My D is studying overseas this year. She will have a 2 month break over the Christmas holiday and will not return home during the break. She can stay in her dorm room, but meals are not provided. Can her 529 money be used for food during the school break?
You can take money from the 529 for room and board without owing taxes and a penalty on the earnings portion as long as the college’s Cost of Attendance for the student’s particular living situation for the academic periods concerned is not exceeded. Clear as mud, right? Do you know the school’s COA for your daughter’s overseas room and board? Have the room and board expenses been broken out on the billing statement for the current semester or academic year?
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I have the cost of attendance with room and board broken out by semester. My concern was the lengthy break between semesters at the overseas school. So is it possible to charge the 529 for meals, not exceeding the COA for food for fall semester, even if some food is purchased during the break between semesters?
Well, you don’t “charge the 529,” you take distribution from the 529. As long as the distributions are taken in the same year that the corresponding qualified expenses are paid, and those distributions don’t exceed the school’s COA for the qualified expenses, you should be ok.
Understood, thanks.