High-Quality Charter Schools Act

This bill establishes a federal tax credit for 75% of the qualified contributions of cash or market securities made by an individual to an eligible charter school organization to create or expand the charter schools operated or managed by the organization. (Limitations apply.)

The bill limits the tax credit to the greater of $5,000 or 10% of the individual’s adjusted gross income. The tax credit is not refundable, but any amount of the tax credit that exceeds an individual’s tax liability for the tax year may be carried forward for up to five tax years.

Further, the bill establishes an annual $5 billion volume cap (which must be increased under certain circumstances) from which $10 million must be distributed to each state for allocation of the tax credit to individuals residing in the state. The remaining amount of the volume cap must be allocated to individuals on a first-come, first-serve basis. The bill requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to develop a system for tracking qualified contributions in real time.

Under the bill, an eligible charter school organization generally is required to spend all of the qualified contributions (less reasonable administrative expenses) within a certain amount of time. If the IRS determines that an organization has failed to meet such spending requirements, the tax credit is not allowed for contributions to the organization for one year after the date of the determination.