Latest news with #IdahoStateTaxCommission
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Idaho LWV sought state's help (and didn't get it) to raise awareness of Parental Choice Tax Credit
Members of the Idaho House of Representatives hold a floor session on March 10, 2025, at the Idaho Capitol Building in Boise. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) The co-president of the League of Women of Voters of Idaho said state agencies including Gov. Brad Little's office and the Idaho State Tax Commission have not accepted the league's invitation to work together on a public awareness campaign highlighting a new state education tax credit Little signed into law this year. Founded in 1920, the League of Women Voters is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that seeks to increase voter participation and access, and inform the public about major policy issues. Co-President Jean Henscheid said members of the league tried working for weeks with the Idaho State Tax Commission and Little's office to create a public awareness campaign around the new Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit. The law has been effective for nearly six months. Henscheid said members of the league felt it was important to try to facilitate a discussion or public forum on how families can participate in the tax credit and how accountability will work. 'Over the course of the 80 years we have been active in Idaho we have provided dozens, if not hundreds, of opportunities for public education events including candidate forums, roundtable discussions, community events asking people what they think of particular polices and providing them with the kind of information they need to be informed voters,' Henscheid said. 'Even in its embryonic state, there is enough interest in this $50 million initiative that we felt it would be a service to the public to offer and to facilitate it, which is what the league has done for 80 years,' Henscheid said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Idaho State Tax Commission said the state does not yet have answers to many of the questions the League of Women Voters of Idaho gathered for a public awareness campaign. 'We're still working out the details of the Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit program,' Idaho State Tax Commission public information officer Renee Eymann said Wednesday. 'This is a complex piece of legislation, and we want to have the correct information available.' The law creating the tax credit has already taken effect. House Bill 93 was written so that it took effect retroactively on Jan. 1, 2025. The new credit in House Bill 93 provides up to a $5,000 refundable tax credit for qualifying education expenses, including tuition at a private, religious school. Under the law, parents, guardians or foster parents can receive the credit for qualified expenses such as private school tuition and fees. Eymann said officials with the Idaho State Tax Commission are still: Reviewing the definitions as they relate to taxes Looking at the reporting requirements so the commission can roll them into the application process Determining the commission's administrative duties and how they'll align with the law's requirements Henscheid said the league was open to all sorts of ideas for a public forum or public awareness campaign – including a town hall event, a webinar, a literature campaign or a Q&A of some format. 'If they thought meeting on aisle 12 at Walmart and talking to people about it would help, we would have done it, Henscheid said. During his Jan. 6 State of the State address Little said: 'I recognize the growing desire to expand school choice, especially for students with unique physical or developmental conditions.' Little then recommended spending $50 million 'to further expand education options for Idaho families,' and he signed House Bill 93 into law on Feb. 27. CONTACT US For this article, Little's office referred questions about the Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit and the League of Women Voters of Idaho's outreach efforts to the Idaho State Tax Commission. Parents will be able to apply for the new Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit on Jan. 15, 2026, Eymann said. Once the Idaho State Tax Commission has the details and requirements of the new law sorted out, officials will seek to share those details with the public, the commission said. 'As we finalize more information, we'll be sharing it with all groups that are willing to help us spread the word,' Eymann said. 'This will include issuing news releases, compiling frequently asked questions, providing steps on how to fill out the application for the credit, and explaining what 300% below poverty level means.' Financial Information How do tax credits work in general? Are there examples similar to the Parental Choice Tax Credit Program? Will the same system used for determining qualified expenses through the Empowering Parents grants be used for the Parental Choice Tax Credit Program? Who will be responsible for determining the eligibility of individual family expenses (e.g. qualified instructional materials or travel)? Will the Empowering Parents grants program process be combined with this process? Will levels of compliance and noncompliance be reported publicly (see also accountability Question #23 below) Can families who do not file taxes apply? Could you clarify the following: Parents seeking an advanced payment may also receive a tax credit in the same year. Is that correct? Does that mean one student could receive as much as $10,000 or $15,000 during the first year of eligibility? Is there a limit to the number of children per household who may be eligible for the tax credit? Will a student who registers for an enrichment program, after school activity, or music lesson through a public school, public charter school, public virtual charter school, public magnet school, or part-time public kindergarten while they are using the tax credit forfeit the entire credit for that term? How will this impact future applications? Who will be tasked with tracking ineligible enrollment and recovering the tax credit? Will a nonpublic school that disenrolls a student during an academic term in which a tax credit is being used retain the tax credit funds? If not, will the remaining funds be returned to the state or to parents? Who will be tasked with tracking this? Will a closing nonpublic school receiving tax credit funds retain those funds or return the remainder to the parents? Do closing nonpublic schools have any obligations to enrolled students using the tax credit funds? Application Process What information will be required on the application form? How was the 60-day application window determined? Is this like other programs? Will parents whose modified adjusted gross income does not exceed 300% of the federal poverty level have an early window during the 60 days to apply? If not, how will the preference process work? The law says parents who are reapplying will be given preference over parents who qualify under the federal poverty level criteria. This seems to shift the program's priorities from the first year. Is this correct? Will parents have someone to help them through the application process? Student Learning The law states that tax credits may be used to cover academic instruction in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social science. Who will be tasked with verifying (and reverifying) that these subjects are taught? Will it be a self-report by the school? Who will be tasked with defining a portfolio of evidence or learning record that indicates the student's growth? Will this be up to each school? Will portfolios and learning records be housed at the Tax Commission? If so, will they be secured? Does the student retain ownership of the intellectual property in these documents? Who will conduct the audit of these records to establish that the instruction meets the requirements listed in Question 14 above? What does 'sufficient' evidence for an audit mean? Accountability Could you tell us more about what is meant by an 'accredited' school? How will parents reapplying for the program certify that they have completed the mandatory satisfaction and engagement survey? What evidence will be required? Will someone be tasked with ensuring that students with disabilities are receiving services under 20 U.S.C. 1412 of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act? Will parents of students with disabilities have an advocate who will help students get the help they need? What remedy will be applied if the Tax Commission determines that services mandated by federal law are not provided by the nonpublic school to students with disabilities? The law states that its provisions shall not be construed to permit any government agency to exercise control or supervision over any nonpublic school student and nonpublic schools shall not be required to alter their creeds, practices, admissions policies, or curriculum in order to accept students using parental choice tax credits. Are remedies through the state available to parents if schools fail to comply with the disabilities education act or are identified through the satisfaction and engagement survey as failing in their duty to students? Do the Legislature, Governor's Office, or Tax Commission constitute government entities not permitted to control or supervise nonpublic school students or impact creeds, practices, admissions policies, or curriculum of nonpublic schools? If not, why is this the case? Which state employee or employees will be responsible for developing the mandatory satisfaction and engagement survey? Will results be available to participating parents, nonpublic schools, or other stakeholder groups outside the Tax Commission, the governor, and relevant legislative leadership and committees? Will results be made available to the public as state-generated documents? Will results be analyzed? If yes, by whom and for what purpose? Will results be used to improve the program, the nonpublic schools, or student learning? Will results of the annual program report to the governor and relevant legislative leadership and committees be made public and/or used to inform program improvement? SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tax returns are due Tuesday. Idahoans can drop them off at Boise curbside event.
Idaho State Tax Commission's drop box for Idaho state tax returns is available 24/7. () Income tax returns are due Tuesday. On the tax deadline day, the Idaho State Tax Commission is hosting its annual curbside service at its Boise office, the agency announced in a news release. That's where people can drop off state income tax returns, even without leaving their cars. Tax forms will also be available for pickup. When: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 15 Where: Idaho State Tax Commission Boise office at 11321 W. Chinden Blvd. Building 2, Boise (Here's a map.) Other services: To get answers to tax questions or make payments, visit the office's customer service counter inside. For help, you can also call 208-334-7660 in the Boise area or 800-972-7660, a toll free number. The office's drop box for Idaho state tax returns in the parking lot is available 24/7. People can also find a range of tax services online: Find tax forms, make payments and get answers to tax questions on the Idaho State Tax Commission's website, The tax commission's website also lists free electronic, or e-filing, programs for Idahoans. Pay online without creating an account, through a Quick Pay service. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Idaho bill would let public assistance fraud investigators access tax records
The Pete T. Cenarrusa state office building in Boise, the longtime headquarters for Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and the Division of Medicaid. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Mountain Sun) The Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee on Monday introduced a bill to let state government agencies share state tax information to help with public assistance fraud investigations. The bill was brought by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, a state government agency that runs public assistance programs like SNAP, formerly known as food stamps; Medicaid; and the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program. Right now, Health and Welfare can use subpoenas to seek bank records to assemble income information for benefit fraud investigations, but that process is intrusive, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Chief Jared Larsen told the committee. And he said the agency's subpoenas aren't necessarily binding on financial institutions outside of Idaho, which don't always respond. The new bill introduced would let the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare enter into an agreement with the Idaho State Tax Commission that would let the state tax agency share people's income tax return records and information to assist with public assistance fraud investigations. The bill's statement of purpose said sharing tax information 'would drastically reduce the investigative time spent on a fraud case and allow for more efficient use of investigators' time.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX None of that information shared with Health and Welfare, the bill says, would be made public 'unless it is used in the course of a judicial proceeding arising under the laws of this state.' Health and Welfare has been working on the proposal for two years, Larsen told the committee. He also said the Idaho State Tax Commission didn't have any objections to it. The committee introduced the bill on a unanimous voice vote with little discussion. Introducing the bill tees it up for a full committee hearing, including public testimony and a possible vote to advance it to the Idaho House floor. The bill is expected to be publicly available shortly on the Idaho Legislature's website. If passed into law, the bill would take effect July 1. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
