define “school” to include public, private, and religious schools that provide K–12 elementary or secondary education, as determined under state law. They also indicated that a home school would be treated as a school if the state treats it as a school under state law. To verify student household income and prevent fraud and abuse, they indicated that states will be directed to use federally recognized documents, such as W-2s and federal tax returns, to determine student eligibility, and that SGOs will be required to undergo annual audits to verify that legal processes for taking in and distributing funds are in place. With regard to use of scholarship funds by qualifying families, they said that consistent with the statute, scholarships may be used to support additive academic tutoring and special needs services, and that future guidance will address those issues in more detail. COPAA has valuable information to share if your governor has ‘opted into’ the program and for those still making a decision.

You can check this map to see your state’s status