Making Your Tax Dollars Work for Friends Select

Making Your Tax Dollars Work for Friends Select
Friends Select School
Making Your Tax Dollars Work for Friends Select

Full Select News
Making Your Tax Dollars Work for Friends Select

Anthony and Meghan Fotopoulos P’28, ’30, ’31 are parents of three Friends Select lower school students. After reading about the option to support the school with their PA state tax dollars, Anthony and Meghan attended one of the informational sessions offered throughout the year to learn more. Anthony said, 
“We think there’s a real opportunity for Friends Select to be the leading developer of young people in the Philadelphia area. We want to help make that happen for the school, the city, and for our daughters, and choose to do so financially through the PA State Tax Credit program.”

When asked about their motivation to participate in this program, Meghan said, “We wanted to give back to Friends Select, and after learning about how the PA State Tax Credit program works and can support the school, we were able to 
give a lot more with less.”
 

As a parent of alumni and a former trustee, Janice Madden is a longtime contributor to Friends Select and also participates in the PA State Tax Credit program. “This program allows donors to leverage $9 for every dollar out of pocket to support need-based scholarships for independent, diverse education,” she said. “Friends Select produces well-educated, compassionate citizens. Allowing more students to benefit from that education makes us all better off.”

Eligible individuals paying at least $3,500 in Pennsylvania state taxes can reallocate 100% of these tax dollars to support Friends Select’s financial aid program. With a two-year commitment to the school, donors receive a credit of 90% of their contribution after filing PA state taxes, and can claim the remaining 10% as a charitable contribution when itemized while filing federal taxes.

The process to participate is simple: individuals must complete a Special Purpose Entity (SPE) joinder directing their contribution to Friends Select School, file taxes using a provided K-1 form (PA 1123), and submit a check for a minimum of $3,500 to the SPE for Friends Select. “This is a no-brainer for anyone who pays at least $3,500 in state income tax and supports Friends Select,” Janice said. “The process was easy as pie: I completed the form, wrote a check, and the contribution came off of my state income tax.”

Meghan attested to the ease of the process. “I can confirm it actually was as easy to participate as it had been billed,” she said. “We signed a joinder agreement soon after attending the informational session, wrote the check several months later, and received the tax credit to use when filing our PA state taxes. We then received forms before Tax Day in April that gave us a 90% credit on our contribution amount.”

Supporting Friends Select School and its financial aid program through state tax credits is an optimal option for donors to maximize their giving. Anthony said, “We highly recommend this program to anyone who wants to see Friends Select do better and wants their tax dollars to go to a good cause.” Janice added, “Supporting financial aid through the tax credit program allows Friends Select to have a more diverse student body, which benefits all students.”

Currently, Friends Select is signing up donors for 2020 tax credits with checks due in November 2020, but these tax credits are going quickly.

For more information on contributing to Friends Select School with your PA 
state tax dollars, contact Mallory Burgan, director of development services, at malloryb@friends-select.org or 215.561.5900, x3131.