Rep. Wild Introduces Legislation to Reinstate Tax Deductions for Students
Press Release
U.S. Representative Susan Wild (PA-07) introduced legislation, the Students First Tax Deduction Act, to reinstate and make permanent tax deductions designed to directly benefit undergraduate and graduate students. This bill would take the simple step of reinstating the tax deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses and making the deduction permanent. This comes shortly after Wild introduced a bill to reinstate and make permanent tax deductions for workers for unreimbursed work expenses -- from the cost of tools and supplies, work clothes and uniforms, work-related travel, transportation and meal expenses, union dues, dues to professional societies, and home office expenses.
"Reinstating these basic tax deductions - tax deductions that never should have expired -- is a simple and commonsense way to provide slight relief for students and working families in Pennsylvania and around the country," Wild said. "Our students are facing extremely high tuition costs and graduating college with mountains of debt - this is a small thing we can do to help students find a bit of relief now. I am working hard with the Education and Labor Committee works to create comprehensive solutions to the student debt crisis and make college more inclusive and affordable. At a time when taxpayers feel squeezed from all sides, we must do all we can to support hardworking people in this country."
This above-the-line tax deduction allows students to deduct qualified tuition and fees related to undergraduate and graduate higher education when filing their taxes. This bill would take the simple step of reinstating the tax deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses and make the deduction permanent. This deduction expired in 2017 and the 2017 Republican tax overhaul neglected to extend this deduction. In 2016 alone, 1,687,102 Americans claimed this deduction. This deduction would help alleviate the college expense load that many students incur.
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