Email of the Day:
Should I be saving receipts for everything I’m buying for homeschooling and curriculums I purchase? Do I get a tax write off? I googled it some people said yes some people said no. I’m not sure what’s correct for Washington state.
Answer:
There are no tax write-offs for homeschooling.
It is possible that sometime in the future homeschooling will be included in a voucher program and/or in the Cloverdell savings plan, but at present, there are no tax write-offs, state or federal, for homeschooling.
There is occasionally some conflation between homeschooling (narrowly defined in our law as being “provided by a parent, educating his or her child only”) and some of the public-school-at-home programs that are available in our state. The folks you spoke with may have erroneously called those programs “homeschooling.” (There is a stipend system in place for students enrolled in these public school programs, which requires purchase documentation for reimbursement).
This is one of the reasons it’s so important to know and understand the difference between homeschooling and public school programs, and why you’ll see me delineate this difference. There isn’t anything wrong with doing public school at home, it’s just that it’s fundamentally different from homeschooling. When you’re homeschooling, you get all the freedom, but you bear all the responsibility, including financial.
From RCW 28A200.020 “all decisions relating to philosophy or doctrine, selection of books, teaching materials and curriculum, and methods, timing and place in the provision or evaluation of home-based instruction shall be the responsibility of the parent.”
Warmly,
~Jen