Early IRA withdrawals—those that occur before age 59 1/2—are generally subject to a 10 percent penalty tax, but 15 exceptions exist to avoid this penalty. The exceptions include withdrawals for substantially equal periodic payments, certain medical expenses, higher education costs, first-time home purchases, and specific emergencies or life events such as disability or terminal illness.

If you establish a Section 529 college savings plan for a child or other family member and he or she doesn’t use all the money or decides not to go to college at all, starting in 2024 you can roll over up to $35,000 of the money into a Roth IRA for the beneficiary. But such rollovers are subject to complex rules and require long-term planning, as we explain in this article.

Discover flexible solutions for your overfunded 529 College Savings Plan, including changing the beneficiaries, using the money for other than college, and rolling the money over to a Roth IRA.

Owning your business has many advantages, including the possible ability to get some tax deductions when you have your business pay for your child’s education—in select circumstances, as we explain in this article.

Do you like the phrase “tax-free”? If so, spend some time with this article because it shows you 11 tax-free income breaks.

College is expensive. Luckily, tax law has provisions to help you cover the costs, including Coverdell, Section 529 savings, and Section 529 tuition plans. Of course, there’s more, including tax strategies that benefit both you and your child, as you will learn in this guide.

Here’s a handy-dandy strategy for getting some money to your college student to help him or her pay for school. Have your child engage in an activity that’s not subject to self-employment taxes. If you operate your business as a corporation or your child is age 18 or older, this is a great college funding tool that you need to consider.

The big advantage of 529 plans is that qualified withdrawals are always federal-income-tax-free—and usually state-income-tax-free too. What you may not know is that not all 529 withdrawals are tax-free qualified withdrawals, even in years when you have heavy college costs.

ABLE accounts allow disabled individuals and their family members to save a substantial amount of money without losing government benefits. The money grows tax-free and can be withdrawn tax-free to use for a wide variety of expenses. But only people who became disabled or blind before age 26 qualify for these tax-advantaged accounts.

The massive new stimulus law contains eight new tax breaks that help the average non-business taxpayer. These include something for everyone, both rich and poor. Wealthy taxpayers can contribute more to charity and still get a deduction; average people get an extension of the universal charitable deduction; and low-income taxpayers can get a larger earned income tax credit. Popular programs such as the lifetime learning credit are expanded to help more people. The bill also extends some favorable tax rules, such as the 7.5 percent adjusted gross income floor for the medical deduction.

College is expensive. Data for the 2019-2020 academic year indicates that the average cost of tuition, fees, room, and board was $30,500. Tax law has provisions to help you cover the costs, including Coverdell, Section 529 savings, and Section 529 tuition plans. There’s more, of course, as you will learn in this article.

When it comes to college planning, your lawmakers created some real traps. One big trap is the kiddie tax. This insidious tax destroys the traditional IRA as a college funding source and does much the same to your child’s interest and dividends savings. There’s much to know here, and we make it clear.

Conventional wisdom says that it’s best to (1) fund your retirement before your child’s college, and (2) use your retirement savings for your retirement and not your child’s college expenses. But conventional wisdom is like a general tax rule. There are exceptions.

As a member, you may download this sample Section 127 educational assistance plan in Microsoft Word format. Then, simply modify the document for your business or tax practice use.

Business-related classes or seminars can put a serious dent in your wallet, so, of course, you’d like to write off those costs as business expenses. But there are some strict and somewhat tricky rules for deducting business education expenses. In some cases, the education can fail the tax deduction test but qualify for business deductions following an alternative path.

Here’s a handy-dandy strategy for getting some money to your college student to help him or her pay for school. Have your child engage in an activity that’s not subject to self-employment taxes. If you operate your business as a corporation or your child is age 18 or older, this is a great college funding tool that you need to consider.

Your business ownership creates an opportunity for a tax plan that can give you tax deductions for hiring your children and can give your children tax-free income. But your tax plan does not stop there. Your children might start Roth IRAs where they can invest their tax-free income in a college fund. Done right, as described in this article, the government pays you for your help with this plan.

Learn how the government pays you to get educated. The basic rule: you may deduct education that maintains or improves the skills you need in your business, providing the education does not qualify you for a new business.

Tax law favors the son or daughter working for the mother or father in a proprietorship or husband and wife partnership. If you operate your business as a corporation, you also can come out ahead by hiring your child.

Having your child work in your business produces college funding strategies with both the Roth and the traditional IRA. As an added bonus, you can use the traditional IRA with earned income to eliminate some kiddie tax.

Establish a Section 127 educational assistance plan in your business to help pay your age 21 or older child’s college or other education costs. If you are in business and you have a child that’s age 21 or older in financial need of educational assistance, this is a plan to consider.

As a subscriber, you may download this sample Section 127 educational assistance plan in Microsoft Word. Then, simply modify the document to your business use.

Lawmakers wiped out tried-and-true tactics for getting the government to help with the cost of your child’s college with the new tax law in 2007. You can do a lot to mitigate the damage if you get after this problem right now.