Savings calculators
Estimates for programs with fixed published amounts or formulas. Each uses the official numbers for the year shown.
Jump to: Alabama · Texas · Utah · Idaho · Oklahoma · Minnesota · Illinois · Iowa · Ohio · Louisiana · Indiana
Alabama: CHOOSE Act Education Savings Account
$2,000 per participating student in a home education program, with the family total capped at $4,000 (so 1 child = $2,000; 2 or more children = $4,000).
Limits and fine print
- For 2026-27, awards were limited to families with AGI not exceeding 300% of the federal poverty level for the preceding tax year (2025 tax year); for 2027-28 there is no household income requirement.
- The 2026-27 application portals closed March 31, 2026; 2027-28 applications are expected in January 2027.
- Computers: limited to $1,200 for one item every two academic years per participating student; technological devices limited to $500 total per academic year per participating student.
- With more than two homeschooled students, only two student accounts show funds ($2,000 each), but the funds can be used for all eligible students.
Texas: Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA)
$2,000 per awarded homeschooled child per year, paid 100% at initial funding (July 1, 2026). No family cap is stated.
Limits and fine print
- Computer hardware or software must not exceed 10 percent of the total amount transferred to the child's account that year (for a homeschooler, $200 of a $2,000 award).
- Award depends on being selected: the 2026-27 window ran February 4 to March 31, 2026, and a lottery decides placement when applications exceed funding.
- Households at or above 500% of the federal poverty level are the last priority group, and funds for that group may not exceed 20 percent of the program appropriation.
Utah: Utah Fits All Scholarship Program
Per home-based student: $4,000 if age 5-11 on September 1 of the scholarship year, $6,000 if age 12-18 on September 1. Students who enter mid-year get 75% of the amount if awarded in the second quarter, 50% if awarded in the third quarter, and nothing in the fourth quarter.
Limits and fine print
- Amounts are subject to legislative appropriations and program requirements.
- Age is measured as of September 1 of the scholarship year.
- No awards are made in the fourth quarter.
Idaho: Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit (and advance payment)
Per eligible student: qualified expenses up to $5,000 ($7,500 for a child with a qualifying disability), refundable, only if the parent applied and was awarded the credit.
Limits and fine print
- Requires an application and award (window January 15 for 60 days; the 2026 credit/2027 window is January 15 to March 15, 2027).
- Program total capped at $50,000,000 per tax year; priority applicants first, then first-come, first-served with a waiting list.
- Advance payment only if modified AGI does not exceed 300% of the federal poverty level, one time per child.
- No credit for any semester the student was enrolled in a public school (home schooling does not count as enrollment).
- Ages 5-18 (5-21 with a qualifying disability) at any time in the tax year.
Oklahoma: Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit
Per eligible homeschool student: the lesser of actual qualified expenses paid in the tax year or $1,000 (one Form 591-D per student). Add for all students.
Limits and fine print
- Claimed on the return for the tax year the expenses are actually paid, with receipts; no separate application.
- Student must be eligible to enroll in an Oklahoma public school (Oklahoma resident, at least 4 on or before September 1 of the year claimed).
- Taxpayer attests the expenses were not incurred in a year the student was enrolled in a public and/or private school for two semesters.
- A qualified expense may not be claimed more than once.
Minnesota: K-12 Education Subtraction and Credit
CREDIT (refundable): 75% of total qualifying expenses for all children (computer hardware/software counted up to $200), limited to $1,500 times the number of qualifying children. If AGI is over $75,820, that limit is reduced by 25% (one child) or 50% (two or more children) of the AGI above $75,820; zero or less means no credit. SUBTRACTION (reduces taxable income): remaining actual qualifying expenses not used for the credit, up to $1,625 per child in grades K-6 and $2,500 per child in grades 7-12 at the end of the tax year (computer expenses up to $200), no income limit. The same expenses cannot be used for both, and the 25% of expenses not credited cannot be subtracted.
Limits and fine print
- Credit not allowed for Married Filing Separately (subtraction still allowed).
- Credit AGI limits (2025): 1 or 2 children under $81,820; 3 children under $84,820; more than 3, $87,820 plus $3,000 for each additional child.
- Credit maximum is a household total (children x $1,500), not a per-child cap on expenses.
- Computer hardware and educational software: no more than $200 for the credit and $200 for the subtraction ($400 total, limited to actual cost).
- Subtraction: no family maximum, only per-child maximums; a child who went from 6th to 7th grade in the year gets the $2,500 maximum.
- Home school tutoring or tuition for classes during the regular school day count only for the subtraction.
- Part-year residents and nonresidents prorate the credit.
Illinois: Illinois K-12 Education Expense Credit
Add qualified expenses for all qualifying students; subtract $250 (once, not per child); multiply by 25%; the credit is the lesser of that and $750, and cannot exceed Illinois tax due after the property tax credit. Full credit is reached at $3,250 of total household expenses.
Limits and fine print
- Not allowed if AGI exceeds $500,000 (married filing jointly) or $250,000 (all other returns).
- Nonrefundable: limited to Illinois tax after the credit for tax paid to other states and the property tax credit.
- $750 is the total for the household regardless of number of students, including when parents file separate returns.
- Home schools must attach receipts; a cancelled check is not accepted.
Iowa: Tuition and Textbook Credit (K-12)
Per dependent: 25% of the first $2,000 of qualifying expenses (max $500 per dependent); add the amounts for all dependents.
Limits and fine print
- Nonrefundable (IA 1040 Step 5, non-refundable credits).
- Purchases made with Students First ESA funds do not qualify.
- Married filing separately: taken by the spouse claiming the dependent; unused credit cannot be used by the other spouse.
Ohio: Credit for home instruction expenses
Credit = the lesser of $250 times the number of qualifying students, or total education expenses for those students in the tax year.
Limits and fine print
- Nonrefundable: limited to Ohio income tax liability.
- Only students excused from compulsory attendance for home education under ORC 3321.042 count.
- Computers and similar electronic devices or accessories do not count.
- What counts: books, subscriptions, school supplies, supplementary materials, and educational software and apps used directly to teach the student at home.
- What doesn’t: tuition or lessons where someone else teaches (including sports, music and driver’s ed), homeschool co-op fees, online school mainly led by a teacher, field trips, furniture, and college course materials.
- Keep: the superintendent’s letter excusing the student for a school year that includes the tax year, receipts (up to $250 per student), and proof of payment.
Louisiana: School Expense Deduction (tuition and fees, home-schooling, and public school expenses)
Per home-schooled dependent: 50% of actual qualified educational expenses, up to $6,000 per dependent (reached at $12,000 of expenses). Add for all dependents; the total cannot exceed taxable income.
Limits and fine print
- Applies to tax years 2024 and forward.
- Total deduction may not exceed the taxpayer's total taxable income.
- Louisiana residents only (part-year residents for the resident period).
- The $6,000 limit is per dependent across all school expense deductions and across both parents.
Official sources
Indiana: Private School/Homeschool Deduction (unreimbursed education expenses, $1,000)
$1,000 times the number of dependent children (private school or homeschooled, K-12) for whom the taxpayer made education expenditures in the tax year. Married couples get one deduction per child.
Limits and fine print
- A husband and wife are entitled to only one deduction.
- Child must be eligible for free education in an Indiana school corporation, be your dependent, and be your natural or adopted child (or court-awarded custody).
- Instruction at home for a child enrolled in a school corporation or charter school does not count.
Not listed: programs whose amount depends on a district, county or disability formula, or whose current-year numbers aren’t published. Their award letter is the figure to use.