We’ve all heard the saying that there are only two sure things, “death and taxes.” Unfortunately for the parents of Marine Lance Cpl. Andrew Carpenter, they’ve endured the shock of their son being killed inAfghanistanwhile serving his country, only to be presented with a tax bill. This seems to take the familiar saying to the extreme!!
 
Lance Cpl. Carpenter had taken out student loans that his parents co-signed. The good news is that student loans that are backed by the federal government are forgiven for deceased veterans.  However, the IRS takes the position that the forgiven indebtedness is taxable income. This is not a new position by the IRS and actually it is part of the Internal Revenue Code which Congress created. Nevertheless the parents of this fallen Marine have received a tax bill!!!
 
With all the banter of “fairness” in the public discourse of taxes, this seems entirely unfair. Fortunately, Representative DesJarlais from Tennesseehas introduced a bill (H.R. 5044) that would retroactively exempt from taxable income education loans. Ironically, according to the www.govtrack.us, which tracks the activity of Congress, this bill only has a 3% chance of passing. Unbelievable!!  Surely they could agree that a tax of this magnitude is unfair. Maybe a quick e-mail to your representatives could help.