Student Loan Marriage Penalty Elimination Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill fixes a "marriage penalty" in the tax code. Right now, both single filers and married couples filing jointly can only deduct up to $2,500 in student loan interest. Under this bill, each spouse gets their own $2,500 cap, so a married couple could deduct up to $5,000 total.
• The bill amends Section 221 of the Internal Revenue Code to apply the student loan interest deduction limit separately to each spouse, rather than once per tax return. It also includes a rule to prevent anyone from claiming the same deduction twice under different tax provisions.
• The bill has bipartisan backing from two Democrats (Warnock and Bennet) and two Republicans (Lankford and Lummis), suggesting it addresses a practical tax fairness issue rather than the more divisive student loan cancellation debate.
• If enacted, the new deduction rules would kick in for tax years beginning after December 31, 2026. That means married couples would first see the benefit when filing their 2027 taxes, likely in early 2028.
• This change is designed to help married couples where both spouses carry student debt. Currently, getting married effectively cuts the per-person deduction in half for dual-borrower couples, creating a financial disincentive to marry.