This is all part of the Qualified Education Expense Credit Program, which came about in 2008 when Georgia House Bill 1133 (HB1133) was signed into law. The resulting student scholarship organizations (SSOs) allow for Georgia taxpayers—individuals and corporations—to contribute a portion of their state taxes to independent schools of their designation. These SSOs use the contributions to award scholarships to eligible students from K-12 public schools so that they can attend the private schools of their parents’ choosing.
 

Springmont has partnered with Apogee Georgia School Choice Scholarship Fund, a state-approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit SSO, to help us make the best use of this program.

The more funds we receive from this program, the more Financial Aid we can offer students applying to certain programs. It’s a win-win in this regard. More students benefit from a Springmont education and our enrollment increases, the learning groups in the classrooms grow and additional revenue fuels the classrooms.

By law, the Department of Revenue has 30 days to approve your contribution. If you have not received your approval notice within 30 days of your submission form, please contact Apogee at (404) 419-7123.

There are specific legal guidelines for how funds from this program can be used. Eligibility is contained to:

You may contribute any amount up to these limits:

Married Filing Jointly: Maximum of $5,000

Individual Filer: Maximum of $2,500

Married Filing Separately: Maximum of $2,500

Individuals who receive pass-through income can contribute up to $25,000

C-Corporation: Up to 75% of GA tax liability

S-Corps who elect to fund their GA tax liability at the entity level: Up to 75% of GA tax liability

No, the actual process is easy and pre-registration takes fewer than 10 minutes. Apogee will handle everything else regarding the donation. You are still responsible for managing your taxes.

To get the tax credit, you must submit your application by December 15th to be pre-approved by the Georgia Department of Revenue. Once approved, you have 60 days from the date of your approval notice to make the contribution. If mailing a check, it must be postmarked within that time frame. Beyond these strict deadlines, however, the Georgia legislature places an annual cap on the amount of available credits. 

If you itemize federal income tax deductions, a federal charitable income tax deduction is also available for the amount of contribution.

Yes. A tax credit is more beneficial to the taxpayer than a strict deduction, because it reduces your tax burden dollar-for-dollar while a deduction reduces the amount of taxable income on which your tax burden is calculated. As a reminder, the dollar-for-dollar credit is for your Georgia taxes. 

You may donate any amount up to the limits allowed: $2,500 for a married couple filing together, $1,250 for married people filing separately, and $1,000 for those filing individually.

If your state income tax burden is at least what your contribution is, your refund will increase by the amount of your donation. If, however, your tax burden is less than your contribution, the amount of unused credit can be carried forward for five (5) years.
 

For additional information or filing instructions, please visit Apogee.

Click here for step by step instructions for both your federal and state taxes.

Our friends at Apogee have mapped that out for you.  Click here for directions, with screenshots, for processing your federal and state taxes.