Ohio Opts In: DeWine Puts the State Onto the Federal §25F Scholarship Tax Credit

Ohio has opted into the federal §25F Education Freedom Tax Credit, with Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signing the state onto the program in early February 2026. The move lets Ohio taxpayers claim a federal tax credit of up to $1,700 for donations to qualified scholarship granting organizations (SGOs), with the credit becoming available for the 2027 tax year beginning January 1, 2027. The Ohio Attorney General's charitable-law office now states the position plainly on its certification page: “Ohio has opted to be a covered state for the federal scholarship granting organization program.” Ohio's participation was subsequently confirmed by the IRS, which named the state among the 27 jurisdictions that had made an advance election in its official list released June 8, 2026.

The mechanism here matters, and it is worth describing precisely. Ohio did not enact a separate state statute or sign an executive order to join. Instead, the state made an advance election to participate by filing IRS Form 15714, the executive election that a governor (or a governor's designated official) uses to opt a state in. This is the same administrative path the IRS laid out when it published Form 15714 in December 2025, and the same route taken by states such as Florida and Alaska. The Defense of Freedom Institute's participation tracker records Ohio as having “made an advance election to participate under Section 25F for 2027,” consistent with both the IRS list and the Attorney General's covered-state language. Because the election is an executive filing rather than legislation, no floor vote or veto fight was required, unlike the contested paths in Kentucky, Kansas, and North Carolina.

For Ohio donors and the families they support, the practical effect is straightforward: starting in 2027, a contribution to a qualified Ohio SGO can be offset dollar-for-dollar by a federal credit worth up to $1,700 per taxpayer. The credit is capped at $1,700, a figure the §25F statute itself already settles, as we explain in our breakdown of why the cap is $1,700 and not $3,400. The covered-state designation also turns on the Attorney General's charitable division, which handles SGO certification in Ohio, so organizations that want to receive §25F donations will need to clear that certification process. Ohio's status, certification details, and the broader national picture are tracked on our Ohio state page and the national participation map.

The opt-in opens a runway for SGOs to organize before the program goes live. With nearly a year between the election and the January 1, 2027 launch, founders weighing whether to establish a qualified Ohio SGO have time to build the infrastructure needed to accept donations, verify eligibility, and award scholarships. How the credit works, who can found an SGO, and what certification entails are covered in our explainers, and existing organizations are listed in the SGO directory. Operators standing up a new Ohio program do not have to build the donation, compliance, and scholarship-tracking machinery from scratch: there is software built specifically for the §25F workflow, which can shorten the path from a covered-state election to a functioning program.

Ohio now joins a growing roster of states that have elected in ahead of the 2027 launch, a list that has expanded steadily from early movers like Virginia through the more than two dozen states the IRS confirmed by June. For Ohio families, the question shifts from whether the credit will be available to how quickly the state's SGO network takes shape, and that buildout is the part worth watching between now and the first day donations can be claimed.