Biden's Stimulus Package Makes Student Loan Forgiveness Tax-Free Bankrate Caret RightMain Menu Mortgage Mortgages Financing a home purchase Refinancing your existing loan Finding the right lender Additional Resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Bank Banking Compare Accounts Use calculators Get advice Bank reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Credit Card Credit cards Compare by category Compare by credit needed Compare by issuer Get advice Looking for the perfect credit card? Narrow your search with CardMatch Caret RightMain Menu Loan Loans Personal Loans Student Loans Auto Loans Loan calculators Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Invest Investing Best of Brokerages and robo-advisors Learn the basics Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Home Equity Home equity Get the best rates Lender reviews Use calculators Knowledge base Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Loan Home Improvement Real estate Selling a home Buying a home Finding the right agent Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Insurance Insurance Car insurance Homeowners insurance Other insurance Company reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Retirement Retirement Retirement plans & accounts Learn the basics Retirement calculators Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Advertiser Disclosure
Advertiser Disclosure
We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence.
Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover. How We Make Money
The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you. SHARE: Drew Angerer/Staff/Getty March 10, 2021 Hanneh Bareham specializes in everything related to student loans and helping you finance your next educational endeavor. She aims to help others reach their collegiate and financial goals through making student loans easier to understand. Chelsea has been with Bankrate since early 2020. She is invested in helping students navigate the high costs of college and breaking down the complexities of student loans. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
Founded in 1976, Bankrate has a long track record of helping people make smart financial choices. We’ve maintained this reputation for over four decades by demystifying the financial decision-making process and giving people confidence in which actions to take next. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. All of our content is authored by and edited by , who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy. Our loans reporters and editors focus on the points consumers care about most — the different types of lending options, the best rates, the best lenders, how to pay off debt and more — so you can feel confident when investing your money. Bankrate logo Editorial integrity
Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers. Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. Bankrate logo How we make money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. A small but significant provision was added to the $1.9 trillion stimulus package that just passed through Congress — also known as the COVID-19 Relief Bill or the — which makes student loan forgiveness free from federal taxation through 2025. This provision can potentially save American student loan borrowers thousands of dollars in taxes if they receive all or partial forgiveness on their student loans. Here’s who can benefit from the provision and how much they can save. Student loan forgiveness becomes tax-free through 2025
Led by Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Bob Menendez, the was introduced on March 1, 2021, as a provision of the American Rescue Plan. The stimulus package passed through Congress on March 10, 2021. Through this provision, borrowers whose student loans are forgiven will no longer be responsible for paying taxes on the canceled amount from 2021 to 2025, says Curtis Campbell, president of TaxAct. “This means instead of reporting the forgiven student loan debt as income on their taxes, as typically required, a person who has already signed up for income-driven repayment plans and expects those student loans to be forgiven, will not have to pay income taxes on that forgiven debt for the next five years.” Before the stimulus package, any student loan debt that was forgiven through was considered taxable, leaving borrowers with a large bill even after seeing debt wiped away. Borrowers on income-driven repayment plans will benefit most
The loans that are eligible for tax-free forgiveness include all , federal parent loans, state education loan programs, loans provided by a college or university, and private parent loans. While some forms of student loan discharge are already nontaxable, this move benefits borrowers pursuing forgiveness through an income-driven repayment plan, who were previously subject to a tax. Stacey MacPhetres, senior director of education finance at Bright Horizons EdAssist Solutions, does point out that the history of forgiveness under the current income-driven programs is low, and borrowers will still need to meet the 20 or 25 years’ worth of payments in order to qualify for tax-free forgiveness before Jan. 1, 2026. However, for those who qualify, this provision has the potential to save borrowers thousands of dollars come tax season. Joe DePaulo, CEO and co-founder of College Ave, agrees about the financial benefits: “There’s no doubt the pandemic has had a financial impact on many families. The recent passing of student loan forgiveness as tax-free can help those families facing financial hardship.” The stimulus package sets the stage for student loan cancellation
Progressive Democrats, like Warren and Menendez, are putting increased pressure on President Biden to enact an executive order to cancel student loan debt. Congressional Democrats have been pushing for Biden to cancel but the president favors a much lower $10,000 amount instead. While the stimulus bill provision does not include any direct loan forgiveness, it does leave progressive Democrats hopeful that this will nudge President Biden in the direction of , since any measures will no longer have tax implications for borrowers. Learn more
SHARE: Hanneh Bareham specializes in everything related to student loans and helping you finance your next educational endeavor. She aims to help others reach their collegiate and financial goals through making student loans easier to understand. Chelsea has been with Bankrate since early 2020. She is invested in helping students navigate the high costs of college and breaking down the complexities of student loans. Related Articles