Kansas 529 tax deduction in 2026
Kansas does not care which state's plan holds the money, and it does not care whether the person depositing owns the account.
Kansas tax saved on this contribution
$335
5.6 % of what you put in comes back on your 2026 return.
| Subtracted from state income | $6,000 |
| Your state marginal rate | 5.58 % |
| Cap that applies this year | $6,000 |
| Back per $1,000 contributed | $56 |
Kansas: Subtraction of cumulative contributions up to $3,000 per designated beneficiary ($6,000 married filing jointly) to Kansas 529 plans or any other state's 529 plan (cap shared with ABLE contributions for the same beneficiary); available to non-owner contributors; contributions made by the filing deadline may be elected for the prior year. Read on 2026-10-19. No federal deduction exists for 529 contributions.
| Taxable income | Marginal rate | Tax saved |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | 5.58 % | $327 |
| $100,000 | 5.58 % | $335 |
| $200,000 | 5.58 % | $335 |
| $400,000 | 5.58 % | $335 |
Worked out by Radif Partners · How we calculate · Kansas rule read on October 19, 2026, brackets of tax year 2026 · not tax advice
Kansas subtracts from state income up to $3,000 of contributions per beneficiary, or $6,000 per beneficiary on a joint return, and the money may go to Quest529, the Schwab 529 Education Savings Plan or any other state's 529 plan. The subtraction is open to contributors who do not own the account, so grandparents, aunts and family friends who file in Kansas can claim it for their own deposits. One catch: the cap for a child is shared with any ABLE account contributions for the same beneficiary. Kansas taxes income in two steps, 5.2 % and 5.58 %, and a couple at $95,000 who put $6,000 into each of three children's accounts saves $1,004. Contributions made by the filing deadline can be elected for the prior year. Deductions come back as income on nonqualified withdrawals; Kansas law excludes rollovers from that definition.
| Benefit for contributions | Deduction |
|---|---|
| Cap | $3,000 single, $6,000 joint per child (beneficiary) |
| Another state’s plan counts | Yes (tax parity) |
| State plans (official names, no recommendation) | Quest529 Education Savings Plan, Schwab 529 Education Savings Plan |
| Account balance limit | $550,000 |
| K-12 withdrawals qualified for state tax | Yes |
| 529 to Roth IRA rollover qualified | Yes |
| Student loan payments qualified | Yes |
| Add-back on a rollover to another state’s plan | No |
Parity: the plan's home state does not matter
K.S.A. 79-32,117 allows the subtraction for contributions to Kansas plans or to any other state's 529 plan. A grandfather in Wichita who prefers a plan he already holds elsewhere still subtracts his $3,000 deposit and saves $167 at his 5.58 % rate. Comparing plans in Kansas is therefore a matter of fees and investments, not tax: the tool below returns no gap between staying home and going elsewhere.
Kansas plan or another state’s plan
Lost by leaving the Kansas plan
$0
| Yearly saving, home plan | $167 |
| Yearly saving, other plan | $167 |
| Gap over the years | $0 |
Counted per child, shared with ABLE
The limit applies to each designated beneficiary, so the room grows with the family. Three children on a joint return open $18,000 of subtraction, which is the case of the couple at $95,000 above. The Quest529 plan description adds that the same cap covers contributions to an ABLE account for that beneficiary: a child with both a 529 and an ABLE account does not get two subtractions. Contributions by non-owners count, which lets a family spread deposits across several Kansas returns, each with its own room.
Two brackets, and a trigger that could lower them
K.S.A. 79-32,110 sets 5.2 % on the first $23,000 of taxable income for a single filer ($46,000 joint) and 5.58 % above, for 2024 and later years. A young single parent at $21,000 who deposits $3,000 saves $156, mostly at the lower rate. K.S.A. 79-32,110c can cut rates when revenue exceeds a target. A Department of Revenue notice saying no cut applies for 2026 was seen only through search results, since ksrevenue.gov could not be reached, so the rates used here are the statute's own.
Federal 2025 changes, as Quest529 reads them
The Quest529 plan description effective March 2, 2026 lists K-12 expenses up to the $20,000 yearly limit and postsecondary credential costs as qualified for both federal and Kansas purposes. K.S.A. 75-643 defines qualified expenses by reference to the federal 529 section as amended, which supports that reading. Student loan payments, apprenticeship costs and Roth IRA rollovers are also described as free of Kansas tax. No Department of Revenue guidance was read on these points.
Withdrawals and leaving a plan
Amounts subtracted earlier are added back to Kansas income on a nonqualified withdrawal. A rollover distribution is excluded from the statutory definition of a nonqualified withdrawal, so moving an account from Quest529 to another plan should not trigger an add-back; that conclusion is drawn from K.S.A. 75-643 and the parity rule, as no official statement on outbound rollovers was found. Each beneficiary's accounts in the Kansas program can hold up to $550,000, per the plan description. If the family later moves to a state without parity, the out-of-state plan page shows what changes.