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We now address petitioner’s argument that section 108(f)(1)
sets forth a general rule that is “not exhaustive of all
situation[s] to which [section] 108(f) can apply.” As petitioner
correctly points out, section 108(f)(1) sets forth a general rule
that excludes from gross income any income from the discharge of
a student loan, but that general rule applies only if the
requirements of that section are satisfied. Only Congress may
provide exceptions to the general rule that it prescribed in
section 108(f)(1). Congress did so in section 108(f)(3) entitled
“Exception For Discharges On Account Of Services Performed For
Certain Lenders.” Section 108(f)(3) precludes the application of
the general rule of section 108(f)(1) (i.e., precludes the
exclusion from gross income of any income from the discharge of a
student loan that otherwise meets the requirements of section
108(f)(1)) if such discharge of a student loan made by an
organization described in section 108(f)(2)(D) was on account of
services performed for such organization.
We turn finally to petitioner’s argument that the Court
should be guided by not only the letter but also the spirit of
section 108(f)(1). The Court must follow the law as written by
5(...continued)
discharged if the individual worked for a certain period of time
in certain professions for any of a broad class of employers.”
Sec. 108(f)(1). The term “certain professions” to which sec.
108(f)(1) applies are medicine, nursing, and teaching. Porten v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1993-73 n.1 (citing Staff of Joint Comm.
on Taxation, General Explanation of the Revenue Provisions of The
Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 at 1999(J. Comm. Print 1984)).
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