I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 817 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against 
tax for charitable donations to nonprofit organizations providing edu-
cation scholarships to qualified elementary and secondary students. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 28, 2025 
Mr. SMITH of Nebraska (for himself, Mr. OWENS, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. KELLY 
of Pennsylvania, Mr. YAKYM, Mr. LAHOOD, Ms. LETLOW, Mrs. MILLER- 
MEEKS, Mr. DONALDS, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. FEENSTRA, Mr. MOORE of 
Utah, Mr. HERN of Oklahoma, Ms. MALLIOTAKIS, Mr. LAWLER, Mr. 
FONG, Mr. CAREY, Mr. HUDSON, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. SCOTT FRANKLIN 
of Florida, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. ROSE, 
Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. CISCOMANI, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. ALLEN, 
and Mr. DUNN of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the 
Committee on Education and Workforce, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a 
credit against tax for charitable donations to nonprofit 
organizations providing education scholarships to quali-
fied elementary and secondary students. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Educational Choice 
for Children Act of 2025’’. 
SEC. 2. TAX CREDIT FOR CONTRIBUTIONS OF INDIVIDUALS 
TO 
SCHOLARSHIP 
GRANTING 
ORGANIZA-
TIONS. 
(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 is amended by inserting after section 25E 
the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 25F. QUALIFIED ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDU-
CATION SCHOLARSHIPS. 
‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an in-
dividual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 
imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an amount 
equal to the aggregate amount of qualified contributions 
made by the taxpayer during the taxable year. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The credit allowed under 
subsection (a) to any taxpayer for any taxable year 
shall not exceed an amount equal to the greater of— 
‘‘(A) 10 percent of the adjusted gross in-
come of the taxpayer for the taxable year, or 
‘‘(B) $5,000. 
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‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF VOLUME CAP.—The credit 
allowed under subsection (a) to any taxpayer for any 
taxable year shall not exceed the amount of the vol-
ume cap allocated by the Secretary to such taxpayer 
under subsection (g) with respect to qualified con-
tributions made by the taxpayer during the taxable 
year. 
‘‘(3) REDUCTION BASED ON STATE CREDIT.— 
The amount allowed as a credit under subsection (a) 
for a taxable year shall be reduced by the amount 
allowed as a credit on any State tax return of the 
taxpayer for qualified contributions made by the tax-
payer during the taxable year. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘eligible 
student’ means an individual who— 
‘‘(A) is a member of a household with an 
income which is not greater than 300 percent 
of the area median gross income (as such term 
is used in section 42), and 
‘‘(B) is eligible to enroll in a public ele-
mentary or secondary school. 
‘‘(2) QUALIFIED
CONTRIBUTION.—The term 
‘qualified contribution’ means a charitable contribu-
tion (as defined by section 170(c)) to a scholarship 
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granting organization in the form of cash or market-
able securities. 
‘‘(3) QUALIFIED ELEMENTARY OR SECONDARY 
EDUCATION EXPENSE.—The term ‘qualified elemen-
tary or secondary education expense’ means the fol-
lowing expenses in connection with enrollment or at-
tendance at, or for students enrolled at or attending, 
an elementary or secondary public, private, or reli-
gious school: 
‘‘(A) Tuition. 
‘‘(B) Curriculum and curricular materials. 
‘‘(C) Books or other instructional mate-
rials. 
‘‘(D) Online educational materials. 
‘‘(E) Tuition for tutoring or educational 
classes outside of the home, including at a tu-
toring facility, but only if the tutor or instruc-
tor is not related to the student and— 
‘‘(i) is licensed as a teacher in any 
State, 
‘‘(ii) has taught at an eligible edu-
cational institution, or 
‘‘(iii) is a subject matter expert in the 
relevant subject. 
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‘‘(F) Fees for a nationally standardized 
norm-referenced achievement test, an advanced 
placement examination, or any examinations re-
lated to college or university admission. 
‘‘(G) Fees for dual enrollment in an insti-
tution of higher education. 
‘‘(H) Educational therapies for students 
with disabilities provided by a licensed or ac-
credited practitioner or provider, including oc-
cupational, behavioral, physical, and speech-lan-
guage therapies. 
Such term shall include expenses for the purposes 
described in subparagraphs (A) through (H) in con-
nection with a homeschool (whether treated as a 
homeschool or a private school for purposes of appli-
cable State law). 
‘‘(4) 
SCHOLARSHIP
GRANTING
ORGANIZA-
TION.—The term ‘scholarship granting organization’ 
means any organization— 
‘‘(A) which— 
‘‘(i) is described in section 501(c)(3) 
and exempt from tax under section 501(a), 
and 
‘‘(ii) is not a private foundation, 
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‘‘(B) substantially all of the activities of 
which are providing scholarships for qualified 
elementary or secondary education expenses of 
eligible students, 
‘‘(C) which prevents the co-mingling of 
qualified contributions with other amounts by 
maintaining one or more separate accounts ex-
clusively for qualified contributions, and 
‘‘(D) which either— 
‘‘(i) meets the requirements of sub-
section (d), or 
‘‘(ii) pursuant to State law, was able 
(as of the date of the enactment of this 
section) to receive contributions that are 
eligible for a State tax credit if such con-
tributions are used by the organization to 
provide scholarships to individual elemen-
tary and secondary students, including 
scholarships for attending private schools. 
‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS FOR SCHOLARSHIP GRANTING 
ORGANIZATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An organization meets the 
requirements of this subsection if— 
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‘‘(A) such organization provides scholar-
ships to 2 or more students, provided that not 
all such students attend the same school, 
‘‘(B) such organization does not provide 
scholarships for any expenses other than quali-
fied elementary or secondary education ex-
penses, 
‘‘(C) such organization provides a scholar-
ship to eligible students with a priority for— 
‘‘(i) students awarded a scholarship 
the previous school year, and 
‘‘(ii) after application of clause (i), 
any such students who have a sibling who 
was awarded a scholarship from such orga-
nization, 
‘‘(D) such organization does not earmark 
or set aside contributions for scholarships on 
behalf of any particular student, 
‘‘(E) such organization takes appropriate 
steps to verify the annual household income and 
family size of eligible students to whom it 
awards scholarships, and limits them to a mem-
ber of a household for which the income does 
not exceed the amount established under sub-
section (c)(1)(A), 
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‘‘(F) such organization— 
‘‘(i) obtains from an independent cer-
tified public accountant annual financial 
and compliance audits, and 
‘‘(ii) certifies to the Secretary (at such 
time, and in such form and manner, as the 
Secretary may prescribe) that the audit de-
scribed in clause (i) has been completed, 
and 
‘‘(G) no officer or board member of such 
organization has been convicted of a felony. 
‘‘(2) INCOME VERIFICATION.—For purposes of 
paragraph (1)(E), review of all of the following (as 
applicable) shall be treated as satisfying the require-
ment to take appropriate steps to verify annual 
household income: 
‘‘(A) Federal and State income tax returns 
or tax return transcripts with applicable sched-
ules for the taxable year prior to application. 
‘‘(B) Income reporting statements for tax 
purposes or wage and income transcripts from 
the Internal Revenue Service. 
‘‘(C) Notarized income verification letter 
from employers. 
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‘‘(D) Unemployment or workers compensa-
tion statements. 
‘‘(E) Budget letters regarding public as-
sistance payments and Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program (SNAP) payments includ-
ing a list of household members. 
‘‘(3) INDEPENDENT
CERTIFIED
PUBLIC
AC-
COUNTANT.—For purposes of paragraph (1)(F), the 
term 
‘independent 
certified 
public 
accountant’ 
means, with respect to an organization, a certified 
public accountant who is not a person described in 
section 465(b)(3)(A) with respect to such organiza-
tion or any employee of such organization. 
‘‘(4) PROHIBITION ON SELF-DEALING.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A scholarship grant-
ing organization may not award a scholarship 
to any disqualified person. 
‘‘(B) DISQUALIFIED
PERSON.—For pur-
poses of this paragraph, a disqualified person 
shall be determined pursuant to rules similar to 
the rules of section 4946. 
‘‘(e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Any qualified 
contribution for which a credit is allowed under this sec-
tion shall not be taken into account as a charitable con-
tribution for purposes of section 170. 
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‘‘(f) CARRYFORWARD OF UNUSED CREDIT.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—If the credit allowable 
under subsection (a) for any taxable year exceeds 
the limitation imposed by section 26(a) for such tax-
able year reduced by the sum of the credits allowable 
under this subpart (other than this section, section 
23, and section 25D), such excess shall be carried to 
the succeeding taxable year and added to the credit 
allowable under subsection (a) for such taxable year. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—No credit may be carried 
forward under this subsection to any taxable year 
following the fifth taxable year after the taxable year 
in which the credit arose. For purposes of the pre-
ceding sentence, credits shall be treated as used on 
a first-in first-out basis. 
‘‘(g) VOLUME CAP.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The volume cap applicable 
under this section shall be $5,000,000,000 for each 
of calendar years 2025 through 2028, and zero for 
calendar years thereafter. Such amount shall be allo-
cated by the Secretary as provided in paragraph (2) 
to taxpayers with respect to qualified contributions 
made by such taxpayers, except that 10 percent of 
such amount shall be divided evenly among the 
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States, and shall be available with respect to individ-
uals residing in such States. 
‘‘(2) FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVE.—For purposes 
of applying the volume cap under this section, such 
volume cap for any calendar year shall be allocated 
by the Secretary on a first-come, first-serve basis, as 
determined based on the time (during such calendar 
year) at which the taxpayer made the qualified con-
tribution with respect to which the allocation is 
made. The Secretary shall not make any allocation 
of volume cap for any calendar year after December 
31 of such calendar year. 
‘‘(3) REAL-TIME INFORMATION.—For purposes 
of this section, the Secretary shall develop a system 
to track the amount of qualified contributions made 
during the calendar year for which a credit may be 
claimed under this section, with such information to 
be updated in real time. 
‘‘(4) ANNUAL INCREASES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of the cal-
endar year after a high use calendar year, the 
dollar amount otherwise in effect under sub-
section (a) for such calendar year shall be equal 
to 105 percent of the dollar amount in effect 
for such high use calendar year. 
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‘‘(B) HIGH
USE
CALENDAR
YEAR.—For 
purposes of this subsection, the term ‘high use 
calendar year’ means any calendar year for 
which 90 percent or more of the volume cap in 
effect for such calendar year under subsection 
(a) is allocated to taxpayers. 
‘‘(C) PREVENTION OF DECREASES IN AN-
NUAL VOLUME CAP.—The volume cap in effect 
under subsection (a) for any calendar year shall 
not be less than the volume cap in effect under 
such subsection for the preceding calendar year. 
‘‘(D) PUBLICATION OF ANNUAL VOLUME 
CAP.—The Secretary shall make publicly avail-
able the dollar amount of the volume cap in ef-
fect under subsection (a) for each calendar 
year. 
‘‘(5) STATES.—For purposes of this subsection, 
the term ‘State’ includes the District of Columbia.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(A) Section 25(e)(1)(C) of such Code is 
amended by striking ‘‘and 25D’’ and inserting 
‘‘25D, and 25F’’. 
(B) The table of sections for subpart A of 
part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such 
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Code is amended by inserting after the item re-
lating to section 25E the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 25F. Qualified elementary and secondary education scholarships.’’. 
(b) FAILURE OF SCHOLARSHIP GRANTING ORGANI-
ZATIONS TO MAKE DISTRIBUTIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 42 of such Code is 
amended by adding at the end the following new 
subchapter: 
‘‘Subchapter I—Scholarship Granting 
Organizations 
‘‘Sec. 4969. Failure to distribute receipts. 
‘‘SEC. 4969. FAILURE TO DISTRIBUTE RECEIPTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any scholarship 
granting organization (as defined in section 25F) which 
has been determined by the Secretary to have failed to 
satisfy the requirement under subsection (b) for any tax-
able year, any contribution made to such organization dur-
ing the first taxable year beginning after the date of such 
determination shall not be treated as a qualified contribu-
tion (as defined in section 25F(c)(2)) for purposes of sec-
tion 25F. 
‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT.—The requirement described in 
this subsection is that the amount of receipts of the schol-
arship granting organization for the taxable year which 
are distributed before the distribution deadline with re-
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spect to such receipts shall not be less than the required 
distribution amount with respect to such taxable year. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 
‘‘(1) REQUIRED DISTRIBUTION AMOUNT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The required distribu-
tion amount with respect to a taxable year is 
the amount equal to 100 percent of the total re-
ceipts of the scholarship granting organization 
for such taxable year— 
‘‘(i) reduced by the sum of such re-
ceipts that are retained for reasonable ad-
ministrative expenses for the taxable year 
or are carried to the succeeding taxable 
year under subparagraph (C), and 
‘‘(ii) increased by the amount of the 
carryover under subparagraph (C) from 
the preceding taxable year. 
‘‘(B) SAFE HARBOR FOR REASONABLE AD-
MINISTRATIVE
EXPENSES.—For purposes of 
subparagraph (A)(i), if the percentage of total 
receipts of a scholarship granting organization 
for a taxable year which are used for adminis-
trative purposes is equal to or less than 10 per-
cent, such expenses shall be deemed to be rea-
sonable for purposes of such subparagraph. 
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‘‘(C) CARRYOVER.—With respect to the 
amount of the total receipts of a scholarship 
granting organization with respect to any tax-
able year, an amount not greater than 15 per-
cent of such amount may, at the election of 
such organization, be carried to the succeeding 
taxable year. 
‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTIONS.—The term ‘distribution’ 
includes amounts which are formally committed but 
not distributed. A formal commitment described in 
the preceding sentence may include contributions set 
aside for eligible students for more than one year. 
‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION DEADLINE.—The distribu-
tion deadline with respect to receipts for a taxable 
year is the first day of the third taxable year fol-
lowing the taxable year in which such receipts are 
received by the scholarship granting organization.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sub-
chapters for chapter 42 of such Code is amended by 
adding at the end the following new item: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER I. SCHOLARSHIP GRANTING ORGANIZATIONS’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years ending after De-
cember 31, 2024. 
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SEC. 3. EXEMPTION FROM GROSS INCOME FOR SCHOLAR-
SHIPS FOR QUALIFIED ELEMENTARY OR SEC-
ONDARY EDUCATION EXPENSES OF ELIGIBLE 
STUDENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of subchapter B of chap-
ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 
by inserting before section 140 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 139J. SCHOLARSHIPS FOR QUALIFIED ELEMENTARY 
OR SECONDARY EDUCATION EXPENSES OF 
ELIGIBLE STUDENTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, 
gross income shall not include any amounts provided to 
any dependent of such individual pursuant to a scholar-
ship for qualified elementary or secondary education ex-
penses of an eligible student which is provided by a schol-
arship granting organization. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘quali-
fied elementary or secondary education expense’, ‘eligible 
student’, and ‘scholarship granting organization’ have the 
same meaning given such terms under section 25F(c).’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting be-
fore the item relating to section 140 the following new 
item: 
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‘‘Sec. 139J. Scholarships for qualified elementary or secondary education ex-
penses of eligible students.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to amounts received after Decem-
ber 31, 2024, in taxable years ending after such date. 
SEC. 4. ORGANIZATIONAL AND PARENTAL AUTONOMY. 
(a) PROHIBITION OF CONTROL OVER SCHOLARSHIP 
ORGANIZATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.— 
(A) TREATMENT.—A scholarship granting 
organization shall not, by virtue of participation 
under any provision of this Act or any amend-
ment made by this Act, be regarded as acting 
on behalf of any governmental entity. 
(B) NO GOVERNMENTAL CONTROL.—Noth-
ing in this Act, or any amendment made by this 
Act, shall be construed to permit, allow, encour-
age, or authorize any Federal, State, or local 
government entity, or officer or employee there-
of, to mandate, direct, or control any aspect of 
any scholarship granting organization. 
(C) MAXIMUM FREEDOM.—To the extent 
permissible by law, this Act, and any amend-
ment made by this Act, shall be construed to 
allow scholarship granting organizations max-
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imum freedom to provide for the needs of the 
participants without governmental control. 
(2) PROHIBITION OF CONTROL OVER NON-PUB-
LIC SCHOOLS.— 
(A) NO GOVERNMENTAL CONTROL.—Noth-
ing in this Act, or any amendment made by this 
Act, shall be construed to permit, allow, encour-
age, or authorize any Federal, State, or local 
government entity, or officer or employee there-
of, to mandate, direct, or control any aspect of 
any private or religious elementary or secondary 
education institution. 
(B) NO EXCLUSION OF PRIVATE OR RELI-
GIOUS SCHOOLS.—No Federal, State, or local 
government entity, or officer or employee there-
of, shall impose or permit the imposition of any 
conditions or requirements that would exclude 
or operate to exclude educational expenses at 
private or religious elementary and secondary 
education institutions from being considered 
qualified elementary or secondary education ex-
penses. 
(C) NO
EXCLUSION
OF
QUALIFIED
EX-
PENSES
DUE
TO
INSTITUTION’S
RELIGIOUS 
CHARACTER
OR
AFFILIATION.—No Federal, 
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State, or local government entity, or officer or 
employee thereof, shall exclude, discriminate 
against, or otherwise disadvantage any elemen-
tary or secondary education institution with re-
spect to qualified elementary or secondary edu-
cation expenses at that institution based in 
whole or in part on the institution’s religious 
character or affiliation, including religiously 
based or mission-based policies or practices. 
(3) PARENTAL
RIGHTS
TO
USE
SCHOLAR-
SHIPS.—No Federal, State, or local government en-
tity, or officer or employee thereof, shall disfavor or 
discourage the use of scholarships granted by par-
ticipating scholarship granting organizations for 
qualified elementary or secondary education ex-
penses at private or nonprofit elementary and sec-
ondary education institutions, including faith-based 
schools. 
(4) PARENTAL RIGHT TO INTERVENE.—In any 
action filed in any State or Federal court which 
challenges the constitutionality (under the constitu-
tion of such State or the Constitution of the United 
States) of any provision of this Act (or any amend-
ment made by this Act), any parent of an eligible 
student who has received a scholarship from a schol-
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arship granting organization shall have the right to 
intervene in support of the constitutionality of such 
provision or amendment. To avoid duplication of ef-
forts and reduce the burdens placed on the parties 
to the action, the court in any such action may re-
quire interveners taking similar positions to file joint 
papers or to be represented by a single attorney at 
oral argument, provided that the court does not re-
quire such interveners to join any brief filed on be-
half of any State which is a defendant in such ac-
tion. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 
terms ‘‘eligible student’’, ‘‘scholarship granting organiza-
tion’’, and ‘‘qualified elementary or secondary education 
expense’’ shall have the same meanings given such terms 
under section 25F(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (as added by section 2(a) of this Act). 
Æ 
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