Where in turbo tax can I deduct illinois 529 plan contributions - up to $20K if married filing jointly?

In the desktop version of TurboTax, you can enter your Bright Start contributions for Illinois in the following location:

1.) In the first part of the Illinois state section, there will be a screen that says Here's the income that Illinois handles differently

2.) Under Education, select Start next to College savings and prepaid tuition plan contributions

3.) On the next screen, you will be able to enter your Bright Start account number and contribution amount Original Answer

ONLINE:
To enter your Illinois 529 Plan contributions for your son's education in TurboTax, please follow these steps:

• In your return, select State Taxes tab
• Proceed through the state interview section for Illinois, answering all questions on residency and income, until you arrive at a page entitled "Here's the income that Illinois handles differently"
• Under Education, click on Start button for "College savings and prepaid tuition plan contributions"
• On next page, "College Savings and Prepaid Tuition Plans", enter your 2016 529 plan contribution amount in the box for "Bright Start College Savings Pool" and click on Continue button
• Finish the rest of the interview questions for Illinois Original Answer

Thx!

What if I rolled a 529 over from another plan (state of Nebraska) into the Brightstart Illinois plan? Do I include the rollover amount as a contribution? Or is it just what I contributed outside of the rollover (automatic investment plan)?

The 529 plan contribution is non-deductible on your federal income tax return. Most states offer an income-tax deduction for contributions, but each state also has different rules about who can take the deduction for their contributions.

Illinois taxpayers can deduct contributions made to Illinois 529 plans up to:$10,000 per individual taxpayer and $20,000 for a married couple filing jointly  To be deductible for a calendar year you must make the contribution before the end of that given calendar year.

To enter your Illinois 529 Plan contributions education in TurboTax, you mzy follow the below steps:

• Select State Taxes tab
• Proceed through the state interview section for Illinois, answering all questions on residency and income, until you get to  at a page "Here's the income that Illinois handles differently"
• Under Education, click on Start for "College savings and prepaid tuition plan contributions"
• On next page, "College Savings and Prepaid Tuition Plans", enter your 2020 529 plan contribution amount in the box for "Bright Start College Savings Pool", If the contribution is a gift, check the box, and click on Continue.

I'm wondering the same.  If I rollover from another 529 into Bright Start, can I list that as a contribution?  I have a 1099-Q from the other 529, and it lists the basis.  Is that the amount that I use?

Yes.  A rollover from another 529 plan into BrightStart can count as a contribution.  

The basis would represent your contribution portion to the previous plan and that is the amount that can be claimed as a contribution to BrightStart up to the limits of $10,000 for an individual or $20,000 for a joint filing.  The earnings are not eligible to be counted as a contribution for the deduction.  

To learn more, see the following:  Bright Start 529 Plan Help Center

@Amanda551

In the 2021 Turbo Tax desktop version for Illinois, I keep getting an error message that says:

"Hmm, looks like we've hit a snag

We recommend that you revisit the last topic you were working on to make sure all of your info's correct."

Since 529 contribution information was not requested on the Federal Tax form, how can I include 529 contribution information for the available Illinois tax deduction?

In the IL return, under the income that IL handles differently, select Education contributions.

@Peeock

Thanks Amy for your quick response:-)

When I click on the "College savings and prepaid tuition plan contributions" button, I am receiving the following error message window:

"Hmm, looks like we've hit a snag

We recommend that you revisit the last topic you were working on to make sure all your info's correct"

When I click the "OK" button in the error message window, I am sent back to the "Here's the income that Illinois handles differently" page. 

When I click on the "College savings and prepaid tuition plan contributions" button again, I am receiving again the the same error message window.

It like I'm trapped in the same endless circle loop:-( HELP!!!

Something is stuck in there causing your loop. Log out of your return and try one or more of the following:

• Don't use Internet Explorer.
• Clear cache and cookies,
• Sign in using a different browser.
• Sign in using a different device.

@Peeock

Thanks again Amy!

I closed my Turbo Tax program and restarted it and VOILA! everything worked like you advised in your previous message:-)

I really appreciate your timely expertise to solve my "hiccup".

I don't see the place to "Mark as Best Answer" for other customers that encounter my same "hiccup".

Warmest regards and Stay Safe!!!

I am glad it worked! Thanks and you too!

Hello,

When I enter my $20k in contributions (married filing jointly) this year, it only results in a $15 impact to my IL refund. This is despite having >$20k in IL taxable income. Shouldn't this have a 4.95% * $20k = $990 positive impact in tax savings? Not understanding why it's limiting the $990 to just $15.

Thanks.

Is your sch M showing the correct amount on line 13? Is it carrying to your IL 1040 line 7?  Let's figure out what is happening so we can get the right people involved.

@brise1995 

Thank you for the quick response Amy, it was not following through to the Schedule M. Ultimately, the system was not allowing me to allocate a proportion of the contributions to the state level (I was a part-year resident) for some reason. I made a change to allocate a portion of my federal interest income (unrelated to the 529 but part of Schedule M), and then it allowed me to allocate the 529 contribution.

A note for anyone else who experiences this issue, it does appear to be a glitch in the system, so one possible workaround could be to enter in $1 in federal treasury interest, allocate it to Illinois, and then you should be able to allocate the 529. Just make sure to go back and delete the treasury interest after.