Families With K-12 Tuition Payments Can Now Receive Tax Benefits

Bank of North Dakota is highlighting the new tax benefits North Dakota families can receive by utilizing North Dakota’s 529 College SAVE Plan for K-12 tuition payments on its March 20 Facebook Live event held at 2:30 p.m. CT. The presentation will be posted on Facebook, so residents can view the content any time. To receive the feed, residents should “like” and follow Bank of North Dakota’s Facebook page.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act recently passed by Congress expanded the use of 529 plans to include paying tuition at public, private and religious schools in grades K-12. That means tuition expenses qualify for the same state and federal tax advantages participants have received for traditional contributions to their 529 College SAVE Plan accounts.

“This is an exciting development for families with children in elementary or secondary schools,” states James Barnhardt, College SAVE Plan director. “The use of College SAVE to pay for college and decrease the burden of education-related debt is well established. Now these parents can receive the same benefits when paying for tuition during their child’s journey to postsecondary education.”

Account owners can now use existing assets and future contributions to the College SAVE Plan to pay for public, private and religious K-12 tuition up to $10,000 per year per student. They can treat the withdrawals as qualified expenses with respect to federal and state income taxes. North Dakota taxpayers may also continue to deduct College SAVE contributions up to $5,000 for a single tax filer or $10,000 for married couples filing jointly from their North Dakota taxable income.

Current state law limits the use of any College SAVE assets received through the New Baby Match, formerly called Children First, and BND Match, previously called North Dakota Matching Grant, for tuition expenses at a higher education institution. Those assets cannot be used for K-12 tuition expenses.

A College SAVE account can be opened for as little as $25. For more information, listen in on Facebook Live March 20 or visit collegesave4u.com.

About North Dakota Housing Finance Agency
NDHFA is a self-supporting state agency dedicated to making housing affordable for all North Dakotans. The Industrial Commission of North Dakota, consisting of Governor Doug Burgum as chairman, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, oversees the agency. More information about NDHFA and the programs it administers is available online at www.ndhfa.org.

Media Contact: 
Janel Schmitz
701-328-5880