Tax credit for school gift programs doubled for married couples
S. 5420 — A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the qualified elementary and secondary education scholarships credit limit for married taxpayers filing a joint return. · Filed by Bill Cassidy (R-LA) · Introduced Sep 17, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill changes a tax rule about gifts to school programs. Married couples filing taxes together can claim a tax credit when they give money to school gift programs. The bill doubles that credit limit starting in 2026. Married couples could claim twice as much credit on one joint return.
Who it affects
Married couples who give money to school gift programs would get a bigger tax credit. School gift groups might get more money if the higher credit prompts more giving. All taxpayers help pay for this tax credit.
One thing to notice
The bill only raises the credit for married couples filing jointly. Single people and heads of household do not get this raise.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Sep 17, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 17, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- tax credit — Money the government subtracts from what you owe in taxes.
- joint return — One tax form filed by a married couple together.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (405 characters) on Sep 26, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 15,163 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-26.
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