53 Deduction for contributions by taxpayers to the Iowa educational savings plan

trust and addition to income for refunds of contributions previously deducted. The Iowa educational savings plan trust was created so that individuals and certain other qualified participants can contribute funds on behalf of beneficiaries in accounts administered by the treasurer of state to cover qualified education expenses of the beneficiaries. The Iowa educational savings plan trust includes the college savings Iowa plan and the Iowa advisor 529 plan. The following subrules provide details on how individuals’ net incomes are affected by contributions to beneficiaries’ accounts, interest and any other Revenue[701] Ch 302, p.44 IAC 2/5/25 earnings earned on beneficiaries’ accounts, and refunds of contributions which were previously deducted. Definitions and other information about establishing college savings Iowa accounts may be found in rules promulgated by the treasurer of state. See 781—Chapter 16. 302.53(1) Deduction from net income for contributions made to the Iowa educational savings plan trust on behalf of beneficiaries. a. An individual referred to as a “participant” can claim a deduction on the Iowa individual income tax return for contributions made by that individual to the Iowa educational savings plan trust on behalf of a beneficiary. b. For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2015, if a participant makes a contribution to the Iowa educational savings plan trust on or after January 1, but on or before the deadline for filing an Iowa individual income tax return, excluding extensions, the participant may elect to have the deduction for the contribution apply to that participant’s Iowa individual income taxes for the calendar year immediately preceding the year in which the contribution was made. Once a participant has elected to apply a contribution to the calendar year immediately preceding the year in which the contribution was made, the contribution is deemed to have been made on December 31 of that previous calendar year. Once the election has been made, the deduction for that contribution may only be applied in computing the taxpayer’s Iowa net income for the calendar year immediately preceding the year in which the contribution was made. Contributions made on or after January 1, but before the deadline for filing Iowa individual income taxes, that the participant elects to have applied to the immediately preceding calendar year shall count toward the maximum contribution that may be deducted for that previous year. See paragraph 302.53(1)“c” below. Example: An individual makes a contribution to her Iowa educational savings plan account on April 5, 2018. The deadline for filing a 2017 Iowa income tax return is April 30, 2018. The individual elects to have the contribution apply to her 2017 individual income taxes instead of her 2018 Iowa individual income taxes. The department of revenue will consider the individual’s contribution to have been made on December 31, 2017. The individual may now claim a deduction for the contribution, up to the annual maximum deduction, on her 2017 Iowa income taxes. However, because the individual elected to have her contribution apply to her 2017 Iowa income taxes, she cannot claim the deduction for the April 5, 2018, contribution on her 2018 Iowa income tax return. c. The deduction on the 1998 Iowa return cannot exceed $2,000 per beneficiary for contributions made in 1998 or the adjusted maximum annual amount for contributions made after 1998. Note that the maximum annual amount that can be deducted per beneficiary may be adjusted or increased to an amount greater than $2,000 for inflation on an annual basis. Rollover contributions from other states’ educational savings plans will qualify for the deduction, subject to the maximum amount allowable. Starting with tax years beginning in the 2000 calendar year, a participant may contribute an amount on behalf of a beneficiary that is greater than $2,000, but may claim a deduction on the Iowa individual return of the lesser of the amount contributed or $2,000 as adjusted by inflation. For example, if a taxpayer made a $5,000 contribution on behalf of a beneficiary to the Iowa educational savings plan trust in 2000, the taxpayer may claim a deduction on the IA 1040 return for 2000 in the amount of $2,054, as this amount is $2,000 as adjusted for inflation in effect for 2000. Example : An individual has ten grandchildren from the age of six months to 12 years. In October 1998, the person became a participant in the Iowa educational savings plan trust by making $2,000 contributions to the trust on behalf of each of the ten grandchildren. When the participant filed the 1998 Iowa individual income tax return, the participant could claim a deduction on the return for the $20,000 contributed to the Iowa educational savings plan trust on behalf of the individual’s ten grandchildren. 302.53(2) Exclusion of interest and earnings on beneficiary accounts in the Iowa educational savings plan trust. To the extent that interest or other earnings accrue on a beneficiary’s account in the Iowa educational savings plan trust, the interest or other earnings are excluded for purposes of computing net income on the Iowa individual income tax return of the participant or the return of the beneficiary. 302.53(3) Including on the Iowa individual return amounts refunded to the participant from the Iowa educational savings plan trust that had previously been deducted. The refund or withdrawal of funds is to Revenue[701] IAC 2/5/25 Ch 302, p.45 be included in net income on a participant’s Iowa individual income tax return to the extent that contributions to the account had been deducted on prior Iowa individual income tax returns of the participant if the participant cancels a beneficiary’s account in the Iowa educational savings plan trust and receives a refund of the funds in the account made on behalf of the beneficiary or if the participant makes a withdrawal from the Iowa educational savings plan trust for purposes other than the following: a. Qualifying higher education withdrawals. The payment of qualified higher education expenses as defined in Section 529(e)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The term “qualified higher education expenses” does not include tuition expenses related to attendance at an elementary or secondary school. b. Qualifying elementary and secondary tuition withdrawals. For withdrawals made on or after January 1, 2018, the payment of tuition expenses in connection with and required for enrollment or attendance at an elementary or secondary school in Iowa which is accredited under Iowa Code section 256.11, and which adheres to the provisions of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Iowa Code chapter 216. These qualified tuition expenses shall not exceed $10,000 per beneficiary per year. This limitation is based on the beneficiary, not the participant. Participants are responsible for tracking the amount of qualified tuition expense payments a beneficiary may receive from other participants. If a beneficiary’s distributions exceed this annual limitation, the most recent payments are presumed to be the nonqualifying payments. By agreement amongst themselves, account holders are permitted to choose an alternative method for determining which payments are nonqualifying. An alternative method is presumed valid if, after the additions to income required by this paragraph, the beneficiary’s total qualifying tax-free withdrawals for elementary or secondary school tuition expenses do not exceed the $10,000 limitation. However, upon request, the account holders are responsible for providing the department with adequate documentation to substantiate the method used. c. Change in beneficiaries. A change in beneficiaries under, or transfer to another account within, the Iowa educational savings plan trust. d. ABLE rollovers. A transfer to the Iowa ABLE savings plan trust, provided such change or transfer is permitted under Iowa Code section 12D.6(5). Example : Because a beneficiary of a certain participant died in the year 2000, this participant in the Iowa educational savings plan trust canceled the participant agreement for the beneficiary with the trust and received a refund of $4,200 of funds in the beneficiary’s account. Because $4,000 of the refund represented contributions that the participant had deducted on prior Iowa individual income tax returns, the participant was to report on the Iowa return for the tax year 2000, $4,000 in contributions that had been deducted on the participant’s Iowa returns for 1998 and 1999. Example: Beneficiary A is an elementary school student who attends an accredited elementary school located in Iowa. Participant B and participant C have each opened an Iowa educational savings plan trust account with A as the designated beneficiary. In January 2019, participant B withdraws $6,000 from B’s account to pay A’s spring semester tuition. In August 2019, participant C withdraws $6,000 from C’s account to pay for A’s fall semester tuition. Although neither B nor C has made a withdrawal in excess of $10,000, that limitation is based on the beneficiary, A, who has received a total of $12,000 in distributions in 2019. Because A’s total distributions have exceeded the annual limitation on distributions related to elementary or secondary school tuition, the participants must include the $2,000 excess in their net income. Because C’s withdrawal was made after B’s, the entire excess is presumed attributable to C, and therefore C must include the entire $2,000 excess in C’s Iowa net income for 2019, unless B and C can show that they agreed to an alternative method of allocating the excess amount. This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code section 422.7. [ARC 7761B, IAB 5/6/09, effective 6/10/09; ARC 3664C, IAB 2/28/18, effective 4/4/18; ARC 4516C, IAB 6/19/19, effective 7/24/19; Editorial change: IAC Supplement 11/2/22; Editorial change: IAC Supplement 10/18/23]