Here’s why Maine isn’t using it yet.
A new federal tax credit could help Maine families pay for tutoring, special-needs services, tuition, and transportation for their kids. It’s called the Education Freedom Tax Credit, or EFTC. But Maine kids can’t use it next year, because the state hasn’t signed up.
If you’ve never heard of this, you’re not alone. Here’s what it is, who it helps, and what’s standing in the way.
What the credit is
Congress created this tax credit in 2025, as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Starting in 2027, a taxpayer who gives money to an approved scholarship group can claim up to $1,700 back on their federal taxes. Married couples filing jointly can claim up to $3,400.
These approved nonprofits are called scholarship-granting organizations, or SGOs. A donor gives money to an SGO. The SGO turns that gift into a scholarship for a K-12 student. The donor then claims the credit on their federal tax return.
The money is federal, and it comes from private donors, NOT taxpayers. It doesn’t touch Maine’s state budget. Public schools keep every student they enroll, and the funding that comes with them.
What scholarships can pay for
The details depend on the SGO and the student’s needs. In general, scholarships can cover:
- Tuition
- Tutoring
- Special-needs services
- Curriculum materials
- Transportation
- Technology
Who qualifies
A student has to be eligible to enroll in K-12. Their family’s income also has to fall at or under 300% of the area median income. That’s a wide net: it covers more than 9 in 10 kids nationwide.
The American Federation for Children published the first full state-by-state estimates in July 2026. About 185,394 Maine kids meet the income test. That’s 96.2% of Maine’s school-age population, the highest share of any state or D.C. Nationally, about 51.7 million kids qualify.
Eligibility is just the first gate. A family still needs Maine to opt in, an approved scholarship group, a donor who gives, and an approved application before they receive any money. The eligibility number doesn’t mean 185,000 checks get written automatically.
Nothing happens until 2027
No family is receiving a credit or a scholarship through this program yet, in Maine or anywhere else. The law creating the credit passed in 2025, but the program itself starts January 1, 2027.
That means:
- No one can make a contribution that qualifies under this credit today.
- No one can claim the credit on a tax return today.
- The first qualifying contributions happen in 2027. The first tax returns claiming the credit get filed in 2028.
Even in states that have already signed up, the work isn’t finished. Each state still has to submit its list of approved scholarship groups before a donor in that state can give and claim the credit. A state that signs up early gives its scholarship groups time to form and get listed, and gives families time to plan. A state that waits gives its families a late start, or no start at all.
What Maine has to do to opt in
Two things have to happen before Maine families can use this credit. The Governor has to sign Maine up to participate, and the state has to send the IRS a list of its approved scholarship groups. That doesn’t require a new tax or a new state agency, and it doesn’t need a vote in the Legislature.
Without that list, there’s no Maine organization for a Maine donor to give to under this credit, and no Maine school for a Maine family to apply through.
As of the IRS’s September 14, 2026 count, 30 states have signed up for 2027. New Hampshire is one of them. There are multiple states with Democrat governors who have signed up. Maine hasn’t.
Mills has run out of excuses
Governor Mills’ office said in June it was waiting on the federal rules before deciding. A spokesperson told the Portland Press Herald the Governor was holding off while the rules were still pending.
That excuse is gone. On October 1, 2026, the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS issued those rules: proposed regulations and temporary regulations. They aren’t a final rule in the legal sense that follows public comment, so the accurate way to describe them is that Treasury and the IRS issued the rules, not that the rules are finalized. States and families can act on them starting NOW. The same rules also confirmed the $3,400 figure for married couples above.
The rules set something else, too: a real deadline for Maine. States that haven’t signed up yet – like Maine – can still join the program’s first year. The Governor has until 11:59 p.m. on January 1, 2027 to file Maine’s election with the IRS, and until February 15, 2027 to send in Maine’s list of approved scholarship groups. Miss either date, and Maine is locked out of the program for all of 2027!
That’s two separate filings on two separate dates. And filing on time doesn’t mean scholarships start flowing the next day. Maine’s scholarship groups would still need to get approved and ready.
The paperwork Governor Mills said she was waiting on is here. The ball is in her court.
Maine taxpayers could benefit even if Maine kids can’t
A scholarship under this credit can only go to a student in the same state where the scholarship group is listed. A Maine SGO’s scholarships go to Maine students. A New Hampshire SGO’s scholarships go to New Hampshire students.
But the donor side works differently. A Maine taxpayer isn’t limited to giving in Maine. If Maine never opts in, a Maine donor could still give to an out-of-state scholarship group and claim the federal credit on their own taxes. That gift would help students outside of Maine, but not a Maine student in that same household.
A Maine donor can benefit by giving out of state. A Maine student can’t, unless the governor opts in and lists at least one in-state organization.
What you can do today
Call Gov. Mills at 207-287-3531 and urge her to opt Maine into the Education Freedom Tax Credit before the end of the year so Maine kids can have more opportunity.
Press your local candidates for state legislature on the value of opting in for Maine kids.
Stay in the loop. Sign up for updates from Lead Maine on this tax credit, open enrollment, charter schools, and the rest of the Education Freedom agenda.
Lead Maine supports Education Freedom: the idea that families should have real choices in how their kids are educated, funded in ways that don’t trap a family in one assigned school.
The new federal tax credit is one piece of that. It costs Maine’s budget nothing. It reaches almost every family in the state. But it only works if Maine opts in before the window closes!