Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship Tax Credit

For purposes of the Oklahoma Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship Act ("Act") Oologah-Talala Public Schools establishes policy regarding donations made to the school district [or any school foundation authorized to accept tax credit donations as established below] which may be eligible for a tax credit.

Pursuant to the Act, contributions made [on or after January 1, 2022] by any taxpayer to Oologah-Talala Public Schools [or eligible school foundation authorized to accept tax credit donations] may be eligible for a tax credit. For any eligible donation during a single year, taxpayers may receive up to a 50% credit of the total amount of contributions, not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) for single individuals, Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) for married individuals filing jointly, or One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) for any taxpayer which is a legal business entity as provided under the Act.

Taxpayers who make an eligible contribution to Oologah-Talala Public Schools [or eligible school foundation authorized to accept tax credit donations] and make a written commitment to contribute the same amount for an additional year may be eligible for a credit of up to 75%. Any taxpayer making a contribution under this provision is responsible for providing evidence of the written commitment to the Oklahoma Tax Commission at the time of filing the refund claim.

Limitation of Credit

The amount of credit has a state wide cap of Twenty-Five Million Dollars ($25,000,000.00) and a district wide cap of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00) annually. If total credits claimed exceeds either cap, the credit to the taxpayer will be a proportionate share of the cap for the taxable year after allocation of any amount of credits not claimed by other eligible organizations and taxpayers under the Act.

Credits earned but not allowed due to the application of the statewide cap will be considered suspended and authorized to be used in the next immediate tax year and applied to the next year's statewide cap. Any credits authorized by the Act allowed but not used in any tax year may be carried over, in order, to each of the three (3) years following the year of qualification.

Public School Foundations

To be eligible to accept qualifying donations, any public school foundation for Oologah-Talala Public Schools must be approved by the Oologah-Talala Public Schools Board of Education prior to accepting qualifying donations for the taxable year. All such approvals by the board of education are made on an annual basis, and approval must be sought for each taxable year that the school foundation wishes to accept qualifying donations. Only school foundations which are a nonprofit entity formed pursuant to the laws of this state and exempt from federal income taxation pursuant to either Section 501(c)(3) or Section 509(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, may be eligible for approval by the board of education.

For any year in which a public school foundation seeks approval from the Oologah-Talala Public Schools Board of Education, the foundation must submit to the board evidence of its nonprofit status along with a plan outlining the innovative educational programs for which the foundation will seek donations which are eligible for a tax credit. After approval, the foundation shall make regular reports to the board of education concerning the status of the innovative educational programs including the amounts raised toward the credit.

All approved school foundations must also maintain eligibility under the Act by first receiving approval from the Oklahoma Tax Commission then annually, by September 1 of each year, reporting required information to the Commission and publishing on its website the same eligibility information submitted to the Commission.

Reporting and Annual Notifications

For those contributions toward an innovative educational program that are eligible for credit, Oologah-Talala Public Schools [or any approved school foundation] shall collect identifying information from the taxpayer including their full legal name, their address and sufficient other information which will allow the Oklahoma Tax Commission to accurately determine the identity of each contributor.

By January 10 of the year immediately following each calendar year, Oologah-Talala Public Schools [and any approved school foundation accepting contributions under the Act] shall provide the Oklahoma Tax Commission information on each contribution accepted during the taxable year including the date and amount of each contribution and whether the taxpayer provided a written commitment to contribute the same amount for an additional year.

At least once each taxable year, Oologah-Talala Public Schools [and any approved school foundation] will notify each contributor that Oklahoma law provides for a total, statewide and district cap on the amount of income tax credits allowed annually. Additionally, at least once each taxable year, Oologah-Talala Public Schools [and any approved school foundation] will notify contributors of the percentage of their contribution that may be claimed as a credit as published by the Oklahoma Tax Commission. The notification regarding the percentage of the contribution that may be claimed should be provided to contributors only after the Commission has published the allowed percentage for the applicable tax year but in no case later than May 30.

On or before December 31, 2022, and once every four (4) years thereafter, Oologah-Talala Public Schools [and any eligible school foundation authorized to accept tax credits contributions under the Act] will submit an audited financial statement along with information detailing the benefits, successes or failures of the innovative educational programs to the Oklahoma Tax Commission, Governor, President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Legal Citations

The qualifications and procedures outlined in this policy are based upon the following Oklahoma Statutes (O.S.):

• 68 O.S. §2357.206
• Section 1, Chapter 288, O.S.L. 2017
• OAC 710:50-15-115.1