North Dakota 529 tax deduction in 2026
A deduction measured against a rate schedule that opens with a wide band taxed at nothing at all.
North Dakota tax saved on this contribution
$156
2.0 % of what you put in comes back on your 2025 return.
| Subtracted from state income | $8,000 |
| Your state marginal rate | 1.95 % |
| Cap that applies this year | $10,000 |
| Back per $1,000 contributed | $20 |
North Dakota: Deduction for contributions to a North Dakota College SAVE account up to $5,000 ($10,000 married filing jointly) per year, whoever owns the account; rollovers from another 529 plan do not qualify (ND-1 line 12). Read on 2026-10-19. No federal deduction exists for 529 contributions.
| Taxable income | Marginal rate | Tax saved |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | 0.00 % | $0 |
| $100,000 | 1.95 % | $156 |
| $200,000 | 1.95 % | $156 |
| $400,000 | 2.50 % | $200 |
Worked out by Radif Partners · How we calculate · North Dakota rule read on October 19, 2026, brackets of tax year 2025 · not tax advice
North Dakota lets taxpayers deduct up to $5,000 a year of contributions to College SAVE, the state's 529 plan, or $10,000 on a joint return, whoever owns the account. What the deduction is worth depends on how the North Dakota schedule begins: the first $48,475 of North Dakota taxable income for a single filer, $80,975 for a couple, is taxed at 0 %. A Minot couple at $72,000 who put in $10,000 saves $0. Above the band, the rate is 1.95 %, then 2.5 %, so a Bismarck couple at $165,000 reaching the cap saves $195. Only College SAVE counts, and money rolled in from another 529 plan is not deductible. The texts read state no recapture of the deduction. K-12 tuition, student loan payments and Roth IRA rollovers are treated as free of North Dakota tax, and accounts accept deposits until the balance reaches $269,000.
| Benefit for contributions | Deduction |
|---|---|
| Cap | $5,000 single, $10,000 joint per return |
| Another state’s plan counts | No, in-state plan only |
| State plans (official names, no recommendation) | College SAVE |
| Account balance limit | $269,000 |
| 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 | Not settled by the state text |
A 0 % bracket changes the arithmetic
North Dakota's 2025 rate schedules start with a band taxed at nothing: up to $48,475 of taxable income for a single filer and $80,975 for a couple, thresholds the Tax Commissioner indexes every year. A deduction taken entirely inside that band saves no tax, because there was none to save. The Minot couple's result, $0, is not a calculator quirk.
A household whose income straddles the threshold gets a partial benefit. The Fargo couple at $86,000 deducts $10,000, but only the slice above $80,975 was taxed, so the saving is $98. Move the income field below to see where the line falls for you.
Where the North Dakota band ends
North Dakota tax saved on this contribution
$117
| Subtracted from state income | $6,000 |
| Your state marginal rate | 1.95 % |
| Cap that applies this year | $10,000 |
| Back per $1,000 contributed | $20 |
Low rates, small checks
Even at the top, the numbers stay modest. A single engineer at $255,000 who contributes $5,000 saves $125 at 2.5 %. The deduction is a per-return figure, not one per child, so a couple funding three accounts still stops at $10,000. Nothing in the ND-1 instructions or chapter 57-38 of the Century Code allows the excess to roll into a later year.
Line 12 of the ND-1 is open to anyone who contributes to a College SAVE account, including a grandparent or an aunt who does not own it. Money moved in from another state's 529 does not count as a new contribution.
College SAVE or nothing
North Dakota gives no parity. The Bismarck couple would lose $195 a year by saving in another state's plan, $1,950 over ten years. Whether lower costs elsewhere make up for it is a comparison the simulator below turns into a yearly figure.
College SAVE against another plan
Lost by leaving the North Dakota plan
$1,073
| Yearly saving, home plan | $98 |
| Yearly saving, other plan | $0 |
| Gap over the years | $1,073 |
Withdrawals and what is not settled
North Dakota taxable income starts from federal taxable income, so withdrawals that are tax-free federally are generally tax-free here too. The College SAVE disclosure statement names K-12 tuition, student loan repayments and rollovers to a Roth IRA as free of North Dakota tax. How the state treats the K-12 costs added in 2025 and credential programs is not stated; a September 2025 plan supplement describes the federal changes and warns that state treatment may differ.
No recapture rule appears in the instructions, the statute or the disclosure statement, though the Tax Commissioner has not confirmed in writing that none applies. Earnings in a non-qualified withdrawal are taxed because they flow through federal taxable income. The $269,000 balance limit is the one in the August 2022 disclosure statement; no later supplement we found changes it.