So, I found a Student Loan Debt Relief Program that you can apply to online, with 30 minutes of work, and for free. The Maryland Higher Education Commission began The Student Loan Debt Relief Tax Credit Program in July 2017 for Maryland residents that have accumulated at least $20,00 in student loan debt.

If you went to college, you probably have them. If you’re dreaming of being a lawyer one day, beware! You will most likely have even more of them according to this site.

Here is my situation: I graduated from university with a BS in Health Sciences with about $20,000 in federal student loans. And I’m of the the lucky ones! Most of my friends have between $50,000 to $145,000 for their bachelor degrees.

Thankfully, there are many Student Loan Forgiveness and Relief programs widely discussed in the online post law school and legal communities. Chief among them are loan repayment programs such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) or Income-Based Repayment (IBR).

Due to the tremendous debt most law school grads have, these options can be researched and perfected ad nauseam. I will talk about these plans more in later posts. But none of them are talking about the Maryland Student Loan Debt Relief Tax Credit Program which has fewer restriction and qualifications.

For now, did you know that some states have programs and tax credits designed to relieve student loan debt? AND that don’t require you to work 10 years in a public sector job or have a student loan payment for 25 years?

Well, an awesome example of one of these programs is the Maryland Student Loan Debt Relief Tax Credit program.

Because I live in Maryland, I applied for a tax credit up to $5,000 and received $883.00!

Here are the details for the program:

THE MARYLAND STUDENT LOAN DEBT RELIEF TAX CREDIT

The eligibility criteria for this credit are:

-File Maryland State Income Taxes for the tax year;

-Incurred at least $20,000 undergraduate and/or graduate student loan debt; (I got in there!)

-Have at least $5,000 in outstanding student loan debt remaining when applying for the tax credit;

-Completed and submitted an application to the Maryland Higher Education Commission by September 15, each year; and

-Have submitted all required graduate and/or undergraduate student loan information, including Maryland Income Tax Information and college transcripts.

Priority for this tax credit is given to applicants who:

-Have higher debt burden to income ratios;

-Graduated from an institution of higher education located in Maryland;

-Did not receive a tax credit in a prior year; or

-Were eligible for in-state tuition.

When the results of my application come back, I will update you all on how much I received, if any. FYI, I didn’t even know this credit existed until a friend told me a few weeks ago. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

Get more information on this tax credit here.

I also outlined how exactly I applied for this program each year and received free money as a tax credit in this post.

If this post was helpful, follow my social media profiles by clicking the buttons below and share this article with anyone you know who lives in Maryland and has student loans to pay off.