Educational Hardship for Student Loan

[bdeancpa]

I have a client who granted an employee a hardship distribution to make the next 12 months payments on their student loan. The Hardship safe-harbor for educational expenses required the expense to be for educational expenses to be incurred in the next 12 months. Do you think studen loan payments qualify? Thanks in advance.

[BG5150]

No. The loan is commercial debt. Otherwise, everyone and their brother would be taking hardships to pay off student loans.