Overview:  
A refundable income tax credit between $5,000-$7,500 is allowed for eligible Oklahoma taxpayers who pay, or expect to pay, qualified expenses such as tuition and fees to an eligible private school on behalf of an eligible student that attends or plans to attend an eligible private school during that school year. The Oklahoma Tax Commission can only authorize $250 million of tax credits for the 2025-2026 school year. Priority will be given to Applicants claiming credits for eligible students whose parents or legal guardians have a combined federal Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) that does not exceed One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000) (“priority applicants”). To receive priority consideration, Applicants must submit their applications on or before 60 days after the application opens. Those applications that are approved will receive the credit in two installment payments. Income will be determined using federal AGI from two years prior to the year in which the credit application is being submitted. 
 

1. Taxpayer: An eligible taxpayer is someone who is subject to the tax laws of the state of Oklahoma and who is a biological or adoptive parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, legal guardian, custodian, or other person with legal authority to act on behalf of the eligible student. 
   
   
2. Student: An eligible student is a resident of Oklahoma and is eligible to enroll in an Oklahoma public school for grades pre-k through 12th grade. Please note that the child must be 4 years old on or before September 1st of the ensuing school year to qualify. Additionally, the student must be enrolled in and attending or planning to enroll in an eligible private school in Oklahoma. 
   
   
3. School: An eligible school must be located in Oklahoma and accredited by the Oklahoma State Board of Education or another accrediting association. The Oklahoma Tax Commission is not an accrediting association. Each eligible school must complete the School Participation Form in order for its students to participate in the program.

There is not an application period for the Spring 2025 semester. Pursuant to the new legislation, HB3388, the Spring 2025 semester is a transition, or “bridge”, to transition the credit from a tax year credit to a school year credit. Only those taxpayers that received a credit for Fall 2024 are eligible to receive a credit for Spring 2025.

Students who attended an accredited private school physically located in Oklahoma and were approved and received the credit for Fall 2024 will automatically be approved for the Spring 2025 semester without having to reapply. The credit amount payable for Spring 2025 will be based upon the Fall 2024 installment disbursement payment amount.

Please note, the automatic approval and payment is for the Spring 2025 semester only. Any taxpayer wishing to participate in the program for the 2025-2026 school year must apply when applications open on February 18, 2025.

Taxpayer Eligibility

• An eligible taxpayer is someone who is subject to the tax laws of the state of Oklahoma, and who is a biological or adoptive parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, legal guardian, custodian, or other person with legal authority to act on behalf of the eligible student. 
• A nonresident military service member stationed in Oklahoma qualifies as an eligible Oklahoma taxpayer. 

Student Eligibility

• An eligible student is a resident of Oklahoma and is eligible to enroll in an Oklahoma public school for grades pre-k through 12th grade. Please note that the child must be 4 years old on or before September 1st of the ensuing school year to qualify. Additionally, the student must be enrolled in and attending or planning to enroll in an eligible private school in Oklahoma. 

School Eligibility

• An eligible school must be physically located in Oklahoma and accredited by the Oklahoma State Board of Education or another accrediting association. The Oklahoma Tax Commission is not an accrediting association. Each eligible school must register with the Oklahoma Tax Commission on OkTAP and complete the School Participation Form in order for its students to participate in the program. 

Browse through the list of participating schools to see if your school is participating. Click the link below to download the most updated list of accredited schools.

Participating Accredited Schools List

The application is expected to become available for taxpayers to complete on February 18, 2025. 

Yes. In addition to taxpayer and student identification information and an Enrollment Verification Form for each student, active military service members stationed in Oklahoma will need to submit their Form 1040 Federal Tax Return for the tax year 2023. 

In the case of having multiple eligible students, the taxpayer may receive the tax credit for each eligible student. For example, if the federal Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of the parent or legal guardian of the student is $75,000 or less, the Taxpayer may qualify for up to $7,500 per year per eligible student. It is important to note that separate Enrollment Verification Form numbers are required for each student. 

Beginning school year 2025-2026, and for all subsequent school years, the credit amount per eligible student is equal to the Maximum Credit Amount Per Student, as shown in the table below, or the anticipated private school tuition and fees for the school year, whichever is less. The anticipated tuition and fees for school year must be reflected in the student’s Enrollment Verification information provided by the eligible school. The Maximum Credit Amount is determined by the total federal Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of the student's parent/legal guardian during the second preceding tax year. For example, if you are participating in the program for school year 2025-2026, the second preceding tax year would be 2023.

For school year 2025-2026, the OTC cannot authorize more than $250 million in tax credits. 

Once a completed application is submitted, taxpayers may log on to their OkTAP account to view the status of the application.

For tax credits awarded to students enrolled in an eligible private school, the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC) will send the tax credit payments directly to the school in two installments. Each installment payment will not exceed half of the allowable credit for the applicable school year. While the payments are sent to the school, the checks will be made payable to the taxpayer submitting the application. Taxpayers will be required to personally appear at the school to either sign the check over to the school or collect the check from the school if tuition and fees have already been paid.

The credit must be issued in two installment payments. 

The first installment payment is expected to be issued in August 2025; payments will be processed in the order applications are approved. The installment payments will be disbursed by paper check made payable to the taxpayer. Checks will begin processing on a weekly basis and will be sent directly to the schools.  

 
Second installment payments are expected to be issued beginning January 2026. 

Yes. If your application is denied, you will receive a letter with more information as to the reason the application was denied and instructions on how to request a hearing before the Oklahoma Tax Commission. The hearing will be in-person and will give you the opportunity to appear and provide further documentation and/or information to show why you believe your application should be approved.

Qualifying expenses are tuition and fees paid to an eligible private school that is accredited by the Oklahoma State Board of Education or another accrediting association.

Eligible fees may include enrollment, registration, or application fees; textbook fees; technology fees; activity fees; testing and assessment fees; and fees paid for school uniforms if paid directly to the school.

An Enrollment Verification Number (EVN) is a unique identifier for an eligible student who attends or plans to attend a registered private school which verifies the details of the student’s enrollment, including tuition, fees, and scholarships. This will replace the Enrollment Verification Form (EVF) used in year one of the program.

Taxpayers must request an EVN for each student from the school their student(s) attends or plans to attend. An email containing the EVN will be sent directly to the taxpayer on behalf of the participating school, which will be used during the Parental Choice Tax Credit program application process.

Only a registered accredited private school can provide an EVN to a taxpayer and the unique EVN can only be used once.

If you identify any errors with the information provided in the email, please contact your student’s school directly as they will need to update your Enrollment Verification information and generate a new email. Please note, if you need to make a change to your Enrollment Verification information after you have submitted your Parental Choice Tax Credit application, you will need to withdraw your previous application before your school can adjust your Enrollment Verification information and you will be able to submit a new application. Your position in line for the original application will not be retained.

Enrollment Verification emails are sent to the primary parent or legal guardian. If you did not receive an Enrollment Verification email for your student(s), please contact your student’s school to confirm the email on file for the primary parent is accurate and request that the email be resent.

Taxpayers must apply for the Parental Choice Tax Credit program online at oktap.ok.gov. The application will become available on February 18, 2025 at 9am CST.

• Taxpayers will need to provide an Enrollment Verification Number (EVN) for each individual student, per application. Applicants must request this number from their participating private school.
  
  
• Taxpayers must provide the student’s parent or legal guardian’s federal Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) for the second preceding tax year. For example, if you are participating in the program for school year 2025-2026, the second preceding tax year would be 2023. You may be required to provide a copy of your 2023 Oklahoma tax return or federal income tax return federal tax return to verify the student's parent or legal guardian’s income if program administrators are unable to do so electronically.

The Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC) acknowledges that there may be circumstances where a taxpayer is not the parent or legal guardian of the eligible student(s) but may claim qualified expense(s) for the Parental Choice Tax Credit program.

The OTC has established the Parental Consent Form to:

• Validate that no other person is claiming a credit for the eligible student(s);
• Protect the privacy of the individuals identified on the application(s) for the program; and
• Obtain verifiable consent from the parent or legal guardian of the eligible student(s) for another Taxpayer, the “authorized taxpayer,” to participate in the Parental Choice Tax Credit program.

 The Homeschool Tax Credit provides any Oklahoma taxpayer who incurs a qualified expense on behalf of an eligible student who is homeschooled a maximum credit of $1,000 per eligible student per year.  

Credit of $1,000 for qualified expenses  

To qualify for this credit the student must be eligible to enroll in a public school in Oklahoma, meaning they must be an Oklahoma resident and be at least four years of age on or before September 1st of the year expenses are being claimed. 

Qualified expenses for the homeschool tax credit include the following:

• Tuition and fees for nonpublic learning programs, which may be online or in person.
• Academic tutoring services, which are provided by an individual or a private academic tutoring facility.
• Textbooks, curriculum, or other instructional materials including, but not limited to, supplemental materials or associated online instruction required by an education service provide. Instructional materials mean all materials that are designed for use by students and their teachers as a learning resource and help students to acquire facts, skills, or opinions or to develop cognitive processes.
• Costs or fees for nationally standardized assessments including, but not limited to college admission assessments and advanced placement examinations, as well as the tuition and fees for tutoring or preparatory courses for the assessments or examinations.

Qualified expenses for the homeschool credit do not include internet access, laptops, computers, tablets, screens, or any other device that provides internet access or is required to make use of instructional materials, tutoring, or learning programs.

Each eligible homeschool expense can be claimed only once, even if a taxpayer is claiming the credit for multiple students. For example, the parent of two homeschool students may claim only once the cost of an online learning program subscription even though both students have access to the subscription.

Form 591-D

The taxpayer must submit a form 591-D and legible copies of all receipts for claimed expenses with their tax return form 511. Taxpayers must complete a separate 591-D for each student and cannot claim eligible expenses more than once per year. If the taxpayer has more than 10 expenses, they will need to complete form 591-D Supplemental. 

Pursuant to Internal Revenue Code § 6050E, a Form 1099-G must be issued for certain types of government payments, including state or local income tax refunds, credits, or offsets. The OTC is required to issue a Form 1099-G to taxpayers who receive a Parental Choice Tax Credit payment. This does not mean the credit is taxable. Please consult a tax professional if you need more information.

HB3388 exempted the Parental Choice Tax Credit from Oklahoma income tax.

The Oklahoma Tax Commission cannot make a determination on whether a Parental Choice Tax Credit payment is taxable to a taxpayer for federal income tax purposes; that determination is based on each taxpayer’s individual facts and circumstances. Please contact your tax professional if you need more information.

It is the taxpayer’s responsibility to inform the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC) if their student(s) is no longer attending a participating accredited private school and would like to withdraw from the Parental Choice Tax Credit program.

To withdraw your student(s) from the program, please email parentalchoice@tax.ok.gov informing us of your request to withdraw in writing.

The OTC is authorized to recapture any credits claimed for unauthorized expenditures or credits claimed for a student who no longer attends a participating accredited private school. Taxpayers are responsible for repayment of any recaptured tax credits to the OTC; the OTC will use all available avenues for collection of recaptured amounts.

For Spring 2025:

• If your student(s) is transferring to another participating accredited private school, you will need you to provide interim Enrollment Verification information from the new school.
  
  
  Taxpayers must request the interim Enrollment Verification information from the student’s new school and email it to parentalchoice@tax.ok.gov. This is used to ensure that the school is a participating accredited private school, and to confirm enrollment.

For School Year 2025-2026:

• More information to come.