Scholarship Fund

Diversity in background and in socio-economic position is very important at IST, and one of the main ways we have of achieving this is through Scholarship Assistance. Single contributions of any amount, a full single Scholarship of $5000 or an endowed Scholarship of $50,000 would be very gratefully received!! IST is a 501-c-3 "not-for-profit" so donations to IST are tax-deductible!

Please visit our Scholarships page for information on the Scholarships we currently offer.

There are two ways of supporting Scholarships at IST.

1 = Arizona Tax Credit

Your support qualifies for a dollar-for-dollar credit against your Arizona state taxes and is at no cost to you if :

• you pay Arizona taxes
• you provide your support before 15 April each year for the prior year (note - if you wish also to claim a federal deducation, you must provide the support by 31 December)
• you provide your support via a "School Tuition Organisation" (see below)

Individuals may claim a credit of up to $500; married couples of up to $1000. You may recommend that your support go to :

• a general scholarship fund administered by the School Tuition Organisation
• a specific school's general scholarship fund (such as IST - our preferred recommendation)
• a specific student's scholarship

The Scholarship tax credit is additional to any other credits, including the credit available for supporting public school extra-curricular clubs.

If you provide your support 1 January - 14 April of each year, you can claim a credit on the previous year's Arizona state taxes!! However, it would too late for the previous year's federal deduction. Please click here for general information about the Tax Credit for Scholarshipsupport, and about how to claim the Credit.

How to Provide Support

There are three ways of providing Scholarship support which qualify for an Arizona tax credit :

1 = Lump Sum - At any time during the year, you may provide your support as a lump sum. You will receive a receipt which you submit with your Arizona state tax return and if you owe taxes, your support will count against what you owe. If you do not owe taxes (for example, because you have already paid them through a payroll deduction), you will receive a refund.

• Please click here to provide your Scholarship support online. Any amount is helpful. Remember to recommend IST on page 2!!!
• Please click here for a printable form which can be mailed in with your cheque.

2 = Regular (or monthly) Scholarship support -You may provide support manually, by automatic debits to your credit card or by automatic ACH withdrawals from your cheque account.

• Please click here to provide your Scholarship support online. Any amount is helpful. Remember to recommend IST on page 2!!! (If you wish to do so on a reucurring basis, you will need manually to do so each time.)
• Please click here for a printable form for an automatic credit card or ACH transaction (which must be mailed to the address on the form). The charge will occur monthly on each 22nd acording to your instructions.

3 = Payroll Withholding - Instead of waiting until December to provide qualifying Scholarship support, Arizona taxpayers may do so right out of their pay-cheques. Simply reduce your Arizona withholding and provide your support through your payroll of that amount.

• Please click here for information on the withholding programme
• Please click here for the form to submit to your employer or payroll processor.

• Please click here for the form to send to the Institute for Better Education.

Qualifying for an Arizona Tax Credit

Support must be given via a "School Tuition Organisation", a 501-c-3 public charity, which receives the funds and issues you with the necessary receipts and forms to receive the Arizona tax credit. (You can also use these receipts to claim a federal deduction). The "School Tuition Organisation" then awards the Scholarships and ensures that state laws are followed.

IST principally works with Tucson's Institute for Better Education, although we also work with several other "School Tuition Organisations" located in Phoenix.

Please check if your employer will match your support, thus doubling it!  If you work for Bank of America, Chase, Goldman Sachs or Kinder Morgan please contact us for information on how to claim the match and help a Tucson student attend IST.

FAQs

Please click here for answers to some Frequently Asked Questions.

Please click here for the Harvard University study on Tax Credit Scholarship recipients.

Please click here for the 13 October 2010 letter from the Institute for Better Education letter on changes to the law concerning tax credit scholarships.

Please click here for a video discussion of the credit - irritating sound effects but useful information.

Please click here for an AZ Department of Education fact sheet.

2 = Regular Federal Deduction

Click the button below to make a tax-deductible donation directly to IST's Scholarship Fund.  Thank you.

Please check if your employer will match your donation, thus doubling it!  If you work for Bank of America, Chase, Goldman Sachs, Kinder Morgan or Raytheon, please contact us for information on how to claim the match and help a Tucson student attend IST.

Cheques can also be sent to :

Please contact us to discuss larger gift possibilities. We are especially interested in providing students with endowed Scholarships, that is a Scholarship which will stay with the student for the full five years of Junior School. Please contact us if you can help. Thank you.

Finally

Nnone of this is tax advice and, although we believe what we say to be correct, you should always consult your own tax specialist.