George Takei: I’m George Takei and I support this message.

I’m George Takei and I support this message.

Is this not a thing in the US? In Canada both the tuition and interest paid on government student loans are tax deductible

The only tax break you get for student loans is the interest you pay on them. Fun fact, you also can't discharge most student loans if you file for bankruptcy, unlike most other types of debt.

The problem in the U.S. is that there is a Standard Deduction and if your Student Loan Interest is above the SD ($14,000) then you are fucked anyway. If you have Student Loan debt in the U.S. it is unlikely you have any other deductions (House or Busniness) to actually do this. Cannot afford them.

That's not entirely true. It's an above the line deduction, so it doesn't matter if you itemize, but the amount of interest you can deduct is capped at $2500 (<70K MAGI), and lowered to $2000 if MAGI is over 70k.

I am not a tax lawyer or an accountant. Just an old dude that does his own taxes. 🤣

Thank you for the Info. Still doesn't seem like much because if you are paying even $100 a Month in Interest with a less than $70K Salary, you are never going to catch up anyway. But thanks for the explanation.

Oh, definitely not. Should be wholly deductible. That's only $208 a month in interest that's deductible. And a deduction is not a refund. It just lowers the amount of income that gets taxed.

It's the same in Germany and Austria and I suppose in most countries in Europe.

I just googled it and it does look like it’s true in the US as well, just with a cap. Some people will share anything for a bit of self righteous clout I guess 🤷‍♂️

"with a cap" is not a side note here. You know how much student loans are in the US?

None of which matters, because you can't claim your loans, you can only claim the interest on them. And only interest that you have paid, so long as you paid at least $600 that year. The cap on it being $2500. It's fucking useless as far as getting you out from under those debts.

I guess, but arguing about the relative size is a pretty different conversation than the pretend indignation at its absence Plus, students probably don’t have much income while they’re in school, so much more tuition credit doesn’t affect them much, and the gap on interest seems pretty good

You can claim a percentage of your interest on your taxes. Not the whole amount of payments or even the whole of the interest paid (it goes on a schedule and % allowed is then calculated & deductible from your gross earnings). Max is $2500/ yr So they have a right to be indignant.

I would argue that contributing to this misconception is pretty harmful - people that could apply for it may not because they don’t even think it exists!

Also, you can only claim a tax break on the student loan INTEREST. Not *the loans themselves.* And you definitely can't write them off. Also you can only claim a deduction for the interest THAT YOU HAVE PAID THAT YEAR, with a maximum of $2.500. And you must pay at least $600 in interest to claim it.

It's an above the line deduction, the amount of interest you can deduct is capped at $2500. Should be wholly deductible. That's only $208 a month in interest that's deductible. And a deduction is not a refund. It just lowers the amount of income that gets taxed.

What about the people with private student loans? These are some of the folks with insane student debt.

I have never been told this is an option AT ALL. And, I'm guessing, neither have most people in the US with college debts.

Not as a business expense.

No in the US only the interest paid is a tax deduction and i cant use my business to pay the loans, I have to pay taxes on the money to pay the loans first the deduct the interest at tax time.

I want college tuition to be free, paid for by an extra tax on income that is scaled according to income level. Unless you’re earning lots of money, you’re not paying anything back. The worse outcome I see from this is more people with a good education.

If we voters deliver a 2/3 or better Democratic Congress we can probably get this done

There is a standard deduction you can claim on student loans well there was idk if the Trump tax cut changed that. But yes to this anyway! 🖖

And me. Love #georgetakei

Yes! I am here for this! And I had hardly any student loans to pay back but) Yes! This should happen already!

Retroactively.

Then of course there are countries without student loans.

Since the govt is the one making the loans, they should be fine with this. Just ask the IRS

😂

No a bad idea 👍. 💯 support

last i saw you could write off 2500 *of interest* and only if your household made less than like 80k? which is absurd I like this idea better

True!

If you get a college degree for your job at all, even if it's not a requirement, you should be able to write off your loans. I didn't have to take out any loans for my degree but this principle just makes sense.

The IRS page explaining the Student Loan Interest deduction is here:

Topic No. 456, Student Loan Interest Deduction | Internal Revenue Servicewww.irs.gov Student loan interest is interest you paid during the year on a qualified student loan. It includes both required and voluntarily prepaid interest payments. You may deduct the lesser of $2,500 or the ...

The deduction of interest is capped at $2500, so if your marginal tax rate is 12%, the *most* you can get back is $300, and if 22%, $550. (If you're above the 22% bracket you're not eligible for the deduction at all.)

This is doubly true considering executive MBAs get paid for directly by corporations as “professional development” at $125K a pop and written off their taxes as expenses never hitting those individuals. Trebly so if considering how poorly applied the learnings, generally.

💯!!! I've been paying off student loans for nearly 20 years now, and no relief!

I wish people would fact-check their memes first. Not saying this is right or wrong either way, where who specifically is writing off a yacht for their CEO job?

Absolutely

How about eliminating them? All of them for all students in all categories. Ya know like PPP loans were forgiven. We can afford it. Your support here is so very very very toothless and 100% Shitlib.

🙏🏻

Ceos get yachts and private jets to show how big their penis is. So unless you got a student loan for the same reason, your argument is invalid. Also you aren't a billionaire.

This is so funny. I didnt follow either of you here but getting that lined up im my timeline is cool. After your post i got one suggested thats saying "If I had a bar on a starship Id call it Black Hole". Lets have RATM at the the grand opening and Guinan mixing the drinks? 🤗

Thank you George.

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