EFTC, FSTC, ECCA or §25F: why one program has four names

All the names, side by side

Why so many names?

Federal tax programs almost always end up with multiple names because different stakeholders, Congress, the IRS, tax professionals, media, and advocacy groups, each refer to them in the way that makes sense to their audience. The Earned Income Tax Credit is also called the EITC and the Earned Income Credit. The Child Tax Credit is the CTC. The §25F credit is no different.

Four layers create the names:

• The bill name is what Congress called the legislation. For this program, that’s the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA).
• The statute is where the law lives in the U.S. Code after enactment. ECCA was added to the Internal Revenue Code as Section 25F, written as §25F or 26 U.S.C. §25F.
• The IRS program name is what the agency uses in public-facing guidance, forms, and instructions. The IRS calls it the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC), and the October 2026 regulations name the donor claim form Form 8525, Federal Scholarship Tax Credit.
• The public brand is what campaigns and press releases use. Treasury’s own announcements call the program the Education Freedom Tax Credit (EFTC), as do most school-choice groups.

What advocacy groups call it: EFTC (Education Freedom Tax Credit)

Many of the largest school-choice organizations, including ACE Scholarships and the American Federation for Children, brand the program as the Education Freedom Tax Credit (EFTC). ACE Scholarships, one of the largest existing SGOs in the country, publishes its program information at acescholarships.org/eftc. The name is shorter, more rhetorically charged, and more memorable than the IRS or statutory names, which is why it’s become the dominant brand among advocacy organizations and SGO operators even though it doesn’t appear in the enacted statute or in Treasury’s regulations.

If you came across this program through ACE, AFC, or a similar organization’s materials, you almost certainly heard it called the EFTC. Same program; same $1,700 federal credit; same January 1, 2027 launch. For the program itself under that name, see what the Education Freedom Tax Credit is.

What the IRS calls it: FSTC

On the IRS website, the program landing page is titled “Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC)”. The name now runs through the official rules too. The IRS issued Notice 2025-70 in November 2025 requesting public comment on §25F implementation and Rev. Proc. 2026-6 in December 2025 to set up the state advance election. On October 1, 2026, Treasury and the IRS released proposed regulations and companion temporary regulations (T.D. 10057), both titled “Federal Scholarship Tax Credit.” They name the donor claim form Form 8525, Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, which donors will attach to Form 1040; the form itself has not been released. The regulations are now the most detailed official source on how the credit works. The proposed rules are not final, but taxpayers, SGOs and states may rely on them for 2027 contributions; the temporary rules on state elections, SGO registration and donor reporting apply without waiting for comments. (Read Notice 2025-70 and Rev. Proc. 2026-6 on our documents hub.)

For the credit under the IRS’s own name, including how it behaves as a tax item and what it means for tax professionals, see what the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit is.

What Congress called it: ECCA

Congress passed the credit as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA, Public Law 119-21), signed into law on July 4, 2025. Within OBBBA, the scholarship-credit provision lives at Section 70411. The bill text and accompanying legislative materials refer to the program as the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), building on years of standalone ECCA bills introduced in earlier Congresses (most recently as H.R. 833 in the 119th Congress). Treasury’s fact sheets call the 2025 law the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, so you may see that name for OBBBA as well.

Advocacy organizations and education-policy publications generally continue to call the program ECCA, since that’s the name with political and historical recognition.

What tax professionals call it: §25F

CPAs, tax attorneys, and CPE-style technical analyses overwhelmingly refer to the program by its tax-code section: §25F (or “Section 25F”). When you read a technical analysis from a firm like Brownstein, Bonadio, CLA, or Roth & Co, expect §25F language throughout. This is the most precise way to refer to the credit when you need to point to specific statutory provisions (the donor cap, the carryforward rule, SGO requirements, etc.). The regulations follow the same numbering: the proposed rules are §§ 1.25F-1 through 1.25F-5 (cited as “Prop. Treas. Reg.” until they are final), and the temporary rules carry a “T” (§§ 1.25F-1T, 1.25F-4T and 1.25F-5T).

What you should call it

It depends on your audience:

• Talking to other donors or families: “The ECCA federal scholarship tax credit” works well, combines the recognized acronym with a description of what it is.
• Searching the IRS website or filing taxes: Use FSTC or “Federal Scholarship Tax Credit,” that’s the IRS’s term, the title of the regulations, and the name on Form 8525, the form you’ll attach to your return.
• Reading Treasury announcements: Expect Education Freedom Tax Credit (EFTC), the name Treasury’s press releases and fact sheets use.
• Talking to your CPA: Use §25F or “the Section 25F credit”, that’s the technical language they work in.
• Reading legislative news or budget analyses: Look for OBBBA Section 70411 or P.L. 119-21 §70411.

For more on how the credit works in practice, see our full ECCA / FSTC explainer or the donor’s guide to the $1,700 credit.

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