Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) is seeking to include the Tax Free Pell Grants Act in the House Ways and Means Committee’s portion of the Build Back Better bill.
Doggett, who introduced the Tax Free Pell Grants Act, maintains the measure removes student financial and logistical barriers while enhancing coordination with the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC).
“With access to education so vital to American progress, we need to Build Back Better with greater educational opportunity for all,” Doggett, a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, noted via a statement. “Because tax treatment of combining the American Opportunity Tax Credit and a Pell Grant remains too complicated, some deserving students are missing out on available financial assistance. Making Pell Grants entirely tax-free expands opportunity. As education builds individual success, Tax Free Pell truly helps us Build Back Better.”
American Council on Education President Ted Mitchell said the organization appreciates the House Ways and Means Committee’s proposal to repeal the taxation of Pell Grants and is encouraging the full House to include it in the final reconciliation measure.
“Pell Grants help nearly seven million low- and moderate-income students attend and complete college annually and are especially critical for students of color,” he said. “But for more than three decades, the portion of Pell Grants spent on non-tuition expenses like room and board has been taxable. Repealing the taxability of Pell Grants is a long-overdue, common-sense way to permit millions of students to retain more of this aid to cover the cost of college.”