Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Calculator (§25F)

Almost certainly yes. What matters is your total federal tax liability for the year, the tax you owe before withholding, not whether you have a balance due at filing. If your liability, after other credits such as the child tax credit, is at least as large as your §25F credit, you can use all of it; the credit simply increases your refund (or reduces your balance) dollar-for-dollar. Withholding does not disqualify you.

No. The §25F credit is non-refundable: it can reduce your federal tax to $0 but cannot create a refund beyond the tax you owed. If your credit is more than the tax you can offset this year, the unused credit carries forward for up to 5 years and is used oldest first. Only unused credit carries forward, never donation dollars above the cap.

Yes, under Treasury's proposed regulations, released October 1, 2026. §25F caps the credit at $1,700 'to any taxpayer,' and the proposed rule treats spouses filing jointly as separate taxpayers. Each spouse's own designated donation earns up to $1,700, so a joint return can claim up to $3,400 when each spouse gives (Treasury's example: $2,000 each, $1,700 each). A $3,400 gift from one spouse supports only that spouse's $1,700. The proposal doesn't say how a single gift from a joint account splits between spouses, so the safe course is two gifts, each designated in one spouse's name. The rules are proposed, not final, but Treasury says taxpayers may rely on them for 2027 contributions.

It can, but it comes off before the $1,700 cap, not after. Under Treasury's proposed regulations you subtract any state tax credit for your designated donation first, then apply the cap. Treasury's example: a $2,500 donation with a $500 state credit leaves $2,000, so the full $1,700 federal credit applies, $2,200 back in all. A $2,000 donation with a $400 state credit earns $1,600. If the state credit also covers dollars you didn't designate for §25F, it is applied to those dollars first. A state tax deduction, as opposed to a credit, doesn't reduce the federal credit.

Only the part that doesn't earn the credit. The amount that produces a §25F credit, including credit you carry forward, can't also be a charitable deduction. In Treasury's example, a $2,000 donation earns a $1,700 credit and the other $300 may be deductible under the normal §170 rules. The calculator shows that uncredited amount.

No, this is an estimate for planning. It uses the 2025 federal brackets and standard deduction and does not account for the AMT, capital-gains rates, or state tax. For an exact figure, check last year's return or ask your tax advisor.