On Wednesday, December 12th, Philadelphia-area scholarship groups Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia (CSFP), SKY Community Partners and Business Leadership Organized for Catholic Schools (BLOCS) hosted an informational meeting for area business leaders focusing on Pennsylvania’s Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) program. Through the OSTC program, companies can receive tax credits for up to 90% of donations to approved scholarship organizations, which provide financial assistance to students residing in attendance zones of the lowest 15% of performing Pennsylvania public schools to attend quality tuition-based schools. The meeting addressed the benefits of participation in the OSTC program, and highlighted the current availability of more than $40 million dollars in the OSTC the tax credit bank. Donations made through the OSTC program could help fill the more than 30,000 empty K-12th grade seats in safe, quality tuition-based area schools.
John B. Stine II, Assistant Office Managing Partner, Philadelphia, and Matt Melinson, Partner/ Northeast State & Local Tax Leader, of Grant Thornton LLP introduced the easy-to-use tax credit program to area business leaders in attendance. Jim O’Donnell from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development described the online application process and addressed the impetus behind the creation of the OSTC program, noting that over 400 Pennsylvania schools are deemed low-performing. Attendees were given the chance to ask presenters specific questions about the tax credits and application process, and gained a clearer understanding of the OSTC program and the profound impact that participation could bring to Philadelphia students.
CSFP will host another informational meeting for business leaders in regards to the OSTC program in February.
For more information on the OSTC program, please click here. To apply for this program online, please visit newpa.com/ostc.
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