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EITC Webinar Fall 2022

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Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) programs allows approved businesses and individuals to divert up to 90% of their state taxes by providing need–based scholarship funding to students from low-income households attending eligible scholarship organizations such as Hill Top Preparatory School. Learn how you or your business might take advantage of this program. Please contact Michele Minicozzi, Director of Advancement at [email protected] for more information. Individuals may also participate:CPSF Organizations Like the Central PA Scholarship Fund can provide tax credits to individuals through a Special Purpose Entity. Watch this short video to learn more.

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because I know people are on a schedule thank you okay okay so this is our quick webinar about directing your tax dollars to Hill Top prep to fund scholarships we have some housekeeping and welcome things will be a little bit different today we're going to stay within our 30 minutes or attendees will all be muted but please use the qna if there are any questions and we'll address them either at the end or as we go through I'm Michelle minicozzi I'm the director of advanced set here at Hill-Top Preparatory School we have Kevin main our new head of school here joining us today we also have our parents Michael Gavin and Fred Schultz and our trusty Bob Seger who have all sat through this webinar and and as a result participated in the eitc program and are here to talk about their experience with that we will send the slides to all participants after the webinar they're also available on our website and I'll contact information for myself here at the school end for Tammy at the central Pennsylvania scholarship fund will be included in a follow-up to this email so I'm very quickly before we talk about the logistics I'm going to throw this over to Kevin to talk about how important the scholarships are here at Hilltop thanks Michelle. As you can imagine scholarship support is extremely important to chikhli to small private schools you know it's no secret that the rising cost of Education can she do to increase end for schools such as Hilltop of the fact that we are nice cool and serve a distinct population many of the families are probably most of the families have had to quite a bit out of their pockets over the years to have their children educated and receive the type of support that they need particularly at Hilltop where we are resource-rich and I say resource-rich in terms of the fact that our students receive the benefit of having a two students to every faculty staff support a two-to-one ratio which you don't find anywhere that I'm aware of particularly when it comes to Aldi near Diversey support so we rely on scholarship dollars to help bridge that Gap where the students and the families to be able to receive an education what a lot of people don't realize is that we actually give out quite a bit in scholarships each year about $340,000 is earmarked over the past year and when we look at the average student receiving support of about 12 students at this past year it was close to 28.5 thousand dollars per year which is really important and we're really proud of the fact that with this particular scholarship program we've seen the location increase each year and that comes as a benefit to the support that we receive not only through this particular scholarship but the fact that so many families are now embracing it and utilizing their tax dollars we've already been fortunate that we dear Mark funds already for this year that will receive last year in the past we were able to allocate only the dollars that received the same year and we're trying to build up a few or that but unfortunately we do receive students each year that are unable to attend Hilltop because they just the families cannot bridge that Gap so we're really thrilled that you're joining us today and finding that this program not only benefits our students but can also benefit you from a tax incentive as well so thank you for joining us today and please know that we appreciate you we also appreciate the time that you're spending cuz we know how precious time is as well as scholarship funds nowadays it seems that time is a great commodity so thank you for joining us here today and I throw it back to you Michelle thanks Kevin so because Tammy had to step out for a personal emergency I am going to jump in and I am going to talk a little bit about just program and the purpose of it in the state of Pennsylvania is basically to promote school choice and so so you know maybe 10 years ago the program was founded and it was because of an identification that students necessarily didn't fit in at the school that they were assigned to basically merely because they lived where they live and so this program started with business is primarily being able to apply for tax credits that they could then donate to private schools for scholarships so that students could choose to attend a school that might be better fitted for them than the school that was in our neighborhood here at Hilltop it's it's a double whammy because it's merely about fitting in at your school it's about us addressing identified needs that art students have diagnosed then so it's even that much more important here at Hilltop so at who can participate if you live or work in the state of Pennsylvania and pay Pennsylvania state taxes you are eligible to participate in this program so as long as you work for a for-profit company and have state taxes withheld from your paycheck to paycheck or if you have your own business and pay Pennsylvania state taxes your taxes go to Harrisburg and the state decides whether spent without your input so with this program you as taxpayer decide that your tax dollars can go to help scholarships at Hilltop rap so Pennsylvania's eitc and ostc program allows donors to up to 90% of their tax dollars to support scholarships for students at Independent Schools like Hilltop rap for most people it seems too good to be true how could I not pay taxes and make a donation to a school that I love at the same time but it is true and organizations like the central Pennsylvania scholarship has made it possible for individuals participate in the program as well show the overview donors receive a 90% tax credit on their Pennsylvania state income taxes the addition 10% can be use as a charitable donations its option on the person's federal tax return the spe which right now we are talking about central Pennsylvania scholarship fund is a business and where an individual can make an investment into the SP that is then donated to the charity of their choice and independent school the donation basically pass through the special purpose and from the investor to the eligible school that they designate during tax time each donor will get what they call a form K-1 and that's basically what the person those are gifts to their accountant in order to get the tax credit on their state taxes so the central Pennsylvania scholarship funds typically this is where Tammy would jump in and talk about her station they are a 501 c 3 nonprofit organization they're eligible to receive eitc donations for donor designated scholarships their mission is to schools and other programs with the state's authorization to become an approved education Improvement organization program for children in grades K through 12 the program communicates the standing and the student sir provides the charity and the donor was success story so we basically report to central Pennsylvania scholarship signs on the students that are receiving scholarships at Hilltop so that they could then report to the state so that take note that that money is going to support the cause at its designated the van on the process is repeated annually and it continues to grow as the ICC program continues to grow and just as Westside I believe 125 million dollars additional are allocated this year to Pennsylvania's eitc program so each year the program is throwing a actually who can participate so if you pay $3,500 in Pennsylvania state taxes or more you're eligible to participate so just for perspective if so earns $115,000 they're probably paying $3,500 in taxes so it can be an individual return or joint return but that's the typical liability for that income level individuals or couples can participate you must work for a business owned a business or have stock in a business that operates in the state of Pennsylvania so technically someone like myself who works at a nonprofit can own one share of stock in a company that is Pennsylvania based in order to participate and then that person through central Pennsylvania scholarship fund receives credit against their state taxes for 90% of that amount each year so we just talked about the eligibility and a little bit of detail week go through this eligibility for businesses is a little bit more complex so as long as you pay personal income tax and have possibly one or more of these other attributing factors you are eligible to participate in the program so right now I'm going to ask is that our testimonials happen so that we could will run through the details of the but I'd like to hear initially from parents like Gavin and Fred Schultz and our trusty Bob Seger about their experience of sitting through this webinar and then participating in the program so I'll throw it to Mike since you thoughts on 1st good afternoon my name is Mike Gavin I'm a parent gave Gavin who is a senior at Hilltop this provided us with opportunity to maximize our gift to Hilltop wrap it up on my laptop while we were we were going through the begin presentation my tax documents last year but I don't find them on my system but I think for me and ended up being about a $500 out-of-pocket contribution for an approximate $3,500 at impact to Hilltop ratso Rizzo I need to maximize my ability to contribute to  topic and support some of the other students near the Gabe has enjoyed his time at at Hilltop with in terms of what is required come to you as a potential donor you received a a form via email from Tammy that you sign scan and send back I'm assuming you can mail it as well I've been the fastest sign and mail back confirming my participation in the Bible then and then only happened in the late spring and then during the summer actually sometime in the fall I received the second letter confirming that that amount has been approved in a or the tax recently made and then in the following tax season sometime maybe February I received the K-1 statement from the sedation and I turned it over to my accountant so when I participated and it's the first time it was the first time I accountant had seen it as well he said that it had no real impact on the preparation of the tax return I made a small business center I work self-employed so he handled as part of the regular bookkeeping of our our company and it was for him it was the first time through the process and it did not really add anything to his preparation to return said the instructions were straightforward and easy to follow I might not done it myself so I can't really comment on that but it didn't have any impact on my tax return my perspective and in the following years if you received the same process to get a letter asking whether you're going to purchase it again once you confirm that then you get the second letter with a joint agreement you signed and scanned back and then finally you sending your contribution and then you get to eat tax documentation for the following year it was because sound too good to be true and it really is it simple as it's portrayed to be I'm sorry I've had no issues with it I guess I'm just in my fourth year now it's doing it and it's been an easy way to make a contribution and maximize the contribution awesome thank you so I have a new slide here at your guy suggestion so this is the blank form that that cow to you once you indicate that you would like to make a donation so you fill it out you can choose one or more schools to donate and you put the amount that you send that in and and then you don't hear looking for a bit and then in the fall you'll get this letter and that letter will tell you that it's time to send your donation at and and then you just send it and that's it and come taxed you will get a form that you submit with your taxes that looks like this and you basically send that in with your Pennsylvania state taxes and buy June or July you can get you will get your 90% of your donation back in a check from the state of Pennsylvania so Bob I guess can you Donuts sure so Mike really laid everything out very well I thought he really outline a lot of the program process and things very well so that really it was ask Walter to myself and many others as a small business owner and  the process worked very well for the organization but will as well as for me personally in order to process this from a passport I think it's important that everybody understands their because they are there they are watching this is that this is something actually you could do on your own if you wanted to but it's one of those things that you want to get it right and that's why I having an organization like like like we have in order to two processes through the scholarship funds from CPS ASF brother and having somebody like Tammy readily available and her to be able to rapidly respond to questions help with the response and having a form like the one that you see here that Michelle has posted that's as simple as that get me a sellout of form and then having people send you information in a timely manner when it's ready when it's necessary and eventually the K form in order to process tax it doesn't get any easier than that in order to take advantage of a program that is using funds in essence that you're already paying I think there's a slide Michelle but if you want to go back to the beginning I think is in my mind one of the first things and treat me when I first looked at this years ago and that's the one word shows a picture of a car going through the overview and its really this is an important one because you're paying these funds already you're paying your taxes the state taking them they're using them as they see fit this is allowing you to direct and invest into specific organization that you feel deserves to use these funds in this case Hilltop and that's what I've done in the past several years having been on the board for a few years as a trustee a knowing how important These funds are and how the growth of vit C program has become I see this as a win-win for everyone involved because it allows you to really again designate where you want your money in case of taxes and case specs one last thing that I think is is that again when you're looking at this and in Kevin mentioned earlier time is an absolute commodity whether you are a business person or if you are an employee somewhere it's always a commodity now so this is the best approach I've seen in order to take advantage of this program without trying to do it yourself thanks Bob bread if my esteemed colleagues stole all my thunder and Michelle I can't believe you to use the form is my visual aid to enrich and enhance my presentation but it is it is as simple as everybody explained to get that form in the mail and actually the form isn't even as complicated as it looks you put in your name you sign it and it's done Tammy does everything else she puts in the school your dress the amount so she makes it idiot-proof it's like me and I just want to amplify that the other point is made this money is out the door it's either going to Harrisburg and spent on God knows what you're taking it and applying it to Hilltop and in my years on this Planet I haven't found a better way to spend money than at Hilltop it's made a life-changing impact to our son I mean he was not he was not a happy camper at public schools and they weren't helping me a we invoke Advocates every everything we could nothing works we went to Hilltop on day one is a change. And it's just gone better and better and better sell us one amplify that this is a multiplier you you're you're paying temp this donation basically so I also don't know a program where you can get that kind of return sort of like option does that work at the multiplier ride so you know we try to figure out how much we're going to make each year and and maximize what we can give to Hilltop because it's such a great program you don't have to go back to the slide Tammy but there was one at the beginning that you know how can it be this easy or it's too good to be true and that was going back to them with it too good to be true you know I'm an optimist by nature but a cynic by training and I when this was first introduced to us three or four years ago and like this can't be there is something this is going to be us a scam or he's going to go to Bermuda or some other place and if it seems too good to be true but it is so this is my testimony to the new folks on the call I guess you'll just wrap it up in the air sometimes throw us the bottom the hour it it's a way to maximize your donation it's it's putting it to better use I think then our politicians do and it goes to the best of the best place that I know of so obviously I'm bullish on him stop in one do everything I can and it's program also but one thing if you don't know me I'm I'm incredibly lazy and this program is as easy as Sunday morning things are just mailed to you and mail to Annie doll taking care of and I don't be a still be afraid of us warm that we're showing it's not even that hard so that's that's my stick so I'm back to you Michelle awesome thank you guys so much because we are almost at 12:30 I'm and because Tammy is isn't here I'm going to pretty quickly through the steps I think we actually went through them from the donor perspective already but the actual program itself works is that the special purpose entity applies for these tax credits and they they apply for either eitc or ostc credits and is basically the difference in those programs is who the funds are supporting Costco funding supports students who reside within the boundaries of a low achieving School in the e i t support is based on an income criteria that were given that we have to follow in order to award the fun day to the organization or the spee or the business gets approved by the state step 3 the spe notifies its members and that would be me and Bob and Fred and Mike that they've been approved and they say hey do you want to make your contribution again and send it in within 60 days and then we write a check and we make our contribution to the spe and then the spe sends the money to the designated School show Hilltop literally gets the exact time that you sends to the St and then we allocated for the eligible scholarship recipients tuition in February anyone who parks Pates received forms from the spe that they used to file their state income tax return and I actually filed mine myself on the Pennsylvania website with my K1 this year and surprisingly I got my reimbursement check or the 90% of my contribution so it's it's that easy that you know I'm non-accounting person can actually Violet but if you have an accountant do your taxes then you can just pass it along to them so an example of how this works so this is an example for a donor with a $5,000 Pennsylvania tax liability someone or a couple or making $165,000 you determine your tax liability so you look at your W-2 from last year and if you're going to make the same this year you're probably going to pay the same and Pennsylvania taxes you choose to make a donation to Ste like central Pennsylvania scholarship fund you get your paperwork from the time you make the donation receive your tax paperwork in January or February and it shows the credit but you can only take 90% so 10% you actually still have to pay in taxes but because you back donate us that extra 10% already you can use that for a tax reduction on your federal return as of outright contribution so technically you're out of cost to make a $5,000 donation to Hilltop crap is $315 questions if you can use the Cuban a feature to type questions right now or we will share this presentation as well as the slides after the fact and you can direct your questions to Tammy who unfortunately couldn't be here today where to me I would be happy to have a personal meeting with you Tammy will do the same or how about she's way over about four hours away in the center of Pennsylvania so she would be happy to have a zoom call or phone call with you to answer any individual questions that that you might have and Sarah is on here helping out Sarah do we have any questions in the human eye no ma'am awesome thank you okay alright so that concludes the presentation for today I want to thank our presenters we only went two minutes over which is awesome but thank you guys once again

Uploaded by Michele Minicozzi.

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EITC Webinar Fall 2022

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