The American Funds 529 distribution form, officially the CollegeAmerica Distribution Request, is the paperwork you use to pull money out of a Capital Group 529 account. You can download it from your Capital Group online account or get it from your financial advisor. Six sections cover the account, the amount, who receives the money, how it’s paid, and your signature. Once it’s complete, you submit it online, by phone, or by mail to one of two addresses depending on your state. For many routine withdrawals you can skip the paper form entirely and file the request online.
Section 1: Account Owner and Beneficiary
Start with your CollegeAmerica account number, which appears on quarterly statements and your online dashboard. Enter the account owner’s name and daytime phone, and the beneficiary’s name. Match the names exactly to what Capital Group has on file, not just what appears on a driver’s license. Every distribution feeds a 1099-Q at year end, and a mismatch there creates problems at tax time.
If your mailing address has changed, check the box for a new address. Keep in mind that an address change within the past 10 calendar days can trigger a signature guarantee requirement even on smaller distributions.
Section 2: Amount and Schedule
You have two choices: a one-time distribution or recurring installments.
For a one-time withdrawal, enter either a dollar amount or a percentage. You can pull from a single fund or split the request across multiple funds. To close the account, check the full-liquidation box, which sells all shares and distributes the balance.
Installments suit recurring costs like monthly rent. Pick a frequency (monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annually), a start date, and optionally a stop date. Percentage-based installments recalculate on each withdrawal date based on the account’s current value, so the dollar amount moves with the market.
Try to keep distributions in the same calendar year as the expenses they cover. The IRS compares the 1099-Q against your qualified expenses for the tax year. Withdrawing $30,000 in December for a spring tuition bill paid in January creates a mismatch that reads on paper like a non-qualified withdrawal.
Sections 3 and 4: Recipient and Payment Method
These sections decide where the money goes and whose name lands on the 1099-Q.
- ACH to a bank account. The fastest option for money going to the account owner. Provide the routing number, account number, and name on the bank account in Section 5, and attach a voided check or a letter on bank letterhead confirming the numbers.
- Check mailed to the account owner at the address of record.
- Check sent directly to the school. Use Section 4 for the school’s name, billing address, federal school code, and the student’s ID number. This is the cleanest option for the 1099-Q, since the beneficiary is listed as the recipient.
- Rollover to a non-American Funds 529. Transfers the balance to another state’s 529 with no tax consequence if completed within 60 days.
Whoever receives the payment is whose name appears on the 1099-Q. Payments to the beneficiary or to a school on the beneficiary’s behalf list the beneficiary as the recipient. A check to the account owner lists the account owner.1Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-Q – Payments From Qualified Education Programs Neither choice is wrong when the expenses are genuinely qualified, though having the 1099-Q in the student’s name can help if the student sits in a lower tax bracket.
Section 6: Signature and Medallion Guarantee
This is where requests stall. The account owner, or the custodian on a UGMA/UTMA account, signs and dates the form. Beyond the signature, Capital Group requires a Medallion Signature Guarantee (a special stamp from a bank or brokerage) in some situations.
You do not need a Medallion guarantee if all three of the following are true: the check is payable to the account owner, an eligible school, or the beneficiary; the amount is under $125,000, or under $25,000 if payable to the beneficiary; and the payment is going to the school or to an address of record that hasn’t changed in the past 10 calendar days. If any of those fails, you need the stamp before mailing.2Capital Group. Preparing for CollegeAmerica Distributions
Not every branch has a Medallion stamp on hand. Call first. Credit unions sometimes can’t provide one at all. If you have a brokerage account, the local office is often the quicker route.
How to Submit the Form
Online
For routine distributions, skip the paper form. Log into your Capital Group account and click “Sell.” Online requests work for distributions sent to the account owner, to a bank account on file, or directly to a school. Distributions to the beneficiary can also be done online if the amount is $125,000 or less and the money goes to a bank account already on file.3Capital Group. CollegeAmerica 529 Distributions
Phone
Call Capital Group at (800) 421-4225 to request a distribution by phone.2Capital Group. Preparing for CollegeAmerica Distributions
If a Medallion guarantee is required, or you just prefer paper, mail the completed form to the address that matches your state of residence.
- AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KY, MI, MN, MT, ND, NE, NV, OH, OR, SD, UT, WA, WI, WY, and international: CollegeAmerica, P.O. Box 6273, Indianapolis, IN 46206-6273.
- AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, KS, LA, MA, MD, ME, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, and WV: CollegeAmerica, P.O. Box 2713, Norfolk, VA 23501-2713.
When no Medallion guarantee is required, you can also upload the completed form through Capital Group’s online submission portal or send it by fax.
Processing Times
Capital Group generally processes distribution requests the same business day they arrive.3Capital Group. CollegeAmerica 529 Distributions From there, delivery depends on how you asked to be paid:
- ACH to a bank account: 1 to 3 business days after the trade processes.
- Check via expedited delivery: about 2 business days.
- Check via standard USPS mail: 7 to 10 business days.
One thing that delays ACH transfers: if the bank account isn’t already on file, Capital Group imposes a 10-calendar-day waiting period after you add it before it will send money there. You can bypass the wait by including a Medallion guarantee with the bank information form. If a tuition deadline is bearing down, sending a check directly to the school is often the more reliable choice.
Matching the Amount to Qualified Expenses
Before you write in a dollar figure, confirm the withdrawal covers a qualified higher education expense. If it doesn’t, the earnings portion is subject to income tax plus an additional 10% tax. The main categories are:
- Tuition and fees required for enrollment at an eligible postsecondary school.
- Books, supplies, and equipment required for courses.
- Room and board, if the student is enrolled at least half-time. Off-campus students are capped at the school’s published cost-of-attendance allowance for room and board; students in school-owned housing can use the actual amount charged.
- Computers, software, and internet service used primarily by the student during enrollment.
- Special needs services connected to the beneficiary’s enrollment.
- Fees, books, supplies, and tools for apprenticeship programs registered with the U.S. Department of Labor.
- Student loan repayment, up to $10,000 over the beneficiary’s lifetime, with a separate $10,000 available for each sibling.
- K-12 tuition. Starting January 1, 2026, up to $20,000 per year, up from the previous $10,000 limit, under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed in mid-2025.
The off-campus room-and-board ceiling catches people. You can’t just use whatever rent costs. The cap is the school’s published room-and-board figure for financial aid purposes, available on the school’s financial aid site.6Internal Revenue Service. Publication 970 – Tax Benefits for Education
What Happens After the Distribution
After year end, Capital Group issues a 1099-Q reporting the gross distribution, the earnings portion, and the basis (your original contributions). Only earnings are potentially taxable; contributions come back tax-free regardless of how you use them.7Internal Revenue Service. Form 1099-Q – Payments From Qualified Education Programs
The IRS doesn’t require you to attach proof of qualified expenses to your return, but you need to be able to produce it. Keep tuition bills, receipts, the school’s cost-of-attendance figures, and bank or credit card statements showing payments. Hold the records for at least seven years, which covers the standard audit window with a margin. Off-campus students should keep lease agreements and the school’s room-and-board allowance documentation, since that’s the figure capping the qualified housing amount.