GRADUATE Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 7536 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7536 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the deduction for student loan interest to include payments toward principal, and to increase the value of the deduction. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES February 12, 2026 Mr. Goldman of New York (for himself, Ms. Jacobs, Mr. Garcia of California, Ms. Norton, Mr. Figures, and Ms. Pingree) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the deduction for student loan interest to include payments toward principal, and to increase the value of the deduction. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Generating Relief for Academic Debt Using Assisted Tax Efficiency Act'' or the ``GRADUATE Act''. SEC. 2. EDUCATION LOAN DEDUCTION. (a) In General.--Section 221 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended-- (1) in the heading, by striking ``interest on education loans'' and inserting ``education loans'', (2) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows: ``(a) Allowance of Deduction.--In the case of an individual, there shall be allowed as a deduction for the taxable year an amount equal to the amounts paid by the taxpayer during the taxable year on any qualified education loan.'', (3) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows: ``(b) Maximum Deduction.-- ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the deduction allowed by subsection (a) for the taxable year shall not exceed an amount equal to the sum of-- ``(A) $10,000, plus ``(B) $500 multiplied by the number of dependents of the taxp