Canonical program record
Illinois Apprenticeship Education Expense Tax Credit
An Illinois employer may seek DCEO certification for qualifying education expenses incurred for an eligible registered apprentice and then claim the credit on its Illinois income-tax return.
What this mechanism does
- Mechanism type
- Tax credit
- Economic effect
- Recover value later
- Administrator
- Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
- Amount or value
- Up to $3,500 per eligible apprentice annually, plus a possible $1,500 underserved-area amount after exact-address verification.
- Cash-flow timing
- A later nonrefundable tax effect after DCEO certification and filing; not up-front hiring cash.
- Upfront cash
- Required
- Repayment
- Not a repayable mechanism
- Program lifecycle
- Current / rolling
- Visitor treatment
- Worth checking now
This current pathway still requires program-specific eligibility and sequence checks.
Important dates and consequences
Apprenticeship credit covers tax years beginning on or before January 1, 2027
Date or rangeTax years beginning on or after 2020-01-01 and on or before 2027-01-01
A tax year beginning after January 1, 2027 is not eligible under the current statutory authorization unless a new law extends or replaces it.
Date last verified
Project fit and limits
Eligibility conditions to confirm
- The apprentice must be an Illinois resident, at least 16, enrolled full time in a U.S. Department of Labor registered apprenticeship, and employed by the taxpayer in Illinois.
- The employer must be an Illinois taxpayer with a qualifying apprenticeship program or partnership.
- DCEO certification, qualifying education expenses, and usable Illinois tax liability are required.
Eligible costs described by the authority
- Qualified education expenses for eligible registered apprentices accepted by DCEO
Ineligible or excluded costs
- Wages and costs that are not qualified education expenses
- Credits unsupported by DCEO certification or tax liability
Friction to plan for
- Track qualified costs, contact the program manager, complete the DCEO application, and file required tax documentation.
- The credit is nonrefundable and has no carryforward, so unused credit cannot be treated as later-year value.
- Exact-address underserved-area status and usable tax liability must be confirmed.
Stackability evidence
Unknown — ask
Scope: Wage or education costs connected to the same employee or apprenticeship.
Both mechanisms may be relevant, but the authoritative sources reviewed do not establish how the same costs may be allocated.
- Obtain written Partnership and DCEO guidance before attributing the same cost to both mechanisms.
- Preserve wage, training, education-expense, and participant records separately.
Which costs may be supported by each mechanism without double counting, and what approval must precede the hire or training?
Rule last verified