Utah 529 tax credit in 2026
A credit tied to the flat income tax rate and counted per child: the more beneficiaries, the more it is worth.
Utah tax saved on this contribution
$684
3.8 % of what you put in comes back on your 2026 return. Capped: only 15,360 dollars of the contribution count.
| Credit on your state return | $684 |
| Your state marginal rate | 4.45 % |
| Cap that applies this year | $15,360 |
| Back per $1,000 contributed | $38 |
Utah: Nonrefundable credit equal to the income tax rate (4.45% for 2026) times my529 contributions, up to $2,560 per beneficiary for an individual account owner or $5,120 per beneficiary for spouses filing jointly (CPI-indexed); credit max is per beneficiary; beneficiary must be under 19 when designated; no carryforward or carryback; no income phase-out. Read on 2026-10-19. No federal deduction exists for 529 contributions.
| Taxable income | Marginal rate | Tax saved |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | 4.45 % | $684 |
| $100,000 | 4.45 % | $684 |
| $200,000 | 4.45 % | $684 |
| $400,000 | 4.45 % | $684 |
Worked out by Radif Partners · How we calculate · Utah rule read on October 19, 2026, brackets of tax year 2026 · not tax advice
Utah gives a nonrefundable credit equal to its income tax rate, 4.45 % for 2026, times contributions to my529, the state's own plan. The amount that counts is capped at $2,560 per beneficiary for an individual owner and $5,120 per beneficiary for spouses filing jointly, both indexed to inflation, so the largest credit is $114 or $228 for each child. Because the cap follows the child, a Provo couple with three children who put $18,000 into three accounts receive $684. The flat rate means income does not change the value, only the amount contributed and the number of beneficiaries. The beneficiary must be under 19 when first designated. There is no carryforward, no income limit and no credit for another state's plan. Withdrawals not used for qualified costs are added back to Utah income to the extent they earned the credit.
| Benefit for contributions | Credit |
|---|---|
| Cap | $2,560 single, $5,120 joint per child, per taxpayer |
| Credit rate | 4 % |
| Largest credit | $114 single, $228 joint |
| Another state’s plan counts | No, in-state plan only |
| State plans (official names, no recommendation) | my529 (Utah Educational Savings Plan) |
| Account balance limit | $606,000 |
| 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 |
Per child, not per family
Most state caps stop at the return. Utah's counts each beneficiary: Utah Code 53H-10-205 sets the cap per individual beneficiary and doubles it for a joint return. The calculator multiplies the cap by the number of children you enter. For a couple, one child's credit is used up at $5,120 of contributions; three children take three times that. The couple from Provo reach $684, against $228 if all $18,000 went to one child.
Utah credit by number of children
Utah tax saved on this contribution
$684
| Credit on your state return | $684 |
| Your state marginal rate | 4.45 % |
| Cap that applies this year | $15,360 |
| Back per $1,000 contributed | $38 |
Grandparents benefit the same way. A grandmother filing single with four grandchildren in my529 can count up to $10,240 in a year and take a credit of $456, as long as her Utah tax is at least that large, since the credit cannot exceed the tax owed.
A rate-based credit
Utah's credit is the state's own income tax rate applied to the deposit, so it works like a deduction at the flat rate, except that it is taken from the tax rather than the income. A single owner who puts $1,500 into one child's account gets $67 back. When the legislature changes the rate, the credit changes with it; the my529 site gives the 2026 figures used here.
Two conditions are easy to miss. The beneficiary must be under 19 when designated on the account. And the credit is nonrefundable with no carryforward or carryback, so a year with little Utah tax wastes part of it.
Only my529 counts
The Program Description says contributions to other states' plans earn no Utah credit. A Utah family using another plan gives up the whole credit, which is small next to fee differences for a single child but grows with several children. The home plan or another state page converts that loss into a yearly fee gap. Accounts for one beneficiary stop accepting deposits at $606,000.
Withdrawals and the 2025 federal changes
The my529 Program Description treats K-12 costs up to $20,000 a year, student loan repayments, credential programs and Roth IRA rollovers as qualified, and says Utah earnings follow. The Tax Commission adds back, on line code 54 of form TC-40A, withdrawals not used for qualified costs to the extent they were the basis of a credit. Whether a rollover from my529 to another state's plan triggers that add-back is not stated on an official page we read. The recapture page compares states.