What's the catch?  This program seems a little too good to be true ...

No catch!  Wisconsin Student Success Initiative's Earnings4Education program is simply the easiest and most budget-friendly and tax-advantaged way we can all help combat our nation's ever-growing student loan debt crisis.   

Not only do your physical and electronic gift card purchases from Wisconsin Student Success Initiative's RaiseRight ordering platform help benefit our community as a whole, but your purchases can help benefit your favorite individual student as well.

Let's say you order a $100 gift card to your favorite restaurant which happens to be offering a 10% charitable rebate promotion this week.  You'll pay the full $100 face value of the card up front (just like you normally would if you purchased it directly from the restaurant).  Behind the scenes, however, your purchase is generating a $10 charitable rebate/contribution for Wisconsin Student Success Initiative which you'll control via your Earnings4Education Participant Agreement.  

The Earnings4Education Participant Agreement asks if you'd like 100% of your gift card rebate earnings applied to a Wisconsin Student Success Initiative general purpose, or if you'd like the earnings split 50/50 to also benefit an individual student of your choice.  Per IRS.gov tax topic #506, generally you can only deduct charitable contributions if you itemize deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040)...gifts to individuals are not deductible.   This means if you choose the "100% general purpose donation" option on your Earnings4Education Participant Agreement, 100% of your rebate earnings should be tax deducible if your unique tax situation allows.  If you choose the "50/50 split donation" option, only 50% can be tax deductible on your federal return...but the non-qualified 50% might qualify for a State of WI Form 1 Schedule CS tax-friendly adjustment instead.