homeschooling & taxes

[jlmom]

I know that there is no tax credit/deduction for homeschooling supplies, etc. My question is this: does the school district in which you reside still receive the state & local portion of your property tax even though your child does not attend school there? I guess it would be the same question if you sent your child to a private school. (We're in PA where schools are funded by property taxes). Thanks!

[Koerarmoca]

I'm also in PA and pretty sure that the district still gets the funds. We pvt school (until next year) I wish those taxes we paid could of gone toward tuition.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

They do not get funding for your children but you still pay taxes to fund schools for the other children from your tax bill. We get a detailed bill and just over 3/4 of our tax bill goes to school related funding :glare: There should be an opt out. But then again people who do not have kids pay it as well.

[SkateLeft]

I'm not sure how it's done in PA, but here in Minnesota, school funding is a combination of per pupil enrollment and the "extent of need for each district." Property taxes are just one of many sources of revenue for that funding. In that sense, the district might get less money because your children aren't enrolled, but that portion of your property taxes is still going to the general revenue fund to pay for the schools. I looked into it when I first moved here, and it's pretty complicated. I suspect that it's equally as complicated in other states!

 

Incidentally, MN is also one of the handful of states that offers tax relief for homeschoolers in the form of an income-restricted tax credit, and a non-income based tax deduction.

[Just Robyn]

Yep. We pay property taxes, thus we fund the public schools. I don't mind in theory, but homeschooling is so expensive, and we are SO poor, that I do wish I had the option to get at least some of that money (however much it is) back to buy books for my own kids. My cousins go to a private school and their parents get a tax credit for a portion of their children's tution. I don't see why homeschooler's shouldn't get the same credit.

[Ellie]

Yes. We pay the same property taxes whether we homeschool, private school, or public school, or have no dc at all.

 

Actually, in Texas we get two tax bills: one from the school district, one from our county. I don't know the percentage of taxes paid to either one. We just pays 'em and moves on.:glare:

 

Individual schools receive tax monies based on per-student enrollment (in California, it's based on the number of children present each day--Average Daily Attendance; I don't know if Texas does it like that or not). There may be other merit-based funding, or just for-the-heck-of-it funding, as well. I don't pay attention to it.

 

On the up side, if I still had dc at home and they needed to go to school, everything would be there for them, KWIM? So it isn't totally as if I'm throwing my money down a black hole.

[RootAnn]

Where I live, the property tax is based on the amount your home is valued for. So, the older couple who never had any kids in the local school district, my with my zillion children, and the single guy next door both pay property taxes -- a large portion of which go to support the school that is a few blocks from here (and the middle/high school a mile away).

 

If you choose to homeschool or send your children to a private school, that decision is yours -- knowing that you are paying out of pocket for both options whereas the "public school" up the street is "free." (I've heard that there is still quite a bit of expense with sending a child to the local school in terms of supplies and extra fees they charge for things.)

 

IMO, while it isn't "fair," I would rather it be this way than the government exerting more control over my choice of how to school my child.

 

I believe the tax credit that some receive on private school tuition is when the private school is run by a charitable group (like a church) where part of the tuition is in the form of their tithe/donation to the group. I know my parents did this when I was younger and briefly attended a Catholic school. The only tuition they could afford was in the form of their Sunday donation to the Church. Thus, it was also deductible on their Federal Income Tax return.

 

At a per-pupil cost of close to $10,000, homeschoolers (who self-report) in my state save the tax payers around $6.5 million dollars annually. The number of students in private schools dwarfs that & saves the taxpayers much more.

 

I don't mind paying for the local school. I just wish they didn't waste my money (federal & local) on buying iPad touches for the 2nd graders to "help with reading."

[Just Robyn]

Where I live, the property tax is based on the amount your home is valued for. So, the older couple who never had any kids in the local school district, my with my zillion children, and the single guy next door both pay property taxes -- a large portion of which go to support the school that is a few blocks from here (and the middle/high school a mile away).

 

If you choose to homeschool or send your children to a private school, that decision is yours -- knowing that you are paying out of pocket for both options whereas the "public school" up the street is "free." (I've heard that there is still quite a bit of expense with sending a child to the local school in terms of supplies and extra fees they charge for things.)

 

IMO, while it isn't "fair," I would rather it be this way than the government exerting more control over my choice of how to school my child.

 

I believe the tax credit that some receive on private school tuition is when the private school is run by a charitable group (like a church) where part of the tuition is in the form of their tithe/donation to the group. I know my parents did this when I was younger and briefly attended a Catholic school. The only tuition they could afford was in the form of their Sunday donation to the Church. Thus, it was also deductible on their Federal Income Tax return.

 

At a per-pupil cost of close to $10,000, homeschoolers (who self-report) in my state save the tax payers around $6.5 million dollars annually. The number of students in private schools dwarfs that & saves the taxpayers much more.

 

I don't mind paying for the local school. I just wish they didn't waste my money (federal & local) on buying iPad touches for the 2nd graders to "help with reading."

 

While that is the standard argument for not fighting for tax credits or some sort of financial help with homeschooling

 

MN has the same level of regulation as my state and provides a tax credit not offered in my state.

 

CA has low regulation and offers money for books if you work with the public school. You have the option to take the money with whatever reglations or not.

 

AK, I believe, has the same sort of set up as CA wherein you can choose to work with a public school and receive money or not.

 

Whether or not I would be willing to work with a public school in order to get money for books would depend on what all it entailed. In Iowa, if you choose to work with the public schools (and get no money out of it) what is entailed depends on which Home School Assistance Program you choose to work with, so it varies. If I could get some large sum of money each year for books in exchange for my kids doing a craft with a certified teacher 4 times a year (what happens in some HSAPs in IA) I would not turn my nose up. If I didn't have the choice to not participate that would be another issue.

 

The tax credit here for private schools has nothing to do with religious organizations. In fact the way it sounds, I believe parents of public schoolers can claim it to, it would just be a very small amount for them.