If I am going to homeschool my own children and am not part of an organization, is there a way to fund raise or receive donations for homeschooling and keep it separate from our home income? Do we need to still claim it as part of a household income if we are using it for school purposes? Are there any tax deductions or credits for homeschooling?
Jena F in AZ
Jena,
I’ve been asked before about fundraising to a family to help with homeschool expenses. Here’s a blog post on the subject:
https://homeschoolcpa.com/can-my-individual-homeschool-have-a-fundraiser/
You may fund raise, but the the income is considered earned income from a business and the profit is fully taxable.
You can accept gifts from generous people, but they will not be tax deductible donations to the donor because your family is not a qualified charitable organization.
There are no federal tax deductions for homeschool expenses, but some states, such as Indiana allow educational deductions to all parents, public, private school and homeschool.
Here’s another blog post on that subject: https://homeschoolcpa.com/?s=tax+deductions
AZ does have some tax credits for education, but they are for donations to a school, not for individual expenses. Read more here:
https://www.azdor.gov/TaxCredits/SchoolTaxCreditsforIndividuals.aspx
I hope that helps,
Carol Topp, CPA
