The author submitted a comment letter on Dec. 26, 2025, in response to a request for comments from the Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (Notice 2025-70). The comments were submitted in the author’s personal capacity and not on behalf of the Brookings Institution or its affiliates. The comment letter is available here.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) created a tax-credit scholarship program that looks poised to become one of the largest federal programs in K-12 education. The Brown Center Chalkboard has written extensively about this new program and its potential implications.
In essence, OBBBA offers a full, 1:1 tax credit to individuals who donate money to scholarship granting organizations (SGOs). In turn, SGOs must give most of those funds to families to pay for qualifying educational expenses (such as private school tuition). Each state can decide on an annual basis whether to participate.
However, OBBBA is silent on critical details about this program—or so permissive that it arguably opens the door to a great deal of waste, fraud, and abuse. This has created anticipation for the forthcoming regulations from the Treasury Department and IRS, which should clarify how the tax credit will be implemented.
In response to a request for comments from the Treasury Department and IRS, I have outlined my primary concerns and recommendations. I focus on what I believe is the most critical issue of all: ensuring that states that opt in have enough discretion over how this program works.
Read the full comment letter here
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Commentary
Comment on the OBBBA tax-credit scholarship program
January 8, 2026