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Idaho Education News investigation reveals Idaho Tax Commission withheld tax-credit recipient data despite months of records requests

An Idaho Education News investigation published August 24, 2026 found that the Idaho State Tax Commission had denied nearly all of at least seven public records requests filed between February and July 2026 for data on who benefits from Idaho's $50 million-a-year Parental Choice Tax Credit private-school subsidy program. Requesters included two journalists, a college faculty member, a data analyst, a homeschool advocate, a former public school superintendent, and Democratic state legislative leaders, several of whom sought data on how many recipients previously attended public school. Tax Commission officials confirmed the denials on the record, citing tax-return privacy laws and incomplete data processing.

Jurisdiction
Idaho
Location
Boise, Idaho

Abuses documented

Actors

  • Idaho State Tax Commission

On August 24, 2026, Idaho Education News (republished the same day by the Idaho Capital Sun) reported that the Idaho State Tax Commission had denied nearly all of at least seven public records requests filed between February and July 2026 seeking data on who benefits from Idaho's Parental Choice Tax Credit, a $50-million-a-year state subsidy for private-school and homeschool expenses created by House Bill 93. Requesters included two journalists, Brigham Young University-Idaho faculty member Stuart Anderson, an independent data analyst, Homeschool Idaho board member Melissa Nash, former Boise School District superintendent Don Coberly, and Democratic legislative leaders Sen. Melissa Wintrow and Rep. Ilana Rubel.

Four of the requests, including two from Idaho Education News, sought the number of recipients who had previously attended public school — data that would test the program's central selling point, that it helps students leave public schools they couldn't otherwise afford to leave. Comparable data released in August 2026 for Texas's larger private-school subsidy program showed 70% of recipients were already homeschooled or in private school before applying.

Tax Commission officials confirmed the denials on the record. Public information director Julie Eavenson told Anderson in an April 13 letter that the data he sought "is not being collected or reported on," and cited state and federal tax-privacy law in denying Nash's request. In an earlier Idaho Education News report on the commission's April 2026 denial of the outlet's own request, Tax Commissioner Janet Moyle and Tax Commission Chairman John Bernasconi separately confirmed, on the record, that the agency had not compiled the requested aggregate data and cited the same privacy statutes; Moyle said the commission could not verify applicants' prior public-school enrollment because parents merely "attest" to it on the application. The commission fulfilled only one of the requests, from a ProPublica reporter, providing aggregate application and dollar totals it later published on its own website.

As of the report, the Tax Commission had not committed to a timeline for releasing the additional data, beyond a report to the Legislature due in January 2027 that state law does not require to include recipients' prior school-enrollment status.

Why we recorded this

Public records law exists so residents can independently verify how taxpayer-funded programs actually work, not just what officials say about them. Since February 2026, the Idaho State Tax Commission has denied at least seven records requests — from journalists, lawmakers, an academic, and an advocate — for data on who benefits from its $50 million-a-year private-school tax credit, including whether recipients previously attended public school. Idaho's own tax commissioners confirmed the denials on the record, citing tax-privacy law and incomplete processing, while Texas released the equivalent data for its own, larger program. Withholding the data that would let voters test the program's central selling point — that it helps students leave failing public schools — keeps that claim outside independent scrutiny.

Sources

  1. Idaho Tax Commission won't release private school tax-credit data despite public records requests — Idaho Capital Sun primary accessed August 25, 2026
  2. Tax Commission withholds data on private education subsidies — Idaho Education News primary accessed August 25, 2026

See also