Re:Grad School Tuition Wavers to Be Taxed as Income in Congr...
by oldprogrammer2 on Thursday November 09, 2017 @03:51PM
(#15665794)
On second look, I think I am incorrect. Altering Section 132(j)(8) doesn't yield a substantial change.
Before:
Amounts paid or expenses incurred by the employer for education or training provided to the employee which are not excludable from gross income under section 127 shall be excluded from gross income under this section if (and only if) such amounts or expenses are a working condition fringe.
After:
Amounts paid or expenses incurred by the employer for education or training provided to the employee shall be excluded from gross income under this section if (and only if) such amounts or expenses are a working condition fringe.
I'm not sure where this is in the tax bill.
(2) Section 132(j)(8) is amended by striking "which are not excludable from gross income under section 127".
I looked up the mentioned sections:
Section 132: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/132
Section 127: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/127
This does seem to be true.
But to be fair to the intent, these sections of the tax code are aimed at educational benefits provided by corporations, and there is not a specific clause in the proposed bill that is targeting graduate education. It seems like an oversight that PhD students are affected by this, or possibly there's a deeper nuance in the tax code that makes this irrelevant to educational institutions. Hopefully all of the attention this has received will result in clarification and amendment before approval.