Does Wisconsin give a tax break for 529 contributions?

Yes. Wisconsin offers a state income-tax deduction, not a credit, for contributions to its Edvest or Tomorrow's Scholar 529 plans. The deduction lowers your Wisconsin taxable income, saving you tax at your marginal rate.

What is the Wisconsin 529 deduction limit?

For 2024 you can deduct up to $5,000 per beneficiary, or $2,500 if married filing separately or divorced. The cap is inflation-indexed and applies separately to each beneficiary account you contribute to.

What happens to contributions above the cap?

Amounts above the annual per-beneficiary cap are not lost. Wisconsin lets you carry the excess forward and deduct it in future tax years, subject to the same annual cap each year.

Do out-of-state 529 plans qualify?

No. The Wisconsin deduction applies only to contributions to Wisconsin's own plans, Edvest and Tomorrow's Scholar. Contributions to another state's 529 plan do not qualify for the Wisconsin deduction.

How much will I actually save?

Your savings equal the deductible amount times your Wisconsin marginal rate. At the top 7.65% rate, a full $5,000 deduction saves about $383; at the 5.30% rate it saves about $265. The tool computes your exact figure.

Wisconsin 529 Plan Tax Benefit Calculator

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Saving for college in Wisconsin comes with a state income-tax deduction when you use the Edvest or Tomorrow’s Scholar 529 plan. This calculator shows how much of your contribution is deductible and what that deduction is worth at your tax rate.

How it works

Wisconsin caps the deduction per beneficiary and lets you carry forward the rest:

Deduction cap   = per-beneficiary cap × number of beneficiaries
Deductible      = min(contribution, cap)
Carryforward    = max(0, contribution − cap)
Tax savings     = deductible × your Wisconsin marginal rate

Because it is a deduction rather than a credit, the value depends on your bracket: the same 5,000 dollar deduction is worth more to a high earner in the 7.65 percent bracket than to someone in the 3.50 percent bracket.

Example

A married couple filing jointly contributes 6,000 dollars for one child and is in the 5.30 percent bracket. The 2024 cap is 5,000 dollars per beneficiary, so 5,000 dollars is deductible this year and 1,000 dollars carries forward. The deduction saves about 265 dollars of Wisconsin tax this year, with more savings to come from the carryforward next year.

Notes

The deduction is available only for Wisconsin’s own plans; out-of-state 529 accounts do not qualify. The cap is per beneficiary, so funding accounts for several children multiplies your deductible total. Married-filing-separately filers get half the cap. The figure is inflation-indexed each year — verify the current cap at revenue.wi.gov and edvest.com.