IRS extends tax deadline; interest waived on some student loans

IRS extends tax deadline; interest waived on some student loans

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is urging taxpayers to file electronically. (File photo from es.usembassy.gov)

Interest on federal student loans is being waived for at least three months, President Donald Trump said Friday.

The president also said Tax Day is being pushed back from April 15 to July 15 — giving Americans more time to file their taxes.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced the tax extension earlier Friday on Twitter.

“All taxpayers and businesses will have this additional time to file and make payments without interest or penalties,” Mnuchin said.

He said the action was being taken at the direction of the president.

Despite the three-month extension, Mnuchin encouraged taxpayers who anticipate refunds to “file now to get your money.”

Trump had said last Friday that interest would be waived on federally held student loans “until further notice.” The U.S. Department of Education has said that borrowers would still be required to make their payments but all of them would be credited toward the principle, instead of being divided between principle and interest.

Trump said today that borrowers should contact their loans servicers for details, although the Education Department had implied last week that the changes would be automatic.

Trump’s relief falls short of that desired by a group of Senate Democrats, who have been working on an emergency relief proposal legislation that would allow student borrowers to skip payments on federal loans during the public health crisis. After the crisis ends, the Department of Education would give each borrower money to ensure that each received a total of $10,000 in relief.

On Thursday Senate Republicans proposed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which calls for the suspension of federal student loans for three months and possibly as long as six.

About The Author

Regina Holmes

ReginaHolmes@hotmail.com

Contributing editor Regina Holmes has worked as a journalist for over 30 years. She was an assistant business editor at the Miami Herald and an assistant city editor at Newsday in New York City, where she helped supervise coverage of 9/11, anthrax attacks and the August 2003 Northeast Blackout. As an assistant managing editor of the Baltimore Examiner, she helped launch the free tabloid in 2006. Before joining Maryland Reporter, she was the managing editor for Washington, D.C.-based Talk Media News, where she supervised digital, radio and video production of news reports for over 400 radio stations. The Baltimore native is a graduate of Vassar College and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.