This measure creates an easy way for California families to save for college by amending the state income tax form to allow filers to directly deposit their refund into an existing state-administered tax-advantaged 529 college savings account designed to help children and their families save for postsecondary education. Research shows that tax time is one of the best times for working families to save. 

For more on the potential of automatic, easy saving at tax time, see our Promote Tax-Time Saving page. For more on the importance of college savings, see our Incentivize College Savings page.

Status:
This bill was held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations committee. The bill text is available under 'Related Files.' Previous legislative efforts to promote tax-time saving included AB 1693, the Refunds to Savings Act, in the 2007-2008 session, and AB 2439, the Split Refunds bill, from 2006.