30 December 2019
For the 2019-2020 academic year, 27 De La Salle Institute students were granted more than $345,000 in tuition grants – and De La Salle contributors reduced their Illinois state income tax through the Illinois State Tax Credit Scholarship Program (Invest in Kids Act).
Here’s a way to direct your Illinois tax dollars to help provide scholarships to students at De La Salle Institute. The Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship Program provides donors a unique opportunity to contribute to scholarships that help families send their children to a private school — while the donor receives a tax credit from the State of Illinois.
The program enables individuals and corporations to reserve Illinois income tax credits based on contributions made to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs), such as Big Shoulders Fund, HighSight and Empower Illinois. The organizations then provide scholarships for eligible students to attend private schools. Taxpayers may apply 75 percent of the total contributed as a tax credit against their Illinois income tax bill. For example, a taxpayer making a $1,000 qualified contribution would be awarded a $750 tax credit. The credits are capped at $1 million per taxpayer per year.
If you are an Illinois citizen, you can help change the life of a young person by contributing to an SGO. You can designate a De La Salle student to receive a scholarship. Big Shoulders Fund, HighSight and Empower Illinois have all been approved by the Illinois Department of Revenue to participate as SGOs for this new tax credit program.
There are still tax credits available for 2019 and this program will continue through 2020!
Would you like to significantly lower your Illinois state income taxes and help deserving De La Salle students? You can still get a 75% state tax credit in 2019 for contributions directed to De La Salle through the Illinois State Tax Credit Scholarship Program.
If you expect to have an Illinois state income tax liability in 2019, there is still time to take advantage of this program – helping deserving De La Salle students – and receive a 75% IL state income tax credit on every dollar contributed to a scholarship granting organization (SGO).
As you look forward to 2020, you can secure your tax credits as early as January 2 and have up to 60 days to make your contribution to an SGO, which will benefit De La Salle students in the 2020-2021 academic year.
De La Salle worked successfully with three SGOs in 2019. We encourage you to consider using either of these three to direct your contribution to De La Salle Institute. For more information about how to reserve your tax credit and make a contribution to an SGO, please see the following links below for full details on how to apply for the tax credit:
• Big Shoulders Fund at www.bigshouldersfundsgo.org,
• HighSight Scholars at www.highsight.org
• Empower Illinois at www.empowerillinois.org.
Scenario One: Direct a $10,000 contribution (individuals may contribute up to $1,333,333 to claim as much as $1,000,000 in tax credits) to De La Salle through a Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO) in 2018 and get a $7,500 income tax credit from the State of Illinois.
Out of pocket expense: $2,500 (plus the loss of a charitable tax deduction. SGO contributions are not deductible from state and/or federal income taxes)
De La Salle students receive a $9,500 tuition grant (your full contribution less a 5% administrative fee for the SGO)
Scenario Two: Pay $7,500 to the State of Illinois
Out of pocket expense: $7,500
De La Salle students receive $0!
The following has been added to the Invest in Kids Act. Without the consent of a taxpayer, an SGO may not disclose to any person the contents of a taxpayer’s contribution authorization certificate, the amount of contributions made to the SGO by the taxpayer, and the contents of a certificate of receipt issued to the taxpayer by the SGO.
As a result, in order for De La Salle to properly acknowledge your generous contribution, we ask you to please inform the SGO you choose that you permit them to share that information with De La Salle. This will greatly aid us in our record-keeping and stewardship of our contributors. Thank you in advance for your generous support.
For additional information, please contact Mr. Chris Hall, Director of Financial Aid at De La Salle, at (312) 842-7355 or hallc@dls.org. Thank you.
