Higher Ed Utah

(Salt Lake City) — A Utah taxpayer can check the UESP savings option box (line 46) on their individual Utah state income tax return to direct their Utah state income tax refund to be deposited into their Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) 529 account(s).

Paul Corrigan, Utah resident UESP account owner since 2010, contributed his and his wife’s Utah state income tax refund in both 2010 and 2011 to the UESP account he set up for his child. “My wife and I put our money where it can best be used—in the UESP account,” says Paul. “The process was simple and gave us an early start on maximizing the Utah state income tax benefit for the year.”

Lynne Ward, CPA and Executive Director of the Utah Educational Savings Plan, says, “This feature is part of our commitment to provide a flexible, family friendly program from which Utah taxpayers may benefit. It allows families to save for college while saving on taxes.”

If a Utah taxpayer already has one or more UESP accounts, making a tax refund contribution is as easy as marking the box on line 46 of their individual tax return. Taxpayers who haven’t yet opened a UESP account can mark the box and UESP will mail them an enrollment kit. Guidelines for taxpayer refunds directed to UESP are as follows:

• The refund will be allocated equally among all individual UESP accounts the taxpayer owns.
• If taxpayers file a joint return, the entire refund will be divided equally among all UESP accounts owned by both taxpayers.
• The refund will not be deposited in the UESP account(s) until UESP receives the funds.

For more information about the Utah Educational Savings Plan and the Utah state income tax refund contribution, call UESP at 800.418.2551 or e-mail info@uesp.org.