Share:
House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | November 16, 2021 09:23 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Parke Wentling |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Exclusion for Public Student Loan Forgiveness |
| In the near future, I intend to introduce legislation that amends the Tax Reform Code of 1971 to provide an exclusion from the state Personal Income Tax for any amount of student loan principal or interest canceled by the United States Department of Education pursuant to the Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. As you know, PSLF was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007 as a means to encourage employment in public service. To become eligible for a forgiveness under PSLF, an applicant must, amongst other requirements, be employed full time by a Federal, state, local, or tribal government or nonprofit organization and make 120 qualifying payments on any loan received under the William D. Forest Federal Direct Loan Program. Under current Federal law, any amount of student loan principal or interest canceled granted under PSLF is exempt from Federal income tax purposes; unfortunately, the same does no hold for Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax purposes, as a cancellation is subject to state taxation. My legislation addresses this inconsistency by providing an exclusion from tax for a cancellation granted under PSLF in a manner similar to Federal law. This measure will not only help to streamline our tax policy, but more importantly, help individuals keep more of their hard-earned money in their paychecks especially as many look to rebuild following the crippling effects the global health pandemic has caused. I respectfully ask for your support on this important piece of legislation. Sincerely, Parke Wentling State Representative 17th Legislative District Erie, Crawford, Lawrence & Mercer Counties (Please click the link below to view legislation) |
||
| View Attachment | ||
Introduced as HB2137