President Joe Biden vowed to keep fighting to deliver relief from federal student loan debt to millions of Americans hours after his plan was rejected by the highest court in the land.
The President said in a June 30 press conference he is changing the Department of Education’s income-driven repayment program “so no one with an undergraduate loan has to pay more than 5% of their discretionary income.”
Biden is also creating an “on ramp” program that will allow federal loan borrowers to not be considered delinquent if they miss a payment from Oct. 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 2024. The president says the Education Department won’t refer borrowers who fail to pay their student loan bills to credit agencies for those 12 months, to give borrowers time to “get back up and running.”
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Biden’s student-loan forgiveness plan in a 6-3 ruling released earlier on June 30, saying that the Biden Administration did not have the authority to forgive federal student loan debt for more than 43 million loan holders without Congressional approval.
Biden’s One-Time Forgiveness Plan That Was Rejected
Biden’s targeted debt forgiveness plan, announced in August 2022, would have erased up to $20,000 in federal student loans for individuals making less than $125,000 or households with less than $250,000 in income. Some 26 million U.S. borrowers applied for relief before the program was halted due to legal challenges.
At least 20 million people could have been approved and seen their federal loan debt erased entirely if the program had gone through, according to the administration. The plan could have wiped out more than $400 billion in federal student debt.
In a statement released June 30 after the Supreme Court ruling, President Biden said his plan would have been “life-changing for millions of Americans and their families.” He said, “Nearly 90 percent of the relief from our plan would have gone to borrowers making less than $75,000 a year, and none of it would have gone to people making more than $125,000.”
The Supreme Court’s Ruling
However, the court majority said that President Biden exceeded his constitutional authority in the debt forgiveness program. After hearing arguments in February, the court held that the administration needed Congressional authorization to take such action. The majority rejected arguments that a 2003 law dealing with student loans, known as the HEROES Act, gave Biden the power he claimed.
“Six States sued, arguing that the HEROES Act does not authorize the loan cancellation plan. We agree,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court.
Interest on all federal student loan debt, regardless of income, is set to resume accruing starting on Sept. 1, 2023, and payments will be due starting in October, per the debt ceiling bill.
Other Student Loan Relief Plans Draw Focus
In addition to the “on ramp” plan, Biden said he will strengthen a program that reduces federal loan holders’ debt based on their income. It is called the SAVE plan . PDF File and is part of his effort to make student loan debt more manageable, especially for low-income borrowers.
Under SAVE, borrowers who are single and make less than $32,800 a year won’t have to make any payments at all. (If you are a family of four and make less than $67,500 annually, you also won’t have to make payments.)
For years, people who struggled to pay their federal student loans could enroll in the government’s Income-Driven Repayment Plans . Such a plan set your monthly federal student loan payment at an amount that was intended to be affordable based on your income and family size. It has taken into account different expenses in your budget.
The four existing income-based plans are: Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Income-Based Repayment (IBR), and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR). The SAVE plan replaces the REPAYE program.
(Learn more at Student Loan Forgiveness: Programs for Relief and Mass Forgiveness).
Supreme Court Ruling Draws Strong Response
Supporters of Biden’s federal debt forgiveness plan criticized the Supreme Court, saying student debt has become a national crisis. More than 45 million people collectively owe $1.6 trillion, according to U.S. government data.
The average federal student loan debt balance is $37,338, while the total average balance (including private loan debt) may be as high as $40,114, according to educationdata.org.
Some called for President Biden to continue his push to slash federal student loan debt.
“I see it as an unfortunate reality that in a country where we bail out Fortune 100 companies, where we bail out banks that have not been good actors, that this Supreme Court would allow that to happen, and yet,” says Derrick Johnson, the NAACP’s president and CEO, the court would choose to leave millions of borrowers “stuck in a vicious cycle of debt.”
The Takeaway
President Joe Biden vowed to continue trying to provide federal student loan debt relief after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down his debt-forgiveness plan, saying the president did not have the authority to take such action.
This article originally appeared on SoFi.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
SoFi Student Loan Refinance
NOTICE: The debt ceiling legislation passed on June 2, 2023, codifies into law that federal student loan borrowers will be reentering repayment. The US Department of Education or your student loan servicer, or lender if you have FFEL loans, will notify you directly when your payments will resume For more information, please go to here
If you are a federal student loan borrower you should take time now to prepare for your payments to restart, including the opportunity to refinance your student loan debt at a lower APR or to extend your term to achieve a lower monthly payment. Please note that once you refinance federal student loans you will no longer be eligible for current or future flexible payment options available to federal loan borrowers, including but not limited to income based repayment plans or extended repayment plans.
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External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.
15 tax forms you should know about (but probably don’t)
For most people, filing a tax return means making sure you have the right forms. But with hundreds of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax forms out there, how do you know which ones you need to file?
The key is pinpointing which ones pertain to your individual circumstances. For example, if you’re employed, working as a freelancer, receiving Social Security, or earning income from investments, you’ll find a different form for each situation.
Weeding through the various types of tax forms isn’t always easy, but this guide can help clear up any confusion.
Editor’s note: Updated July 2
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IRS income tax forms are the official documents used to report income, expenses, and other financial transactions. In order to figure out whether or not you owe the federal government taxes or if you’ve overpaid in the past year, you’ll need to file a tax return.
A tax return consists of this documentation. While residents of all states use the same federal forms, you may also have to fill out specific state tax forms as well, unless you live in one of the nine states that do not collect state taxes on earned wages. You may also have to fill out certain forms if you live or work in a certain city as well. Check with your particular state and local tax departments or divisions to see if any additional paperwork is necessary to file at tax time.
As mentioned earlier, since there are hundreds of different tax documents, the whole process of understanding your taxes can be dizzying. That’s why knowing the exact forms you’ll need can help you feel less overwhelmed and may prevent you from making any mistakes when filing.
That’s an important point. Submitting a tax return that doesn’t report all your income can trigger an IRS tax audit. You can also incur penalties and interest if you’ve submitted a return with errors and don’t file an amended one. And, yes, there’s a form for that, too.
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Typically, the more complicated your finances, the more tax forms you’ll probably need. For instance, if you are a freelance worker with multiple clients who also rents out your second home, you’ll have a more complex tax return than a salaried employee with no side-hustle earnings or rental income.
To help make things easier, here’s a list of common tax forms you may need as you prepare for tax season. Knowing what they are can help boost your financial literacy and your tax-filing confidence:
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The 1040 form is the first step for most taxpayers when filing their annual tax return. It’s the document you use to declare your filing status, report your income, claim deductions and tax credits if you have any, and determine the amount of tax you owe or whether you’re due a tax refund.
Depending on the type of income you need to report, it may be necessary to attach additional forms, also known as schedules. These various schedule forms are used to itemize deductions, report interest and ordinary dividend income, or profit or loss through business, among others.
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Nearly identical to Form 1040, this document is specifically for people age 65 and older. It’s printed using a larger font so it’s easier to read. Form 1040-SR uses the same schedules and instructions as the main 1040 form and is designed to feature fewer complications than the standard 1040.
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If you find you’ve made a mistake after you’ve filed your return, you’ll want to get Form 1040-X. This form is for taxpayers who need to fix or make amendments after previously filing their 1040 form.
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Also known as the Wage and Tax Statement, the W-2 form tells you how much money you earned in the previous year and the amount of tax your employer withheld from your paycheck. The statement also supplies other very important information you’ll need when you fill out your 1040. This intel includes how much your employer paid for other benefits including health insurance, dependent care assistance, health savings account (HSA) contributions, and more.
Employers who have withheld income and Social Security should issue a W-2 to their employees and the IRS by January 31. If you haven’t received yours by then, follow up with your employer and let them know.
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There are several types of Form 1099, which is a record from an entity or person other than your employer (if you’re a salaried worker) who paid you income during the year that’s subject to a self-employment tax. According to the IRS, a self-employment tax is one consisting of Social Security and Medicare taxes primarily for individuals who work for themselves.
The 1099-NEC, which the IRS rolled out in 2020, is what companies or individuals now use to report money paid to any non-employees who did work for them. If the business or employer paid the freelancer, independent contractor, or gig worker more than $600 a year in non-employee compensation, they should send you a Form 1099-NEC. The employer that paid you will also send a copy to the IRS.
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Form 1099-MISC is used by businesses when reporting other miscellaneous paid income such as rents, attorney fees, royalties, commissions, prizes, or awards paid to third parties. In general, an individual will get a 1099-MISC form to report payments such as these that are not subject to self-employment taxes.
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Form 1099-G is issued by a government agency if you’ve received certain government taxable income, such as unemployment benefits. The form also provides information on other government payments such as state and local tax refunds, credits or offsets, taxable grants, and money received from the Department of Agriculture. You’ll need to report information from Form 1099-G on your federal return.
Most states mail it out and may send more than one to you. However, some states don’t. If you need to access your state form, try obtaining it online from your state’s department of revenue or contact the department directly.
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People who receive Social Security benefits during the tax year will receive a SSA-1099 form from the Social Security Administration. The SSA-1099 form tells you how much Social Security income to report to the IRS on your tax return and is mailed out each January to people who receive benefits. The IRS will also receive a copy of this form.
If Social Security was your only type of income last year, your benefits may not be taxable and therefore, you may not need to file a tax return. However, if you have income from other sources, you may have to pay taxes on some of your benefits.
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Individuals who have received $10 or more from their retirement plan should receive a 1099-R. Besides reporting distributions from retirement plans, the 1099-R also covers annuities, profit-sharing plans, IRAs, insurance contracts, or pensions. Additionally, any rollover transfers from one retirement account to another will also be reported on Form 1099-R. The plan issuer is responsible for sending out the form to the taxpayer, but, as with most forms, it’s on the individual to include it when filing.
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The 1099-INT form is used by taxpayers to report any income received from interest. This statement comes from the entity who issues the interest payments. Interest income can come from a mutual fund, brokerage, bank, or a U.S. Savings Bond.
Payers must issue a Form 1099-INT to any party to whom they paid at least $10 of interest during the year. The document includes a roundup and categorization of all types of interest income and associated expenses. People should receive Form 1099-INT from their particular financial institution, which also makes sure the IRS gets a copy. The information should be reported on your tax return.
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Individuals who have received $10 or more in dividends or distributions from any type of investment, should get a 1099-DIV form from the financial institution with whom they invest. Since dividends are an extra income stream for investors, the money has to be reported to the IRS.
Investors can receive more than one 1099-DIV if their portfolio spans multiple investment funds. Any 1099-DIV form figures should be reported when filing.
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If you’re a homeowner with a mortgage and paid any interest over $600, you’ll get Form 1098 from the lender. Form 1098 reports the amount of mortgage interest you paid during the year. Your lender, though, isn’t required to send you this form if your mortgage interest was less than $600. Mortgage interest can be taken as an itemized deduction.
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The 1098-T form is sent by eligible universities, colleges, and vocational schools to students who paid qualified educational expenses in the prior year. Qualified educational expenses include tuition, books, any required enrollment fees, and course materials for those who have attended an eligible educational institution. These specific expenses may entitle you to a tax credit or an adjustment to income, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
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Form 1098-E is a student loan tax form that reports the amount of interest paid on a student loan. Loan lenders submit a copy of this form to the IRS and send one to the borrower who paid $600 or more in interest during the tax year. On the flip side, if you didn’t pay at least $600 in student loan interest, you won’t receive any 1098-E forms. Students with more than one loan servicer will receive a separate 1098-E form from each lender.
Use your 1098-E Form to figure out your student loan tax deduction. Borrowers can deduct up to $2,500 in interest from their taxable income if they meet certain requirements, such as not being claimed as a dependent on anyone else’s tax return or not filing your taxes as married filing separately, among other circumstances.
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Need more time to file your taxes? If so, you’ll want to fill out IRS Form 4868, also called Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. Form 4868 gives taxpayers an additional 6 months to file their federal income tax returns.
If you decide that you do need a tax extension, be sure to file Form 4868 by the normal April filing deadline. By obtaining the extension, you avoid any late-filing penalties as long as you file by the extended due date. However, it’s important to note that any taxes due must still be paid on time.
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Now that you know a bit more about common tax forms in the United States, here’s some advice on filling out your tax return in time for the mid-April deadline.
- Start gathering your paperwork early. Give yourself time to make sure you’re not missing any tax documents. It’s better to have ample time to track them down if you don’t receive them from your employer, brokerage firm, or bank, for example.
- Enter your information on your return correctly. Avoid any headaches down the road by ensuring you’re entering the right information. Even one incorrect Social Security or tax ID number, name spelling, or not signing and dating all the relevant pages can cause problems in processing your return. If you’re filing your taxes for the first time, double-checking the details is a great habit to start.
- Have last year’s tax information handy. It might be helpful to have your federal and, if applicable, your state return accessible as a guide and good refresher of what you filed last year and the forms you used.
- Get help from the IRS. The IRS provides online instructions on how to fill out the various tax forms. You can plug in the particular form number you need help with into the search field here.
- Consider using a professional tax preparer or tax software. This is especially true if your taxes tend to be more complex, you’re strapped for time, or the thought of filling out forms yourself sends you into panic mode. Although it costs more than filing yourself, having someone else who knows exactly how to file a tax return on your side can help alleviate unnecessary anxiety and stress. The same holds true for tax software. By getting professional support in this way, you may also uncover deductions, which can lower your taxable income, that you didn’t know you were eligible for.
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Tax time can be stressful and confusing, especially if your tax situation is more complex. Being familiar with the types of tax returns and the specific IRS tax forms can help make things easier, especially if you’re doing the filing yourself. Keeping track of the statements you receive from employers, financial and educational institutions, loan lenders, and more can help ensure your taxes are done accurately by Tax Day.
This article originally appeared on SoFi.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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