Form IT-228: New York Contributions to Certain Funds Credit (Tax Year 2025)

Form IT-228 is a New York State tax form used to claim the Contributions to Certain Funds Credit. It’s issued by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and applies specifically to taxpayers who made contributions to particular state-administered funds during the tax year. This isn’t a widely used credit, but for those who qualify, it can reduce state tax liability in a meaningful way.

The credit itself is tied to donations made to specific New York State funds that the legislature has designated as eligible for this tax benefit. These funds change or get updated periodically, so taxpayers need to check the current instructions attached to the form to confirm which contributions qualify for the 2025 tax year. Not every charitable gift to a state program counts here — only the ones specifically listed as eligible under the statute governing this credit.

Who Needs to File Form IT-228

You’ll need this form if you’re a New York State resident, part-year resident, or nonresident who made a qualifying contribution and wants to claim the associated credit against your state income tax. Individuals filing Form IT-201, IT-203, or IT-205 who made eligible contributions during 2025 are the primary users of IT-228. If you didn’t make a contribution to one of the designated funds, this form simply doesn’t apply to your return.

It’s worth noting that this credit is separate from a straightforward federal or state charitable deduction. The Contributions to Certain Funds Credit is a dollar-for-dollar (or percentage-based, depending on the specific fund) reduction of your tax liability, which is generally more valuable than an itemized deduction. That said, the credit is often nonrefundable, meaning it can only reduce your tax bill to zero — it won’t generate a refund beyond what you’ve already paid in.

When to Use This Form

Form IT-228 gets filed alongside your annual New York State income tax return, typically due in mid-April, matching the federal filing deadline. If you request an extension for your New York return, the same extended deadline applies to when you can submit IT-228. You can’t submit this form on its own outside of a full tax return — it’s a supplemental schedule that attaches to your main filing.

Taxpayers sometimes confuse credit forms with other supplemental schedules that adjust total tax calculations, similar to how Form IT-230 handles separate tax calculations for lump-sum distributions. Both are New York-specific attachments, but they address entirely different tax situations — one deals with distribution income, the other with fund contributions.

How to Get and Complete Form IT-228

The form is available directly from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance website as a fillable PDF. Since it has AcroForm fields built in, you can type your information directly into the document using standard PDF software rather than printing it out and filling it in by hand. This makes the process faster and reduces the chance of errors from illegible handwriting.

To complete it, you’ll need documentation of your contribution — typically a receipt or confirmation from the fund you donated to, showing the amount and date of your gift. The form will ask you to identify which specific fund received your contribution, since the credit calculation can vary depending on the fund’s designated rate. After calculating your credit amount, you’ll transfer that figure to the appropriate line on your main New York tax return.

If you’re also working through other state credit forms this season, it helps to understand how credit allocation works more broadly. Some states, like California with its Form 3544 for assigning credits within combined reporting groups, have very different mechanisms for handling tax credits compared to New York’s more straightforward per-fund approach. Similarly, credits tied to specific expenses — like California’s child and dependent care expenses credit — follow their own eligibility rules distinct from contribution-based credits like IT-228.

Before submitting, double-check that your contribution qualifies under the current list of eligible funds for tax year 2025, since this list is subject to change from year to year based on state budget decisions and legislative updates.