The CARES Act includes a provision suspending payments and waiving the interest on any federal student loans through September 30, 2020. Please go online with your loan servicer to make sure that they are following through on this valuable break from paying these loans.

There is also a new rule allowing employers to repay up to $5,250 of their employee?s student loans as a tax-free benefit. That?s a great benefit for your staff if they are burdened with student loan debt. Please note that only loan repayments made prior to December 31, 2020 qualify for this valuable deduction.

Bad news for many doctors however. Only federal loans issued by the department of education qualify. Those issued by the Department of Health and known as Health Professional Student Loans (HPSL) may not qualify unless you consolidated those loans into a federal loan.