Carl - can you please reference your response to TT or the IRS documentation to validate its accuracy?
student interest is deductible up to $2500 outside of schedule A (with a phase out based on MAGI)
a) personal interest is not deductible! So why would anyone be able to deduct their interest on Schedule A?
b) if you refinance student debt that the interest of the new debt does not quality for the up to $2500 student interest expense deduction (outside of Schedule A)
My advice: since the current loan is a private loan (i,e, not government insured), it is really a a'peace of mind' decision whether the fixed rate loan will yield less interest over time compared to the variable rate environment. If the fixed rate is lower than your current variable rate, GO FOR IT, as it unlikely variable rates will fall much from here.
there is no difference in the tax deductibility of the interest. it's refinancing of a private loan with another private loan, so no difference (there are big differences if going from public / government insured loans to private loans!) You will be able to deduct $2500 of interest (depending on MAGI), Note that if you are married, you must file joint to secure the deduction as it's not permitted if you file married - separate.
https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc505
here is the TT response on the refinance question
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2923177-if-i-refinance-my-federal-student-loans-with-sofi-will-i-b...
