Bill > A2702

Introduced Session

This bill allows a gross income tax deduction for amounts contributed to the tuition savings programs and tuition credit purchase programs that are managed by states and institutions of higher education. Federal Internal Revenue code section 529 allows states to establish "qualified tuition programs," which can take either the form of tuition credit advance purchases (the form used, for example, by Pennsylvania) or of savings accounts for college costs (the form used by New Jersey under the NJ BEST program). The bill applies to both forms of plan, and will also apply to the savings and credit purchase plans that were authorized to be established by institutions of higher education under the federal "Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001" (Pub.L.107-16). Under federal tax law, contributors make contributions of federally taxed income to accounts established for beneficiaries for the beneficiaries' qualified higher education expenses. Account investment earnings, when earned, are not federally taxed. When amounts are distributed from the program, the amount of earnings is included in the federal taxable income of the beneficiary unless amounts are expended for qualified educational expenses. Currently, New Jersey allows the distributions from qualified state tuition program accounts, whether from the New Jersey program or the program of any other state, to be excluded from taxation if used for valid higher education purposes. This bill provides further tax incentives for higher education savings by allowing taxpayers to deduct from taxable income all of their contributions to a tuition savings program or a tuition credit purchase program, whether from the New Jersey program, the program of any other state, or a program managed by a higher educational institution.

Committee Categories

John McKeon (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee (on 02/01/2018)