For information on applying for a scholarship, click here.
Direct Your State Income Tax Dollars Toward Westlake Scholarships
Until recently, Illinois residents had little control over how their tax dollars were distributed. However, in August 2017, the Illinois Legislature passed Senate Bill 1947 (“Invest in Kids Act”), allowing individuals and corporations to direct up to $1,000,000 of their state income tax liability.
Under this act, you may direct your individual or corporate state income tax liability by making a charitable donation to a state-certified scholarship granting organization (SGO) and receive a state tax credit of 75% of the contribution. Now, for example, taxpayers can secure a credit of $7,500 by sending $10,000 to a state-certified scholarship-granting organization. The Children’s Tuition Fund of Illinois (CTF IL) is the SGO that Westlake uses to place deserving students in our school. CTF IL makes sure your charitable donation is recognized by the Illinois Department of Revenue and that you, the donor, receive a tax credit for that donation. Furthermore, by using the CTF IL, you can designate your contribution to fund scholarships for students at Westlake (only individuals can designate their school of choice).
Helping families with the greatest need
Westlake has current families whose financial need is even greater than what the school can meet through our Variable Tuition/Tuition Assistance program. The Invest in Kids Act offers these families an opportunity to apply for a 100% scholarship.
How to give through the Invest in Kids program
Below are step-by-step instructions for how you can make a significant difference by using your tax dollars to allow students to attend Westlake. To download a pdf version, please click here. Our business manager, Mrs. Claudette Gearhart, is available to walk you through the entire process.
Steps to Donate to Westlake Christian Academy via the IL Invest in Kids Act and Receive a 75% Credit on your Illinois Tax Return
- Request a Letter Id. (Most people don’t have a mytax.illinois account already; if you do already have an account, skip to step 3.)
- Go to mytax.illinois.gov.
- Under “Individuals”, select “Request a Letter Id”.
- Enter SSN of primary taxpayer and their driver’s license number.
- Wait 7-10 days; Letter Id will be mailed to address on your last tax return.
- Setup a mytax.illinois.gov account using your Letter Id.
- Request a “Contribution Authorization Certificate” from your mytax.illinois.gov account.
- Login to your mytax.illinois.gov account.
- Select “View more account options”.
- Under “Account Options”, select “Contribute to Invest in Kids”
- Select “Invest in Kids Region”
- Enter your planned contribution amount. (Westlake is in Region 2, and the Scholarship Granting Organization is “Children’s Tuition Fund of IL”.)
- Usually within minutes, receive a PDF of your Contribution Authorization Certificate via email.
- Donate!
- Go to https://childrenstuitionfund.org/states/illinois/information-for-contributors-illinois/ and select “Contribute Now”.
- Set up a Children’s Tuition Fund (CTF) account if you don’t already have one or login to your CTF account.
- Select “Donate Now” and fill out the donation form.
- Designate Westlake Christian Academy as the preferred school.
- Attach the Contribution Authorization Certificate (pdf file) to the donation form.
- Claim the Credit
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- Receive email notification from mytax.illinois.gov that your “Certificate of Receipt” is available within your mytax.illinois.gov account.
- Login to your mytax.illinois.gov account.
- Click on the “Correspondence” tab to view and print a copy of your Certificate of Receipt/COR.
Claim the credit on your IL tax return (IL 1040) for the tax year the donation was made by completing Schedule 1299-C, Step 3. The Credit Code (Column B) for Invest in Kids is “5660”. The Identifying Number (Column D) is the certificate number located on your COR.
If you need assistance, please reach out to our Business Manager, Claudette Gearhart (847-548-6209, ext 2004)