Using Your VA529 Plan to Pay for Private K-12 Education

Are you paying for private school for a kid in grades K-12? It's a little painful, isn't it? Well, now there's a way to reduce the sting (a little bit). With the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 parents can use their VA 529 plan to pay for K-12 private school tuition.

Each state is different but the Virginia 529 College Savings Plan has adopted their policies to allow Virginia residents to take advantage of this new strategy. Virginia residents can use the VA 529 plan to get a little extra tax deduction on your VA state income taxes (plus some tax-free growth for the super organized among you) on your private K-12 tuition bill. You can now take up to $10,000/ year from a 529 college savings account to pay for private school tuition.

OK, first please, please do not raid your college savings account to pay for your kid's private school tuition for grades K-12.

I'm suggesting you set up a separate account for your private school tuition funds to avoid accidentally spending down money that was earmarked for college. If you are in a 2 parent household then consider having each parent open a VA 529 Invest college savings account in the name of your child. (Two parents = two separate accounts). Each parent may be able to claim up to $4,000 per account per beneficiary in VA state income tax deductions.

Talk to your CPA about this strategy to see if it would apply to you.