STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

On December 22, 2017, The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law. The information in this article predates the tax reform legislation and may not apply to tax returns starting in the 2018 tax year. You may wish to speak to your tax advisor about the latest tax law. This publication is provided for your convenience and does not constitute legal advice. This publication is protected by copyright.

Previously, an individual’s gross income didn’t include cancellation of debt income that was attributable to the discharge of all or part of any student loan if the discharge was made under a provision of the loan – that all or part of the indebtedness would be discharged if the individual worked for a certain period of time in certain professions for any of a broad class of employers.

New Law: The law has been amended to include amounts received by an individual in tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2008; the gross income exclusion for amounts received under the National Health Service Corps loan repayment program or certain State loan repayment programs is modified to include any amount received by an individual under any State loan repayment or loan forgiveness program that is intended to provide for the increased availability of health care services in underserved or health professional shortage areas as determined by the State.