A benefit that costs the company nothing and the employee nothing
Your people direct an after-tax payroll deduction to K-12 scholarships in the state they choose, and the federal government gives it back to them on their return. You carry one deduction code.
Cost to the employer
$0
No contribution, no match, no plan to fund. You withhold and remit.
Back to the employee
Up to $1,700
$3,400 for a couple filing jointly — a credit, not a deduction, against federal tax they owe.
Payroll's job
One deduction code
Amounts in before the pay date, what was withheld out after it, one ACH per organization.
Everybody at the table comes out ahead
Your company
A benefit with no line item
A meaningful, local, tax-advantaged giving program for your people, with nothing to fund and nothing to administer beyond a deduction code and a remittance.
Your employees
Net $0
Every dollar withheld comes back as federal credit, this year or carried forward up to five years. They are redirecting tax they already owed.
Students in their state
Tuition paid
Families at or under three times their area's median income pay less for the school they chose. Awards are decided by the organization, on need.
No one funds this out of pocket. The only downside is leaving the money unclaimed.
The dollars come out of federal tax that was already headed to Washington. A credit larger than this year's bill lands on a later return — unused credit carries forward for up to five years.
Six steps, and three of them are payroll's
Eligibility, awards, receipts, reporting and the annual audit all stay with the scholarship organization. You keep a roster, carry a deduction, and send what you withheld.
We set up your employer
Your company, your HR seats, and — if you like — a shortlist of the organizations you want shown first to your people.
Us · with youYou upload your roster
Email, name, payroll id. People get an enrollment link; nothing is withheld until each one chooses and signs for themselves.
You · 10 minEmployees elect
A state, a certified organization, an amount per paycheck, optional preferred schools, an address for the receipt, and a signed designation. Default: exactly enough to use their remaining credit.
Your employeesPayroll withholds
Connect your payroll system and the deduction is enrolled for you — or download the per-employee amounts before each pay date and upload the register after.
Payroll · per pay dateYou remit
One ACH per organization and state account, with a remittance advice that names every withholding in it. Your AP sends it with the advice number in the memo.
AP · per pay dateEach withholding becomes a receipted gift
When the organization confirms the money landed, every line books as the employee's own gift, dated to the pay date, with a receipt and their donor number.
The organizationWhat HR sees
A portal for your HR and payroll seats — the roster, who has enrolled, what the next pay date carries, and what you owe whom.
Roster
Upload once, update as people join and leave. Termination stops a deduction for future pay dates; nothing already given is touched.
Elections
Who has chosen what — read-only, because each election is the employee's own.
Deduction file & register
The amounts before a pay date; what was withheld after it. Or connect payroll and skip both.
Remittances
One per organization and state account, each with its printable advice and status from advised to received.
Nothing to redirect
You never choose where a dollar goes. A short or returned remittance is explained line by line, never reallocated.
What the first quarter looks like
One employer, from setup to the first remittance. A 400-person manufacturer with a biweekly payroll and one benefits manager.
The manufacturer is an illustration. The credit begins January 1, 2027, and runs in states that opt in; the useful work now is lining up payroll and your people before the first pay date of the year.
- Week 1Week 1
We set up the employer and the benefits manager's seat. They upload a roster of 400 and send the enrollment link in the benefits newsletter.
Us, then HR · an hour
- Weeks 2–4Weeks 2–4
Employees enroll on their own portal: state, organization, amount, signature. HR watches the count climb; nothing is withheld yet.
Employees
- First pay dateFirst pay date
Payroll carries the deduction code. The withheld amounts come back as a register, and the system turns them into one remittance per organization and state account.
Payroll · minutes
- That weekThat week
AP sends each ACH with its advice number. Each organization confirms it landed; every withholding becomes a receipted gift dated to the pay date.
AP, then each organization
- Every pay date afterEvery pay date after
The same three moves. If an employee gives elsewhere too, their deduction is trimmed so they never pass the credit.
Payroll and AP
- Year endYear end
Each employee downloads a statement of what they gave through payroll and what it earned them.
Employees
Three things to be straight about
The employee owns the designation. You may order or limit the list they choose from; you may not move a dollar once it is withheld.
A preference for a school guides the organization and never binds it. Federal law keeps every award with the organization, decided on need.
We never hold the money. It goes from your payroll account to the organization's own account, and a withholding is booked as a gift only once the organization confirms it arrived.
Common questions
Is this a new benefit we have to fund?
No. The employee gives from their own after-tax pay, and the federal government gives it back to them as a dollar-for-dollar credit on their return — up to $1,700 a year, $3,400 for a couple filing jointly. The employer withholds and remits; there is no employer contribution, no match and no plan to fund.
What does payroll actually have to do?
Carry one post-tax deduction code. Before each pay date we give you the per-employee amounts (a file, or a direct enrollment in your payroll system); after it, you tell us what was withheld. Then you send one ACH per scholarship organization and state account, with a remittance advice that lists every withholding in it.
Who chooses where the money goes?
The employee, and only the employee. They pick a certified scholarship organization and the state whose students it will fund, and they sign the designation themselves. You may put the organizations you have a relationship with at the top of their list, or limit the list to them, but you never redirect a dollar.
Can the employee name a school?
They can name schools they would like it to help, and the organization sees that. Federal law keeps every award with the organization and decided on need — a preference guides, it never binds — so no employee's gift is tied to a particular child or school.
What happens to the money between the paycheck and the organization?
It sits in your payroll account as the employee's, like any other deduction, until your AP sends it. We never hold it. Each withholding is booked as the employee's gift when the organization confirms the remittance landed, dated to the pay date it was withheld.
What does the employee get?
A receipt for every withholding, their unique donor number, a running view of how much of the credit they have used across every organization they give to, and an annual statement for their return. If they also give outside payroll, we trim the deduction so they never give past the credit by accident.
When does this start?
The federal credit begins January 1, 2027, and runs in states that opt in. The useful work now is setting the program up with your payroll and your people so the first pay date of 2027 carries it.
What do you charge?
Nothing per employee or per dollar given. Talk to us about the program as a whole — the consultation is free.
Talk it through before you decide.
Tell us about your organization and we’ll set up a consultation on your formation path, your state, and the timeline. It costs nothing and there is nothing to sign — and if it’s useful, we’ll walk through the platform on the same call.
What happens next
We read your submission and respond within one business day
A working session, typically 45–60 minutes — your situation, not a sales pitch
Which of the three paths fits, what your state requires, and what the timeline is
You leave with a clear recommendation — including when the answer is to join an SGO rather than form one, or to wait