The final version of the Republican bill will not increase taxes on students who get breaks on their tuition, a provision of an earlier project that has caused a national outcry by students saying the proposal is taxing with money they’ve never seen before.
The adoption of the tax law passed by the House would have had the “Tuition Waivers” of university graduates as income, which would have increased their tax bill considerably. A student who pays $ 20,000 less than one type of these graduate scholarship programs suddenly finds taxes of $ 50,000 or $ 60,000 in income.
But this provision, which was not included in the draft bill passed by the Senate earlier this month, was removed from the final compromise version released on Friday. There was also another controversial determination of the House version that would have removed a tax deduction on interest on student loans.
Republicans plan to vote on the bill next week in the House and Senate.
In protests across the country to more than 40 universities, graduates, teachers, and academics, they argued that the bill in the House would have changed higher education and made it inaccessible, especially to low-income students.
“The fact that thousands of students across the country have been involved is a big statement about the meaning of what they have seen,” said Steven Bloom, director of government relations in the Council. American Education (ACE), an industry group “I have to give them a big loan, they took a little and they ran with it.”
Higher education groups such as ACE, which are powerful forces in Washington, are pushing lawmakers to refrain from paying tuition fees and say that schools are also forced to accept fewer fees. “Its dominant effects were enormous,” said Bloom.
The bill contains a final provision that has provoked controversy among university leaders by charging a tax on foundations of some nonprofit universities, a provision that the Conservatives argued was that they would earn revenue from schools elite with thousands of millions of dollars in assets.