Rep. Chris Taylor introduces bill to allow $1,000 tax deduction for homeschooled students

Rep. Chris Taylor introduced H.249 on Feb. 28 to permit families who home study their children in Vermont to claim an annual income tax deduction of up to $1,000 per enrolled dependent to offset qualified expenses.

Taylor told the Ways & Means Committee the deduction would cover qualified expenses including “the cost of educational instruction, materials, equipment, software, and computer hardware required for use during the normal school day when a student is in the home study program under 16 BSA subsection 1 sec 166 b, whether in person or through distance learning.” He said the change is a targeted way to “help mitigate this financial burden and ensure families can provide the education their children need.”

The committee heard context on the scale of home study in Vermont: Taylor said historically about 2,200 students were enrolled, that number spiked to about 5,500 in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and had stabilized at roughly 3,100 in the 2022–23 school year; enrollment figures for 2023–24 were not available at the time of the hearing. Taylor, who said he has worked as a behavior interventionist in Vermont public schools for eight years, described homeschooling as sometimes a necessity that can reduce household income because a parent may leave the workforce.

Committee members asked for more data. One committee member asked whether the roughly 3,100 students were geographically concentrated; Taylor said he had not examined that breakdown and that it would be an “interesting data point to look at.” Another committee member described a personal experience that led to homeschooling and said the state should support varied learning paths; that member said the proposal “is 1 way the state can support funding what they think is the right thing for their child.”

Members asked about verification and oversight for the deduction. A committee member asked whether the proposal would rely on self-attestation or require documentation demonstrating qualified expense. Taylor said he had not designed verification rules for the proposal and that at the $1,000 level he had not been planning strict documentation, though he suggested higher dollar amounts might prompt stricter requirements.

Taylor said he selected the $1,000 deduction as a “step foot in the door” and that the amount could be revisited in future discussions if the bill advances; no fiscal estimate, amendment, or committee vote was recorded at the introduction.

The bill was introduced for committee consideration and no formal action or vote occurred during the Feb. 28 hearing.