We have two people who have to file together and this is my first year in several as a non-student. And lo and behold, you can't deduct student loan interest, who knew? I am not a fucking accountant here.
Yeah, I've always wondered why you can only deduct student loan payments while still a student. If a company pays for you to go to school, they get a deduction as a business expense. It's pretty stupid that you don't get to deduct it the same way.
Student loan interest is an adjustment to income to arrive at AGI, up to $2,500. Anything over $2,500 is treated as consumer interest and has no tax benefit. This is also know as an "above the line deduction", since you can take it even if you don't itemize and take the standard deduction. Look at line 33 of your 1040.
I have no idea what's going on here since I just now logged on and don't care to catch up on 3-4 pages, but regarding student loans: I JUST learned a few weeks ago that defaulting on student loans, unlike most other financial setbacks (e.g. filing bankruptcy), is the one thing that never leaves your record. Ever. EVAR! Craziness. Luckily, I have no such loans, so yay me, I guess. In other news, I just got back from mountain biking. First time in nearly 7 years. Stopped halfway to throw up a liter of water. Fuck mountain biking.
You should be able to defer student loan payments if you are still a student. In addition, you can only deduct the interest portion of the payment, not the principal. However, if you have just started making payments, you are basically paying all interest. I believe the thought process behind only letting you deduct the interest is you have theoretically deducted the principal portion when you were in still in school by deducting or taking a credit (Lifetime Learning, Hope, etc.) for the tuition you paid.
I have a bad hangover, only got about 4 hours of sleep and now I gotta go and try to golf a few rounds. Fuck.
Beer will not be served at the royal wedding; deemed to pedestrian to be consumed in the presence of the queen. Can we execute these people already?
Yeah, are you sure you idiots aren't just filing wrong, or aren't in AMT hell, I thought this was true too.
Great, now I want to watch all of my Stanhope DVDs. I was hoping to be productive today. Thanks, asshole.
You are correct, I am ignoring the phase-outs. I'll refrain from comments on that topic, as it will definitely violate the no-politics rule.
I'm currently sitting 20 miles outside of London, drinking crown floats. Did you know they sell 2 L bottles of strongbow here in the uk? It's insanity.
Stating the phase out numbers isn't a violation of the rule, saying they should/shouldn't be there because of xyz would be the violation. From what I read and blatantly copied and pasted: "If your income is over $60,000 but under $75,000 ($120,000 to $150,000 for married people filing jointly), then your deduction for student loan interest will be prorated. If your income is over $75,000 ($150,000 MFJ), then your student loan interest is not deductible at all." So I have to assume anyone under the 60k (120k MFJ) like Bl1y should see the deduction as long as he is itemizing.
I am pretty sure I didn't file wrong, but like I said, I am not an accountant. If I did, I am sure the IRS will correct any mistakes that I may have made and send me the appropriate refund.