Georgia
Tuition Tax Credit for
Private School Students
Next GASSO information
session
January 26, 2012 from 6:30-8:30 in the Lunch Bunch/After Care Building
Beginning in the Fall 2010 Ivy League Montessori School qualified
to participate in the Georgia Tuition Tax Credit program. This program
allows Georgia residents or companies who pay income tax to designate
their tax money for scholarships for a specific private school in Georgia.
Legislation, passed in 2008, allows taxpayers to donate part of
their Georgia Income Tax for use at private schools to provide scholarships
for children in Pre-K (beginning at age 4) through 12th grade. The
donor receives
a dollar for dollar credit off of their Georgia Income Tax for a donation
that they make through a non-profit scholarship organization approved
by the Georgia Department of Education. The non-profit working with
ILMS is the Georgia Scholarship Organization (GASSO) based
in Cumming.
An individual can donate up to
$1,000 per year, a couple filing jointly can donate up to $2,500, and
a corporation paying Georgia Income Tax can donate up to 75% of its
Georgia tax liability.
Since the Georgia Student Scholarship Organization (GASSO) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, contributions qualify for a charitable deduction on federal tax returns and are eligible for many corporate matching gift funds.
Students (as young as 4 yrs old) at the school can receive scholarships
to offset the cost of tuition. Georgia Department of Education is required
to set a maximum annual scholarship award cap for each student. The
cap is based upon a calendar year award which for 2012 is $9,437. Once
this maximum amount of award is reached for a student during the calendar
year, further scholarship awards will be made in 2013.
According to the Georgia law, students
must be Georgia residents enrolled in a Georgia secondary or primary
public school, though attendance is not required. Therefore, exisiting
and new students at ILMS can enroll in public schools for the county
in which they live and qualify to receive scholarship monies. Others
eligible for scholarships are those who are enrolled or accepted into
a qualified kindergarten or pre-kindergarten program. Students must
be attending or be accepted to attend ILMS to receive scholarship monies.
ILMS has partnered with GASSO to
facilitate the implementation of the program. GASSO offers information
sessions to the school and can answer questions directly for those
who need more information. They keep the school updated on any changes
in the Georgia law or in the program itself. They take donations and
facilitate getting scholarship monies to the students and to the school
quickly.
For information on how to participate in this program, visit our Georgia
Tuition Tax Credit Step-by-Step page.
More information about the program can be found on the following web
sites:
For more information contact Becky Carty at ILMS:
or Bob Jaison at GASSO:
- Phone: (678) 947-0238
- Email: gassoinc@bellsouth.net
- Mailing
address: P.O. Box 1752, Cumming GA 30040
- Physical address: 107 Colony
Park Drive
Suite 100 (also home to Connect Chemical) in the office park across
from Andean Chevrolet in Cumming.
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