IRS Program Page: Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (Internal Revenue Code Section 25F)

IRS.gov, Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC) | IRS | Updated June 23, 2026

This is the IRS's official program page for the new federal tax credit under Internal Revenue Code Section 25F. It confirms that starting January 1, 2027, an individual taxpayer may claim the credit for cash given to a Scholarship Granting Organization, up to the statutory limit of $1,700. The page is also where the IRS makes the participation rule plain: the credit applies only to gifts to Scholarship Granting Organizations in states that have signed on, so a state or the District of Columbia must elect into the program and give the IRS its roster of qualifying SGOs, and until it does, a gift to an organization there earns no credit. The IRS also keeps a running tally there of the states that have filed an Advance Election for 2027. The IRS labels the Section 25F credit the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit; this site uses Federal Scholarship Tax Credit for the same credit.

Why this matters: For schools and donors, this is the authoritative IRS starting point that confirms when the credit begins, the $1,700 limit, and which states a taxpayer must contribute through to claim it.