Treasury Should Exclude Income From Discharge of Student Loans

Authors

John R. Brooks, Georgetown University Law CenterFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-1-2016

Abstract

There are several ways that a student loan borrower can have a federal student loan discharged. In some cases, that cancellation of student debt creates taxable income, but in others it does not. This Article argues that taxing cancellation of student debt undermines the purposes of loan discharge and income-driven repayment programs like IBR and PAYE. This Article further argues that, if Congress does not act to provide a clear exclusion, Treasury has sufficient statutory and common law authority to exclude that income, and that it should do so.

Publication Citation

152(5) Tax Notes 751 (2016)

Scholarly Commons Citation

Brooks, John R., "Treasury Should Exclude Income From Discharge of Student Loans" (2016). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 1801.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/1801