You can claim student loan interest on your taxes, however the student loan interest deduction begins to phase out if your adjusted gross income (AGI) is: $80,000 if filing single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er) $165,000 if married filing jointly.
Is student loan interest deductible? Student loan interest is deductible if your modified adjusted gross income, or MAGI, is less than $70,000 ($140,000 if filing jointly). If your MAGI was between $70,000 and $85,000 ($170,000 if filing jointly), you can deduct less than than the maximum $2,500.
If you are single, head of household or a qualifying widow(er), your student loan interest phase-out starts at $70,000 modified AGI and the phase-out ends at $85,000. If you are married you can make $145,000 before phase-out begins. You can earn up to $175,000 which is the level at which the phase-out ends.
For 2021, the deduction is phased out for taxpayers who are married filing jointly with AGI between $140,000 and $170,000 ($70,000 and $85,000 for single filers). Thus, the deduction is unavailable for taxpayers with AGI of $170,000 ($85,000 for single filers) or more.
Student loan interest is interest you paid during the year on a qualified student loan. It includes both required and voluntarily pre-paid interest payments. You may deduct the lesser of $2,500 or the amount of interest you actually paid during the year.
Income limits for claiming the deduction
For your 2021 taxes, which you will file in 2021, the student loan interest deduction is worth up to $2,500 for a single filer, head of household, or qualifying widow(er) with MAGI of less than $70,000. This will remain the same for your 2022 taxes.
Student loan cancellation: $125,000 income limit
Everyone won't qualify for student loan forgiveness. The Biden administration said that it's considering an annual income limit of $125,000 for student loan borrowers to qualify for wide-scale student loan forgiveness.
Student Loan Interest Deduction
You can take a tax deduction for the interest paid on student loans that you took out for yourself, your spouse, or your dependent. This benefit applies to all loans (not just federal student loans) used to pay for higher education expenses. The maximum deduction is $2,500 a year.
If you're filing as single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er): You can claim the full $2,500 student loan deduction if your modified AGI is $70,000 or less. Your deduction is gradually reduced if your modified AGI is $70,000 but less than $85,000.
You can't deduct qualified student loan interest payments you paid on a loan in your dependent's name. Neither of you can deduct the loan interest if both of these are true: You claim the student as a dependent. You pay the student's loan interest.
For tax year 2019 (the taxes you file in 2020), the MAGI threshold was increased to $70,000 for single filers. So, if your MAGI was $70,000 or less in 2019 and your tax filing status is single, you could potentially deduct the full amount of qualified student loan interest you paid, up to a maximum of $2,500.
If you paid less than $2,500 in student loan interest, the amount of your deduction is based on the total amount you paid. For example, if you only paid $1,500 in interest for a given tax year, your deduction is $1,500. That means your taxable income will be reduced by $1,500.
The student loan interest deduction phases out at higher incomes, so you'll be ineligible to claim the deduction if you make too much money. If you make more than $85,000 as a single filer, you can't get the student loan interest deduction.
To be eligible for AOTC, the student must: Be pursuing a degree or other recognized education credential. Be enrolled at least half time for at least one academic period* beginning in the tax year. Not have finished the first four years of higher education at the beginning of the tax year.
Also, the family may have special circumstances that affect their ability to pay for college. Eligible students may also qualify for other forms of financial aid, such as institutional grants. For example, some students whose parents earn $100,000 or more will qualify for grants from their college.
The laws and regulations for income-driven repayment (IDR) plans require payments to be calculated based on a combined household income, including your spouse's income if you are married.
With only one child attending college normally an income above $125K will disqualify you from financial aid qualification at a public university, and about double that, or $250K in income will disqualify you from garnering financial aid.
Through the end of 2025, no borrowers will pay income taxes on any student debt discharged by the federal government. A provision in the March 2021 COVID-19 relief package stipulates that any debt forgiven from Dec. 31, 2020, to Jan. 1, 2026, will not count as income.
The bottom line. The student loan tax offset has been suspended through Nov. 1, 2022. If you have federal student loans in default, your 2021 tax return won't be taken to offset your defaulted loan balance if you file your 2021 tax return by the filing deadline.
If you are single and a wage earner with an annual salary of $30,000, your federal income tax liability will be approximately $2,500. Social security and medicare tax will be approximately $2,300.
If you make $35,000 a year living in the region of California, USA, you will be taxed $6,243. That means that your net pay will be $28,757 per year, or $2,396 per month. Your average tax rate is 17.8% and your marginal tax rate is 25.3%.
The standard deduction amounts will increase to $12,400 for individuals and married couples filing separately, $18,650 for heads of household, and $24,800 for married couples filing jointly and surviving spouses. For 2020, the additional standard deduction amount for the aged or the blind is $1,300.