IR-2024-227: IRS reminder: Employer educational assistance programs can still be used to help pay off workers’ student loans through Dec. 31, 2025

IRS Newswire Aug. 28, 2024
News Essentials What's Hot News Releases IRS - The Basics IRS Guidance Media Contacts Facts & Figures Around The Nation e-News Subscriptions The Newsroom Topics Multimedia Center Noticias en Español Radio PSAs Tax Scams The Tax Gap Fact Sheets IRS Tax Tips Armed Forces Latest News Home IRS Resources Contact My Local Office Filing Options Forms & Instructions Frequently Asked Questions News Taxpayer Advocate Where to File IRS Social Media	Issue Number:    IR-2024-227 Inside This Issue IRS reminder: Employer educational assistance programs can still be used to help pay off workers' student loans through Dec. 31, 2025 WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today issued a reminder that employers who offer educational assistance programs can also use them to help pay for their employees' student loan obligations through Dec. 31, 2025. Though educational assistance programs have been available for many years, the option to use them to pay for workers' student loans has only been available for payments made after March 27, 2020. Under current law, this student loan provision is set to expire Dec. 31, 2025. Traditionally, educational assistance programs have been used to pay for books, equipment, supplies, fees, tuition and other education expenses for the employee. These programs can now also be used to pay principal and interest on an employee's qualified education loans. Payments made directly to the lender, as well as those made to the employee, may qualify. In most cases, educational benefits are excluded from federal income tax withholding, Social Security tax, Medicare tax and federal employment (FUTA) tax. By law, tax-free benefits under an educational assistance program are limited to $5,250 per employee per year. Normally, assistance provided above that level is taxable as wages. Employers who don't have an educational assistance program may want to consider setting one up. Fringe benefits, such as educational assistance programs, can help employers attract and retain qualified workers. These programs must be in writing and cannot discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees. For information on other requirements, see Publication 15-B, Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits. For details on what qualifies as a student loan, see Chapter 10 in Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education. For more information visit the following pages on IRS.gov: Education Credits Qualified Education Expenses Tax Benefits for Education: Information Center Back to Top         Thank you for subscribing to the IRS Newswire, an IRS e-mail service. If you know someone who might want to subscribe to this mailing list, please forward this message to them so they can subscribe. This message was distributed automatically from the mailing list IRS Newswire. Please Do Not Reply To This Message.

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