New Tax Benefits for Catholic School Parents!

Parents with children attending private school, including Archdiocesan elementary and secondary schools, are now eligible to claim tax deductions for tuition and related school expenses.  As part of the recent federal tax overhaul passed in December 2017, families may now use state-sponsored 529 college savings plans to pay for expenses such as tuition, books and tutoring for kindergarten through high school.  While it is still up to individual states to make legislative accommodations for these changes, the state of Missouri is fully prepared and families can begin immediately using MOST 529 plans for not just college expenses, but also for your younger students who are enrolled in private schools.

If your child is attending a Catholic school or some other private school and you do not already have a 529 college savings plan in place for their future needs, you should consider beginning a MOST 529 plan (or any other 529 plan) as soon as possible for the educational expenses that you have right now.  Although you lose the advantage of long term investing by using the money so soon after depositing it into the investment account, there is still a financial incentive to do so. 1.)  All earnings, no matter how small, can be withdrawn tax free from MOST 529 accounts.  2.) State tax deductions are available based on all monies deposited to a MOST 529 account.  Since you are paying the tuition anyway, there are definite financial advantages to taking the extra steps of opening a MOST 529 and paying your tuition and expenses from that account.

As with all financial decisions, please consult with your banking and/or investment advisor.

For more information please read the following document provided by the Missouri Catholic Conference and visit the websites provided within the document.