What You Need to Know on #GivingTuesday

It is no secret that public education is in need of major support. Heroes like Save Our Schools AZ make that apparent simply by the name of their movement. It could be easy to feel defeated, or think that there is nothing else we can do.

At Read Better Be Better, we believe that investing in the public education of AZ children is the only way to achieve social justice. That is exactly what we do, and when you donate your Arizona Tax Credit to us, that is what you do too.

What is the Arizona Tax Credit for Qualifying Charitable Organizations?      

Maybe you’ve heard of the Arizona State Tax Credit and thought it was too good to be true. But it isn’t! This is not a drill.

You are able to donate up to $800 dollars to a qualifying charitable organization without actually spending a dime.

Here’s how it works:

  1. As a single taxpayer, you can donate up to $400 to your qualifying organization of choice, as a married couple filing jointly, that number goes up to $800

  2. When you do your taxes in the spring, Arizona will credit this amount back to you, dollar-for-dollar

  3. You have until April 15th, 2018 to do this, and you can still claim it on your 2017 tax return

This means you will either get all of this back on your return, or if you owe, you are effectively directing your dollars to a cause you care about that affects your community. But it doesn’t stop there.

All Arizona public schools are also eligible for tax credit donations, on top of the Qualifying Charitable Organization credit. For public schools, individuals can give $200, while married couples filing jointly can give $400.

Arizona Tax Credits

The Arizona Tax Credit system began in 1997, with the idea that AZ residents could direct their tax dollars straight into their communities. However, at the same time, the K12 state budget underwent enormous cuts. In fact, AZ public school budgets have been cut by more than $3 billion since 2007. Unfortunately, these cuts have been too large for the tax credits to make up for, and public schools are suffering.

But now, you know what to do. Give! Give to your neighborhood public school, invest in the children you see at the park down the street. Tell your friends and family to give too – we have a chance to use the tax credit system to invest in public schools and help achieve social justice. The more people know about it, the better.

When you give to Read Better Be Better, we can assure you that those dollars are also going right back into AZ’s public schools, as we work alongside them to help children improve their literacy skills to become better learners.

It is no coincidence that today is Giving Tuesday. We wanted to make sure you knew just how much you can impact your community today, by taking advantage of the Arizona tax credit system, and making sure AZ children have every opportunity to reach their full potential.

Happy Giving Tuesday!