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How Married Couples Can Take Advantage of Public Service Loan Forgiveness for Their Student Debt

It’s no secret that great minds think alike. That’s probably one reason why it’s common for people to choose a spouse based on their own profession.

For example, in one study based on U.S. Census data, 16% of married people in the education and healthcare industries were married to another education or healthcare professional. Nine percent of people working in social services were married to another person in the same profession, and 8% of police officers and firefighters also chose spouses with similar professions.

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Know what else those occupations have in common? They will also likely qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

Even if your spouse isn’t in a similar public service job, knowing how PSLF works — and how it impacts your family finances — can help you make an informed decision. Here's how married spouses can take advantage of Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Student loans and marriage

In the words of the great Peter Cook from The Princess Bride, “Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togedah today.”

All joking aside, marriage brings a lot more than just people together. It also brings your student loans together, at least in terms of how you manage them as a family.

Let’s be clear. Your federal student loans will always stay in your name. Your spouse will never hold legal liability to pay back your federal student loans for you, except in the unlikely event you receive an unfavorable court ruling in a divorce.

However, just because you’re technically on the hook for your loans and your spouse is on the hook for theirs doesn’t mean that each person’s loans won’t impact the other person. If you have to make a $500 payment toward your student loans each month and your spouse only has to make a $100 payment, that’s $500 that you can’t use to pay off your spouse’s student loans early. Or, depending on how you look at it, that’s $100 that you can’t use to pay off your own student loans early.

The point is that you’d like to be responsible for your own student loan debt. And, legally, you are. But in reality, it’s impossible for you or your spouse’s loans not to affect the other person, unless you never legally tie the knot. Even then, if you live together in a non-married domestic partnership, it can still affect your joint finances.

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How the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program works

PSLF can be a confusing program. We’ll briefly review how the PSLF program works to help you understand how it impacts your combined finances.

You need to be on an income-driven repayment plan to use PSLF program

You’re automatically placed on a standard 10-year repayment plan when you graduate college with your federal student loans. If you have a low income after you graduate, you can access a more affordable payment by choosing repayment options based on your discretionary income.

Popular income-driven repayment (IDR) plans for federal student loan debt include:

  • Income-Based Repayment (IBR)
  • Pay As You Earn (PAYE)
  • Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE), which used to be called Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE)
  • Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR)

Income-driven repayment plans are available to most people with federal loans, regardless of their employer. After 20 to 25 years, your remaining loan balance will be forgiven.

Here’s the kicker for the PSLF program. You can have your loans forgiven in half the time (in as little as 10 years instead of 20 to 25) if you meet certain criteria, like having eligible loans.

But because you’ll normally pay off your student loans after 10 years anyway, you can only take advantage of PSLF if you’re on an IDR plan. Only then will your payments be stretched out past the 10-year hurdle. If you stay on the Standard Repayment Plan, you won’t have anything left to forgive by the time the 10-year mark comes up.

If your adjusted gross income (AGI) suddenly increases after several years of low payments, you can stick with PSLF. You’ll just use the cap on PAYE or IBR to ensure you have something left to forgive.

Many borrowers inadvertently signed up for the wrong repayment plan in the past and mistakenly believed they had signed on to the PSLF program. Luckily, the PSLF and IDR Waivers were put into place to correct that.

Note: The PSLF Waiver expired on October 31, 2022. However, nearly all the benefits are still available through the IDR Waiver until April 30, 2024, for those currently working in qualifying not-for-profit or government jobs.

How to qualify for PSLF

To qualify for PSLF, you’ll need to make 120 qualifying payments while having full-time employment in a government or nonprofit 501(c)(3) position. These payments don't need to be consecutive.

For example, you won’t lose your balance of qualifying PSLF payments if you take a temporary break to work for a for-profit organization, transition to part-time employment for a short period or take time away from the workforce to be a stay-at-home parent.

Each year, you’ll need to complete an employment certification form and recertify your individual income or joint income and family size to stay on your payment plan. Then, after you’ve made 120 payments, you complete a form to apply for your remaining balance to be wiped away like a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

How marriage affects your student loan repayment

If you want to maximize the benefits of PSLF, it makes sense to minimize your monthly student loan payments as much as possible. The less you pay now, the greater the forgiven loan amount.

If you’re a married couple working towards PSLF, you can get lower payments now by filing your taxes separately. This works on the PAYE plan or IBR plan if your spouse does not owe anything.

Using this strategy, your income will be smaller because you won't need to include your spouse's income (so, not showing combined income). Thus, the loan payments you need to make under an income-driven repayment plan will be smaller. A smaller repayment amount means a greater forgiven amount after you’ve made the required 120 qualifying payments.

However, it’s not that simple.

If your tax filing status is “married filing separately,” you may get a lower student loan payment. But you could easily end up owing more in taxes since married filing separately folks are often taxed at a higher rate.

Put another way:

  • If you file taxes jointly, your student loan payments might be higher.
  • If you each file a separate federal income tax return, your tax bill might be higher.

Related: Is the Married Filing Separately Health Insurance Penalty Worth It? How to Minimize the Impact

The only way to know for sure which is the better option is to compare each scenario. To do this, you’ll need to work with a tax advisor (unless you’re personally handy at tax numbers) to see the difference in your tax liability if you file separately or jointly. A professional can help you review tax benefits and tax credits, your overall taxable income, student loan interest deductions, and navigate the intricacies of the IRS.

If you use tax software like TurboTax, you should be able to open the prior year’s returns and toggle between “Married Filing Joint” and “Married Filing Separate” in the software. The difference in the tax bill will be the tax penalty.

Compare that to what your student loan payment would be if you file jointly or separately. You can contact your loan servicer to get this information or use our Student Loan Forgiveness and Repayment Calculator.

Whichever option is cheapest — married filing jointly or married filing separately — after taking both your tax and student loan payments into account is the one you should choose.

Related: How to Decide When to Use Married Filing Separately on Your Tax Return

Married but filing separately for IBR, SAVE, or PAYE

Married filing separately with student loans student loan planner

The only way to know for sure if you should file jointly or separately is to run the numbers. But some clues can help guide you in your decision.

Filing separately for the IBR, SAVE, and PAYE programs is generally better for married couples with similar incomes. In this case, the tax penalty is usually lower than if one spouse is a high earner with income that is vastly higher than the other spouse's salary.

In this case, the math is more likely to work out in your favor because any tax penalty is likely not high enough to eliminate the savings you’ll get from a lower student loan payment.

If you sign up on our email list to get our calculator, you'll be able to model the payment difference between married filing separately and married filing jointly.

If you want to estimate the difference in taxes between the two filing statuses, try out the married filing separate calculator. It assumes you use the standard deduction and doesn't constitute formal tax advice. That said, I hope you find it to be a useful starting point.

Taking advantage of PSLF on the SAVE program

It’s pretty common to have one or both spouses switch from a public service job to a private-sector job. After all, the paychecks are usually higher in the private sector and may put you in a higher tax bracket.

If you or your spouse think this is possible in the future, it might be better to go with the SAVE plan.

Here’s why. While you’re paying off your loans, interest will continue to accrue. If the interest you’re supposed to pay each month is higher than your monthly payment amount under an IDR plan, it will be tacked on to your loan balance. It will continue to grow over time rather than shrink.

But, if you’re on the SAVE program, the U.S. Department of Education will pay all the difference between the interest owed and your annual payment. This means your loan balance will grow slowly over time.

Let’s look at an example.

Let’s say Bob owes $300 in interest as a part of his student loan payment. But, if his monthly payment amount is capped at a smaller amount — say $200 — there’s a $100 difference.

If Bob is on a non-SAVE plan, each month, that $100 difference will be tacked on to his loan balance. And it will get larger over time.

But if Bob is on the SAVE program, the government will pay all of the difference ($100).

If Bob decides to leave his public service job and start a private practice with his wife, he’ll have a much smaller balance to pay off or have forgiven over time, thanks to the interest subsidies from the SAVE program.

Also, the new SAVE plan allows married borrowers to file separately and not include their spouse's income.

FAQs

Let’s look at some common questions we get from student loan borrowers. Make sure to check out our top PSLF tips to get the full scoop.

What are the Public Service Loan Forgiveness income limits?

There are no income limits as part of the eligibility requirements for the PSLF program. However, if your income is high relative to the balance of your student loans, it might not make sense to enroll in an income-driven repayment plan.

If you can’t get on an IDR plan, you won’t be able to take advantage of the PSLF program because you’ll pay off all of your loans under the standard 10-year repayment plan by the time you would qualify for PSLF. In other words, you’ll have no balance left to forgive by the time you would qualify if you make Standard Payments.
So, it’s a moot point.

In general, we find a lot more high-income individuals would qualify for PSLF than they realize.

Is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness grandfather clause a real thing?

Not specifically. If any changes are made to the PSLF program, we feel confident that current borrowers in the PSLF program will be grandfathered in.

This is typically what happens when new legislation is passed. However, it’s not a 100% guarantee. New borrowers would be primarily affected by any changes to the program. 

What is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness maximum forgiveness amount?

There is currently no cap as to how much can be forgiven. In 2015, legislators tried to impose caps on the amount that can be forgiven. However, this was shot down. It shows there is very little political will to impose caps on forgiveness amounts for this popular program.

Can I consolidate my federal student loans with my spouse?

No. Oddly enough, this is a question on the application form for federal student loan consolidation. However, it’s not allowed under present rules. It’s a classic example of government bureaucracy falling behind itself with all of the rule changes.

However, depending on the private lender, you might be able to consolidate loans with your spouse and get a lower interest rate through refinancing. Be sure to understand the benefits and drawbacks of a consolidation loan.

Is my spouse responsible for my student loans if we divorce?

It depends on which state you live in. In a divorce, your assets and debts generally get split up by a court. It’s possible that you could be assigned some of your spouse’s student loan debt. Not all states do this, however, which is why it’s necessary to consult with a divorce attorney.

Get a custom student loan plan

If you owe more than $20,000 in student debt, we can add a ton of value well over the cost of our one-time flat fee for our consult service.

The key is to make sure you’re not sticking your head in the ground trying to avoid thinking about your loans because they’re stressful. Use our free tips or hire someone like us to figure it out for you.

Are you and your spouse considering Public Service Loan Forgiveness? Why or why not? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Not sure what to do with your student loans?

Take our 11 question quiz to get a personalized recommendation for 2024 on whether you should pursue PSLF, Biden’s New IDR plan, or refinancing (including the one lender we think could give you the best rate).

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Comments

  1. JG April 2, 2018 at 5:18 AM
    Reply

    What if you and your spouse are on REPAY and only you qualify for PSLF. At the end of 10 years of payments, what happens to your spouses payments? Is this a good spot to consider filing taxes married filing separately? The spouse would still have the remaining years of IDR payments and won’t be forgiven under PSLF, correct?

    • Travis April 2, 2018 at 2:36 PM
      Reply

      That’s right. Your spouse would have 15 years (or less) until their loans would be forgiven. REPAYE doesn’t allow you to file separately, so you’d want to look into either PAYE at that time or refinancing. Depends on your situation.

      • Gene July 9, 2018 at 8:23 PM
        Reply

        I have been on REPAYE since the beginning of my entry into the PSLF program (January 2016). I got married in September of 2017. In April of 2018, I filed ‘married, filing separately’ for the first time (she has loans, but is paying them off on the regular 10 year payoff plan). My understanding is that I will need to get into a different type of plan. Do I do this at my annual certification? Will the payments I have made since we got married count towards PSLF?

        • Travis July 10, 2018 at 5:31 PM
          Reply

          Yes but you have to change payment plans to obtain any benefit from filing separately at all. And I would run the numbers to make sure filing separately actually benefits you if you’re relegated to IBR alone

          • Greg August 21, 2018 at 2:17 PM

            Hi Travis, Great article! My wife is a public service nurse paying off her loans. Although, I am not a public service worker and she is, is there a way that I can pay off my loans through the PSLF since we are married?

          • Travis Hornsby August 21, 2018 at 2:47 PM

            That would be nice but unfortunately no that isn’t possible.

          • Khalid February 25, 2019 at 12:09 AM

            Hi Travis thanks for the great info! I have PSLF loans, my wife doesn’t and we got married in September 2018 with a plan to file separately. I’m still in my PGY2 of residency so my payments are very low under the REPAYE, when do I actually need to make the change to PAYE before my payments increase, can I wait until next time i certify in July 2019 or will it increase automatically after I file/earlier?

          • Travis Hornsby February 25, 2019 at 8:11 AM

            If you’re PGY2 then you could update your payment right after filing separately since your income “changed” legally on your tax return. Just verify the tax penalty is low

          • Khalid February 26, 2019 at 10:24 PM

            Thanks Travis, am i required to re-certify immediately when i have a change in pay or is it an annual recertification? I would like to ideally continue these low payments for as long as possible.

  2. jared April 4, 2018 at 3:25 AM
    Reply

    What if my wife made 60 payments over 5 years, working at a non-profit healthcare company, and then stopped working to be a homemaker, and we now have 120 payments over 10 years, only 5 of which she worked for qualifying employer, and remained “married filing jointly” to me for 5 years, while making payments and I worked for non-profit. Said another way, can married couples filing jointly use the program if each spouse worked at a non-profit for 5 years each while making 120 payments?

    • Travis April 4, 2018 at 9:44 PM
      Reply

      That’d be nice if that was possible, but unfortunately they don’t allow that. What you could do though is if she might go back at some point for another 5 years you could try to keep the loans in a minimal payment situation and get the forgiveness at a later point. The 10 years don’t have to be consecutive.

  3. Kate April 17, 2018 at 9:50 PM
    Reply

    There is a question on the re-certification for the IBR that says “even if you are filing separately, can you reasonably access your spouse’s income and get his signature?”

    I have historically put “no” because when I’m filling out this form, my spouse is typically traveling for work.

    AND, and more to the point, because I’m nervous that including his income will increase my payment on the IBR, as he makes double what I do. This is why we file separately in the first place – so I can continue to make lower payments based on my income.

    Does anyone know for certain what happens if you include spouse’s income on this IBR when it’s higher than yours, even if you’re married filing separately?

    Also, is there any chance saying that I can’t reasonably access it could affect my eligibility one day?

    • Travis April 18, 2018 at 7:17 AM
      Reply

      Sure I think it could impact your eligibility. That question is meant for folks in the process of a divorce, separation, or who had their spouse suffer a disability. Filing separately is enough to exclude spousal income as you already pay a tax penalty to do that. I wouldn’t unnecessarily pur yourself at risk of an audit, which they do not do currently but could once more people start receiving forgiveness.

      • Andrew January 15, 2019 at 7:06 PM
        Reply

        the only way to not include your spouses income is to answer no to
        “even if you are filing separately, can you reasonably access your spouse’s income and get his signature?”
        you have to say no to this or you have to include their income information. are you saying to show their income anyways and hope that your payments don’t increase?

        • Travis Hornsby January 15, 2019 at 8:16 PM
          Reply

          No you can exclude your spouse’s income by filing “married filing separately” for income taxes AND selecting either the PAYE or IBR plans. You have to compare the higher taxes you’ll pay to the married filing joint payment. My opinion is that the “can’t reasonably access your spouse’s income” is intended for victims of domestic abuse or individuals in a separation from their spouses likely to result in divorce. I think it’s being vastly overused right now and could cause some issues for folks who check this box year after year. I do not recommend it.

          • Mary February 21, 2019 at 9:05 AM

            I am still a little confused. You have to check the “can’t reasonably access your spouse’s income” box as yes or no I believe on the IBR re-certification form (you can’t just leave it blank or out N/A). You are suggesting not to check NO if you are married and not in a separation or domestic abuse situation in case of future audits, but if you check YES they do count both spouses incomes into your monthly repayment amount. This question always confuses me as well because on the studentaid.gov website it says that if you are enrolled in PAYE AND married filing separately, that only the borrowers income is used to calculate loan payments, the website says nothing about also having a requirement of not being able to “reasonably access your spouse’s income”. I am not sure what to do here either but we cannot afford the higher loan payments if both of our incomes are calculated with daycare….. it would literally take food off of our table!

          • Travis Hornsby February 21, 2019 at 9:14 AM

            The simple answer is that you always want to reply that you CAN access your spouse’s income no matter what your tax status is. If you tell them your spouse’s income and do married filing separately on PAYE then your payment is only based on your income. Honestly, that question is a silly question and shouldn’t be on the forms. They should just ask “Are you currently going through a separation with your spouse or are you a victim of domestic abuse?” That’s the real essence of that question.

          • Anne May 10, 2019 at 9:46 AM

            I disagree. My spouse and I are not planning a divorce. We live in separate states because our full time jobs require it for now. We share no housing or other expenses, and have completely separate bank accounts. Our tax filing status is married filing separately because we have literally no shared finances, properties, dependents, etc. It would require considerable effort for us to share our financial information. Not only that, but given that we file our taxes in different states with different addresses I don’t see how it’s reasonable to ask for us to provide each other’s incomes on our loan documents. There are many people in this same situation who are not going through a separation or a victim of abuse.

          • Travis Hornsby May 12, 2019 at 1:22 PM

            The IRS and the Department of Education would be the ones to decide, not me. That said if you’re married filing separately then PAYE takes care of getting a lower payment without any gray area. If you’re not eligible for PAYE then IBR is almost as good.

  4. Gina April 20, 2018 at 2:27 PM
    Reply

    I recalculated my income driven loan right after my husband was layed off in 12/17. I filed our taxes jointly this year. Now, with all the talk about the loan forgiveness program in jeopardy, I wish we had filed separately so that I could just go into this program. However, I know that my current payment will go up approximately $400 more! I am hoping to make it to the next recalculation before transferring my loan to the loan forgiveness program so that they will take next year’s taxes (which I will file separately) into consideration. Do you think they will eliminate this loan forgiveness program soon?

    • Travis April 23, 2018 at 2:01 PM
      Reply

      No you should be ok. Everyone expects folks will be grandfathered in if they already have loans. Tax filing status makes no difference as to your eligibility.

  5. Julianna Wiese May 2, 2018 at 8:08 PM
    Reply

    I’m wondering if my husband, who is a teacher and who is paying off my loans because I’m a stay at home mom, would qualify for the PSLF program?

    • Travis May 3, 2018 at 5:36 PM
      Reply

      Unfortunately no he’d have to have the loans borrowed originally in his name Julianna.

  6. VL May 30, 2018 at 4:54 PM
    Reply

    Your article describes how filing separately generally works on the PAYE plan if your spouse does not owe anything. What if you and your spouse are both on PAYE and only you qualify for PSLF? Is filing separately less likely to make sense?

    • Travis May 30, 2018 at 6:29 PM
      Reply

      It’s less likely but not impossible that you’d do it. For example when you file jointly you have your payments split proportionally based on your total loan debt (see Federal Q and A question 32) https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/income-driven-repayment-q-and-a.pdf

      So if you had a small income and you had most of the debt but your spouse had a high income, you’d have to think if the tax penalty is worth it to file separately and incur a lower payment on a balance that will eventually be forgiven. You’d also weigh that approach against refinancing for the non PSLF spouse. It can get very complicated and it’s dependent on the individual circumstances but it’s worth thinking about.

  7. Robert June 15, 2018 at 2:54 PM
    Reply

    My wife has student loans in her name and she is now a stay-at-home mom to our children and I am paying her loan payments (IBR). I work for state government. I am guessing the payments I am currently making are not eligible for PSLF. Would the loan be eligible for 25 year forgiveness if I continue to make payments or would I be better served to consolidate to a lower interest rate? We file our taxes jointly.

    • Travis June 18, 2018 at 3:35 PM
      Reply

      Wow this can really depend on a lot of things. It’s not PSLF eligible, and if the debt is small I would refinance and pay it off: https://www.studentloanplanner.com/refinance-student-loans/

      However, if the debt is large then I would consider PAYE and try to get forgiveness in 20 years instead of 25.

  8. Steve June 17, 2018 at 7:44 PM
    Reply

    Both my spouse and I are on IBR repayments. I’m in PLSF and she is not. Last year we filed jointly because she only worked part of the year. Now she is working full time and we flipped to married filing separately on our W4s.

    Her recertification is in June and mine is in November. Do we have to use last year’s married filing jointly for our certification or can we somehow switch to filing separately for payment calculations?

    • Travis June 18, 2018 at 3:39 PM
      Reply

      If you’re both on IBR payments and you’re filling separately, then I believe you’re making a mistake and should think about amending your return. Filing separately when both spouses have loans is almost never a good idea.

      • Steve June 18, 2018 at 3:51 PM
        Reply

        Why would this be? Both of us have massive loans and using our income separately would drop what we each have to pay until I can knock out the loans with PLSF.

        Otherwise we both we essentially have to make payments on our combined income. This would be more than we would get back by filing jointly.

        • Michelle Kelly December 7, 2018 at 12:04 AM
          Reply

          It’s actually just a percentage of your combined income in proportion to how much you each borrowed. It adds up to 10 or 15 percent of combined income depending on plan you are under.

  9. O. Abidin June 18, 2018 at 6:08 AM
    Reply

    I am wondering if I could be provided a payment plan under my income alone even if I filed married jointly last year? For example 60k together, which is 30k for each.
    My wife has no loans; only I have loans and I work for a public government agency. How can I request for a servicer to use my income only?
    And say they don’t use just mine, and I still end up making qualified payments towards PSLF under married joint status; but suppose, next year we have decide to file seperately – will I loose the first year of payments towards PSLF that were made under a differ tax filing status (married jointly)?

    Thanks
    Abidin from Texas

    • Travis June 18, 2018 at 3:40 PM
      Reply

      No you won’t lose that credit Abidin. You should definitely look at PAYE filing separately since you both have a similar income and the tax penalty I’d expect would be small

      • O. Abidin June 18, 2018 at 4:36 PM
        Reply

        Thank you sir. One follow up Q., is that doesn’t REPAYE as you earn assisted with intetest? Or for PSLF repayers that does not really matter since is 120 payments? Also would you comment if the servicer, suppose for this year after already provided them joint W2s, could use my side of income only? Thanks again.

  10. Sam June 24, 2018 at 7:36 AM
    Reply

    How would repayment work with a married couple where one has the REPAYE and one has the PAYE? Does the one on PAYE have to switch to REPAYE in order to get the proportional repayment amounts? Total loan debt is about 300k (210k and 90k) and one makes 120k and the other 70k respectively. Thanks.

    • Travis June 25, 2018 at 12:03 AM
      Reply

      That should be ok for one to be on PAYE and another on REPAYE, but I’m curious what the reason is for splitting it this way? Why not both just be on REPAYE if you’re going for PSLF?

      • Sam June 25, 2018 at 12:12 AM
        Reply

        Not currently married. This is hypothetical right now. Trying to determine if it’s worth it financially to delay marriage.

        She is on PAYE because she is able and I am on REPAYE because I can’t be on REPAYE. We could just switch her to REPAYE to make it easy, I suppose. I was just curious if it was possible to do so without doing anything.

        Thanks.

        • Sam June 25, 2018 at 12:13 AM
          Reply

          because i can’t be on PAYE*

  11. Janie June 25, 2018 at 12:41 AM
    Reply

    Have you ever heard of couples divorcing until PSLF is complete? My income is at a standstill in a nonprofit, but my husband has a chance at earning more each year. We have filed married separately the last two years, but next year the tax penalty may be steep. The increase in my monthly payment would be nearly $500 if we file jointly, which is not affordable. It sounds so so crazy to me, but I feel like we’d need a divorce for two years to be able to afford two more years of loans payments until I have made it to 120 payments.

    • Travis June 25, 2018 at 4:34 PM
      Reply

      I don’t think that would make sense though I’ve heard of it. I’d probably just file separately then amend returns in the year you get PSLF to get some of it back. you can amend for up to 3 years in the past separate to joint.

      • Janie June 25, 2018 at 11:24 PM
        Reply

        Thank you- I wasn’t aware you could amend that far back.

        • Suzanne Nicole November 29, 2019 at 1:13 PM
          Reply

          If you amend the past three years from filing married/seperate to married/joint, do you have to report that to FedLoan for PSLF? So if they calculated my monthly payments under IBR, is it permissable to amend to jointly afterwards? Thanks!

          • Travis at Student Loan Planner December 13, 2019 at 10:49 AM

            No not report-able but you need most recent return to always show separate.

  12. Brianna June 27, 2018 at 9:29 PM
    Reply

    Hi Travis – my husband has his loans on IBR through PSLF (private physical therapy school, so they are well over six figures). I have some loans that I recently refinanced and plan to pay off in the next 3 years. He makes about $100k and I make about $55k. He gets salary increases multiple times a year, whereas my income increases on much smaller increments and at a slower pace. We have toyed with the idea of filing separately next year, but with changes to the tax code, I can’t figure out if filing separately will be to our benefit. His IBR payments have continued to increase and I hope to go back to school (without taking additional loans, hopefully!) in a year. Filing separately seems to be better for his payments and could allow me to get more institutional scholarships. Does filing separately seem to make sense for our situation? Thank you!

  13. Chris June 29, 2018 at 1:16 PM
    Reply

    Hi looking for advice on our current situation. We were recently married. Both of us have federal student loans. The combined amount is approx. $95,000. We live in PA. Our AGI for 2017 filing jointly was $120,00. We have not consolidated our loans. We are not on any type of income driven plan. Both of us have jobs that would make us eligible for PSLF. Would we even be eligible for any of these plans? In an ideal world we would like to consolidate and get on an income driven plan that takes 20 years to pay and then have our debt forgiven after the 120 payments. Is this even possible with these numbers? Let me know if you need more info. Thank you for your response in advance.

    • Travis June 29, 2018 at 3:24 PM
      Reply

      Only way you could make that work Chris is maxing your retirement plans and HSA accounts. That might limit your AGI to about 76,000 or so, which would make your monthly payment 400-500 dollars a month instead of the standard 10 year being about 900. So you could have about 40k to 50k forgiven in that kind of scenario. However, it’d take careful planning to make sure you actually have a balance that’s projected to be forgiven. Not thinking hard about this would result in complete payoff with no forgiven balance.

  14. Jamie Walker June 29, 2018 at 3:38 PM
    Reply

    Hi. My ex-wife and I consolidated our student loans under a joint spousal consolidation loan years ago. We are both highly-qualified teachers in low-ses schools for more than 10 years. Do our loans qualify for the Teacher Loan Forgiveness program?

    • Travis July 2, 2018 at 5:47 AM
      Reply

      Wow I’d have to review that. I recently did a consult for a couple who has been divorced for a long time that also has a spousal consolidation loan.

      Here’s what I found on the Dept of Ed website

      If you have a Direct Consolidation Loan or a Federal Consolidation Loan, you may be eligible for forgiveness of the outstanding portion of the consolidation loan that repaid an eligible Direct Subsidized Loan, Direct Unsubsidized Loan, Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan, or Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan.

      Based on that I think you’d be eligible but I would call and escalate this immediately to a supervisor at the loan servicing company.

  15. O. ALI July 2, 2018 at 4:48 AM
    Reply

    I have already filed for last year and neither myself or my wife have any HSA’s. I do have 401b retirement plan where I can increase my contributions. With this being said, what is some advice on HSA accounts, what they are and how can they be opened?

    And to clarify. Me increasing contributions to 401b really means I will have to wait until retirement but the benefit now is of lower payment? Do HSA work the same way?

    Thanks!

    • Travis July 2, 2018 at 5:48 AM
      Reply

      You can use HSAs right away for qualifying medical expenses which is basically everything that’s medical related. The 401k max is 18,500 and I generally suggest PSLF folks max theirs. The HSA is only offered by your employer if you have a high deductible health plan. The max is 6900 for a family so it’s not as big a deal as the 401k is.

  16. Marie July 16, 2018 at 2:59 AM
    Reply

    Hello. I am wondering if it would be better to file jointly or separately. I have about 180,000 in student debt and work for a non profit as a social worker. I am on an IBR and it continues to increase based on my husbands income. He makes a lot more than I do and has zero student debt. We have two children (out of four) that we are able to claim on taxes. This past year my payment doubled and I am currently in the recert process. I am positive the amount will increase again pushing us towards a $1000.00 monthly payment. I can’t figure out if filing separately will be to our benefit or maximizing retirement accounts.
    I have tossed around the idea several times but I am not sure if you have any other suggestions or a good calculator to use.

    • Travis July 16, 2018 at 4:01 AM
      Reply

      Hi Marie you can download my calculator on this page and press the “married filing separate button”: https://www.studentloanplanner.com/free-student-loan-calculator/

      You need to go to the third tab to compare the payments (look in columns E, F, and G). You need to compare the payment difference with the higher tax liability from filing separate and choose the lower overall amount. We do consults for folks who want the fast route to figuring this out, but that’s the DIY option.

  17. Cole July 31, 2018 at 9:20 AM
    Reply

    So I just married my wife in febrary and she is on the student loan forgiveness 10 year payment plan and pays 127.00$ a month for 120 payments. She makes about 57000 a year and I make 110000 a year. we have 3 children to claim. Should we file separate or jointly?

    • Travis Hornsby July 31, 2018 at 1:27 PM
      Reply

      Probably separately but it depends on your state of residence and what the tax consequences will be. I would definitely try to minimize your AGI as much as possible with retirement contributions.

  18. Morgan August 7, 2018 at 7:21 PM
    Reply

    Hi,

    I work in a school as a School Psychologist. I also have a website (as a LLC). I have 100k in loans and have been making payments under IBR for the past 4-5 years leaving me about 5 more for PSLF.

    My husband makes more than double what I do in my school job and had minimal loans and paid them off already.

    We got married last year and filed separately this year. We live in Texas though, which is a community property state, so all income and expenses are split 50/50 (certain exceptions apply for pre-marriage assets).

    We are trying to figure out our best plan. Do we move our LLC to his name and continue to file separately so my loans are only based on my lower school income? Or does this not even matter with a community property state. If we have a IDR repayment plan based on both of our incomes and my LLC, my loans would be paid off by the time they were even forgiven. Do we just take a blow and pay off my loans? Do I sign up for another longer repayment plan… or do I beg a wealthy family member for an ‘interest free’ loan to pay them off. We’ve even explored a post-nup or if moving to another state would be more beneficial…

    • Travis Hornsby August 8, 2018 at 3:17 AM
      Reply

      Hi Morgan what you should do is explore alternative income documentation with your loan servicer. In Section 5 of the income based certification forms this is explained in a doc like this one from Great Lakes. Look at Section 5. https://home.mygreatlakes.org/web/FAP/content/sharedcontent/forms/repayment/4194_incomebased_repayment.pdf

      I understand you’re going through the ringer on this. One benefit of filing separately in a community property state is that you’ll have a lower tax liability, so it could be not as bad as you might think. Depends what the numbers say.

      • John October 30, 2018 at 5:35 PM
        Reply

        Travis – I have a similar situation. Do you know if there is a way for the husband in this situation to report the website income on his separate tax return in order to keep the wife’s IBR payments steady? The income will be taxed either way, and likely in a higher tax bracket, but the wife’s student loan payments will not be affected.

        • Travis Hornsby October 30, 2018 at 6:26 PM
          Reply

          You have to include the income on the tax returns and then split the income equally, but then you have to seek alternative income documentation to make sure wife’s payments aren’t way higher as a result. So I would submit paystubs or a signed document stating what her income is. Essentially it’s what they agree to accept.

  19. Sarah August 15, 2018 at 4:20 AM
    Reply

    Hello,
    I have 117k in student loans my husband has 66k I am eligible for pslf my husband is not. I make 75k he makes 50k. I did a couple diy calculators and it suggested I file jointly. Is this accurate? We filed separate in 2017 but owed quite the tax bill.

    • Travis Hornsby August 17, 2018 at 3:38 AM
      Reply

      Filing separately is probably a mistake. you could consider amending your return to joint and get that money back if it’s indeed a mistake and that could put thousands back in your pocket.

  20. Liz September 5, 2018 at 3:06 PM
    Reply

    Hi, great article and advice, thanks for this. I was recently married and when I re-certified last month, my loan payments tripled so I’m trying to explore my options. My student loans exceed $200K and I was on REPAYE, set up for PSLF in a few more years. My spouse does not have loans. My AGI is about $95K , and my spouse’s is $120 (currently both maxing out contributions to retirement). When I got my new monthly payment amount under REPAYE, I immediately requested switching plans and am awaiting approval to change to PAYE, which seems like it should lower payments. Is that correct? We have not filed taxes yet since marrying, but I am guessing we should file separately next year to lower the payments, is that correct? Any other advice? If I had any idea my loan payments would triple, we wouldn’t have filed the paperwork to actually marry after the wedding. Thanks.

    • Travis Hornsby September 5, 2018 at 3:13 PM
      Reply

      Right you’d be best off seeking PAYE and filing separately since your tax penalty should be fairly minimal for filing separately

      • SARAH SCHOBERT December 5, 2018 at 5:48 AM
        Reply

        So my situation sounds similar. But I am not married yet. I currently qualify for PSLF and am in REPAYE. I owe 122k right now at 5.7%. My fiancé has no loans. I make 100K gross after retirement deductions and he makes maybe 150K. We are wondering when we do get married should we file jointly or separately. Seems with both incomes as joint that would disqualify me from any qualifying repayment options. So point is moot. or is it not that simple? and would our taxes be that bad if we filed separately to keep me on the plan?

        • Travis Hornsby December 5, 2018 at 4:55 PM
          Reply

          Remember with REPAYE they count your spouse’s income regardless of how you file taxes. PAYE allows you to file separately. If you’re stuck with choices of REPAYE vs IBR, with your income you don’t have a partial financial hardship most likely. That means if you get married, depending on if your loans are consolidated, you may or may not be able to even receive any PSLF forgiveness. You’d have to run the numbers to be sure and that might be a whole blog post 🙂

  21. Amy September 14, 2018 at 1:45 AM
    Reply

    Hi Travis,
    I recently came across this article, and I appreciate all the information you have to offer! I have a few questions regarding my own situation…

    I am currently enrolled in the PSLF program, for about 3 years now. I work for a non-profit hospital as a nurse. My husband also works in health care, but he works for a private practice which I know doesn’t qualify for the PSLF program.

    We recently had our first baby, and I’m seriously considering being a stay at home mom for a few years. Financially we are able to do this, and honestly I refuse to pay for daycare because it will cost more than our mortgage. I would essentially be working/paying to not see her! I’d rather spend time with her at home and save that money.
    So my main question is – now that I’ve paid 3 years into the PSLF program, let’s say I step away for 3 years to be at home…But then I decide to resume working as a nurse for a non-profit institution, can I resume my PSLF payments at that time (3 years from now)? Is there a time restriction as to how long of a “break” someone can take?

    Secondly – while I’m staying at home, would I need to use the PAYE option to continue paying my loans? My payment would be based off my husband’s income, correct? (as this would be our sole source).

    My husband currently pays according to REPAYE and we always file married jointly, per our accountant’s recommendation.

    Thank you!!
    Amy

    • Travis Hornsby September 14, 2018 at 2:58 AM
      Reply

      If youre on REPAYE then definitely jointly. The only hack you might be able to do is file separately for taxes and do PAYE for him while doing forbearance on your loans for about 3 years. That way you’d pay less on your debt, which would be forgiven. There’s a lot to this probably but that’s another approach you could take. But yes you can pick up right where you left off when you go back to work and keep your 3 years of credit.

      • Amy September 14, 2018 at 8:28 PM
        Reply

        Great, thanks for your input!

        So there’s truly nothing in the program currently that restricts how long of a break someone can take? Could this change in the future?

        The thought of it makes me feel a bit uncertain… to be away for 1+ years, yet having my spot still “reserved” whenever I decide to go back.

        Thanks again.

        • Amy October 2, 2018 at 5:22 PM
          Reply

          Hi Travis,
          I am following up with another comment to our previous discussion – just needing some further clarification. I can’t seem to find the answers elsewhere.
          Mentioned prior, my husband pays his loans via REPAYE. I think I was a little confused regarding my own plan, but I contacted my loan servicer and they verified that I, too, am paying according to REPAYE within the PSLF program.

          Starting in January, I will in fact be taking a temporary break from work to stay at home with the baby. I’m confused about my options though – re: forbearance vs deferment. Are you able to explain what would be the difference in my situation, or what I would qualify for or would be most beneficial for me? Considering my income will be little to none. My husband and I plan to continue filing our taxes jointly. I’m trying to decide whether I should pay even a small amount on my loans each month (which would be based solely on my husband’s income, correct?) while I’m not working. Or if I should try to get my payments to zero. From my understanding, if we file jointly and are both under the REPAYE plan, then we would owe on my loans according to his income alone? He makes about 100k per year. I was told that I can use forbearance for only a set amount of months.

          I know I’m jumping around a bit with this post. Just trying to sort it all out. Thanks!!

  22. Richard September 17, 2018 at 4:10 AM
    Reply

    Hi. What would be some of the examples where I can check off “Married, but cannot reasonably access my spouse’s income information”. My spouse does not have any student loans owed. We file taxes jointly. Thank you for your advices.

    • Travis Hornsby September 17, 2018 at 12:55 PM
      Reply

      In my opinion (others might say something different) I think the only time that’s ok to check is if you’re going through some kind of separation or imminent divorce. It’s not intended to be a loophole to exclude your spouse’s income. I expect they’ll crack down on people doing that someday.

  23. Shawndra October 10, 2018 at 5:29 PM
    Reply

    Hi! I am technically unemployed (I receive no paychecks), but I put in 30+ hours a week doing admin for my husband’s college ministry. We are commissioned to do this work under the umbrella of a national 501(c)(3) organization. We technically share an income (which is entirely fundraised by us) but all of the paychecks are in my husband’s name. We file our taxed MFJ as “self-employed”.

    Right now we have a $10/month IBR payment. We have two kids and don’t make a lot of money. Our work is VERY financially sacrificial. But we love it!

    I am not technically employed by our 501(c)(3) organization, but I am formally affiliated with them as a volunteer. I have the documentation of this because I have to renew my affiliation annually. So, on the books I am a jobless volunteer stay-at-home mom, but in reality I am in a full-time public service position.

    My student loan balance is over $100,000 (mostly from a masters at a private university.). I don’t foresee us ever paying this off outright. My husband has no loans.

    I am wondering if I could qualify for PSLF as a “volunteer”? I put in the hours, I just don’t get paid. :-/ I have no problem with this on principle because I love the work, but is this setup up dooming us? Should we just pay the low monthly payments and wait 20 years to have it forgiven? At that point will we owe a big chunk of taxes on the forgiven amount? At that point I suspect the balance will be over $200,000.

    Is it worth writing a formal letter to my loan servicer explaining our situation? I am working hard, serving students on university campuses, but we are making very little money in order to follow this calling.

    Thanks for any insight you have.

    • Travis Hornsby October 10, 2018 at 7:15 PM
      Reply

      I sure wish I had better news Shawndra, but you won’t be able to qualify without receiving paychecks as an employee. I appreciate the work you do. You could either go for forgiveness on the non-PSLF path, or you could wait til you get a job that qualifies.

      • Elizabeth December 27, 2019 at 5:18 PM
        Reply

        Wait! I thought you only needed to put in 30 hours of work for a 501c3 or government agency–paid or unpaid–to qualify?!? If you have a signed certification form showing the number of hours, and your tax return shows zero income, then why wouldn’t you still qualify for PSLF? Or does volunteering and having it count only work if you are affiliated with PeaceCorp or ServiceCorps? What if I opened my own non-profit and worked for zero pay?

        • Travis at Student Loan Planner January 6, 2020 at 3:12 PM
          Reply

          If you’re unpaid then you’re not an employee you’re a volunteer. You have to be a full time W2 employee receiving income to be able to qualify for PSLF.

  24. Curious Fed October 12, 2018 at 2:34 AM
    Reply

    As a Federal employee in a permanent position, is it possible to utilize the Federal Loan Repayment benefit (https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/student-loan-repayment/) to pay off a spouse’s federal student debt?

    • Travis Hornsby October 12, 2018 at 4:22 PM
      Reply

      I don’t believe it’s possible but I’m not positive. Maybe someone else can chime in?

  25. Dee October 13, 2018 at 1:13 AM
    Reply

    Hi, I got married last year and I’m currently on the REPAYE plan with over $300,000 in student loan debt. I make about $103,000 per year and my wife is a teacher and makes roughly $55,000/year. She is currently in school so her loans are deferred. I am thinking of switching back to the IBR plan and filing married but separate. The only problem with this is that I’m eligible to itemize my taxes since the house is in my name, which would give some nice tax breaks. My wife, however, doesn’t own any property in her name and typically files the standard deduction. From what I understand, we either both have to itemize or both take the standard deduction. Could you give some advice in this situation? Would it be beneficial for me to simply take the standard deduction or is she able to itemize? If I had to choose between bigger tax break or lower monthly student loan payments, I’d go with the payments. My current student loan payment is about $542/month and I’m worried about it going up to the point where I can no longer afford it if we make the wrong choice about which way to file. Thank you so much for any help you can give. This has been stressing me out for months now.

    • Travis Hornsby October 15, 2018 at 4:24 PM
      Reply

      Hi Dee you know the standard deduction went way higher for 2018 so it might be tough to itemize anyway. Also I would see if they’d grant you an in school deferment waiver request. That might be much better if you’d both be on REPAYE and qualifying instead.

  26. Jacqueline October 13, 2018 at 11:39 PM
    Reply

    I qualify for PSLF and have around $200k in debt. My husband is a stay at home father and has only about $7k left I debt. We plan REPAYE for now. I’m wondering if I should add his loan at all or just pay it off separately? I understand he’ll have another 10 years of payments after my loans are (hopefully) forgiven after ten years.

    • Travis Hornsby October 15, 2018 at 4:24 PM
      Reply

      I’d pay it off separately most likely.

  27. Alicia October 16, 2018 at 1:02 AM
    Reply

    Hello,

    I currently work for a non for profit organization and I just graduated with my MSW. I know that if i continued to work here for 10 years my loans could be forgiven. However, I have a two year old and am trying for another child and I’d like to be a stay at home mom and open up my own day care (not certified right away). With that being said if I got on a PAYE plan would my loans still be eligible to be forgiven in 20-25 years or no because of my job?

    • Travis Hornsby October 17, 2018 at 8:21 PM
      Reply

      Yes you can use the PAYE 20 year strategy regardless of what you’re doing or not doing for work. Keep in mind that forgiveness would be taxavke income at the end of the 20 years though.

  28. Andrew October 17, 2018 at 3:40 PM
    Reply

    My wife has student loans and works for the government. I do not have any loans. My income is about 15k higher than hers at this time. In what case would we not be eligible for ibr? We are currently mfs so my income does not get included. Could we fill jointly and still qualify in the future.. jointly the income would be around 100k . I am trying to figure this out for future planning and kids

    • Travis Hornsby October 17, 2018 at 8:19 PM
      Reply

      That could be the case since IBR caps payments at the 10 year standard plan. However the analysis I’d suggest running would be IBR filing separately vs REPAYE filing jointly.

      • Andrew October 18, 2018 at 2:27 AM
        Reply

        So keep on doing mfs until the loans are forgiven even when we have kids ?

        • Andrew October 18, 2018 at 3:04 AM
          Reply

          Does repaye still forgive loans after 120 payments. I’m not as familiar with how that program works. With my wife working for the federal govt I’m looking for the best option for us.

  29. Angelica October 18, 2018 at 3:09 PM
    Reply

    My significant other wants to get married to me but he tells me all the time, that he doesn’t want to marry my debt. My Student loan is 45K and the only debt he has is his Car loan. So my question is, are they a way for me to approve to him that he wouldn’t affect him? I want to pay off my own debt without bringing him into it.

    • Travis Hornsby October 23, 2018 at 9:59 PM
      Reply

      By refinancing and paying them off they’re totally legally distinct from him. However, if I had to choose between 45k of student debt and a car loan, I’d choose the prospective spouse with the student debt. Having a car loan is big ticket consumerism. Having student loans is something that you decided to do years ago, and the car is something you choose today to do by not selling it and buying a cheaper used one. If your debt was 400k I’d say something different, but 45k is small enough not to matter.

  30. Karen October 18, 2018 at 4:56 PM
    Reply

    My husband and I are trying to figure out student loan repayment options for us as he has to re-certify in November. He is currently on PAYE and has about $300K in federal student loans as well as some private student loans. I do not have any student loan debt to my name. We got married in 2017, filed our first tax return as married, separate because he is a 1099 and I am a W2 employee. I make $65K and he made $74K last year gross. He does not qualify for RePAYE from what we are told. What are our best options to get the lowest possible payment for his loans and possibly one that doesn’t take my income into account? He does not qualify for PSLF either. Any help is greatly appreciated!

    • Travis Hornsby October 23, 2018 at 9:56 PM
      Reply

      You’re on the right path generally. I would just try to save more money for the tax bomb and max retirement accounts. If PSLF is not an option, that means the forgiveness takes 20 years and is taxable income in the year it’s forgiven.

  31. Amanda October 22, 2018 at 5:04 PM
    Reply

    If I am unmarried, have 3 children, can we both claim the 3 kids as part of our household size on the PSLF?

    • Travis Hornsby October 23, 2018 at 9:45 PM
      Reply

      No but they will factor it into your overall payment

  32. Tammy October 25, 2018 at 3:12 AM
    Reply

    Hi. My husband and I are both teachers in Florida, we each make about $40k each year. I am the only with loans, about $45k. I just recently put my application in for PSLF. In 2017, we filed our taxes married jointly. According to a calculator if we file married joint, my income- based repayment would be about $455, but if I were to file separate it would be only based on my income making my payments $145 per month (which is affordable). Can I start filing my taxes married separate in 2018 and submit my application for IBRP once I’ve done my 2018 taxes or is there no hope for me since I’ve already filed married joint in 2017? Basically am I screwed?

    • Travis Hornsby October 25, 2018 at 5:22 PM
      Reply

      You are not screwed you should be able to do either PAYE (better) or IBR (ok) filing separately and still qualify for PSLF. Since you both make about the same and Florida is a non-community property state, you shouldn’t have too much in the way of tax penalties.

  33. Larry October 27, 2018 at 5:03 AM
    Reply

    I just want to say thank you for all of the help you’ve given me as I navigate trying to get on this program. Every time I do research on PSLF your page comes up with just the answer I was looking for. I hope you are decently compensated for this because it is valuable service you are providing. I’ll look you up once I’m working again. Keep up the great work.

  34. Amanda October 29, 2018 at 6:17 PM
    Reply

    Hi..I plan on filing separately from my husband for 2017 taxes. Mainly because he has his own busines now and is 1099. And because this will make my already high payment sky rocket into unaffordability. I work for a public university and just learned that I can apply for PSLF. Should I do this before filing my 2017 taxes? Also, I have been in this job since March 2015. Is there a way to go back and get the last 3 years into the loan forgiveness program?
    Thanks in advance!
    Amanda

    • Travis Hornsby October 30, 2018 at 6:24 PM
      Reply

      There sure is fill out the PSLF employment certification form: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/public-service-employment-certification-form.pdf

      You should be able to get credit for those prior years if they qualified, just know you will wait a while. I would get started on applying now. Hopefully you mean 2018 taxes and not 2017 since the extension deadline passed?

      • Amanda October 30, 2018 at 7:44 PM
        Reply

        Alright then! Ill get started on it.
        And yes, I meant 2018 taxes. If I file Married, single in 2018, but have previously filed jointly, will they still want my husbands income, since it was taken into account in the past?
        Thanks for your help!

  35. Jacqueline November 4, 2018 at 6:44 PM
    Reply

    We file jointly; my husband is a stay at home father. I have about $200k in loans and he only has about $7k left over. I’m pursuing PSLF under REPAYE; his loan does not qualify for PSLF. My question is, does it make sense to add his loan to the REPAYE payments now and (I assume) have a balance in 10 years when my loans are (hopefully) forgiven or pay his loan off now if we can? The percentage in his loan is 7%.

    • Travis Hornsby November 5, 2018 at 1:07 AM
      Reply

      Honestly I’d just get rid of his loan if it was me but technically you should be able to include it and his payments should be extremely small like 50 a month or something like that

      • Jacqueline November 5, 2018 at 2:31 AM
        Reply

        After ten years, his payments would be expected to stay at approx $50/month? Would the balance be expected to have balloon well over $7k? Thank so much!

  36. Stefanie Barone November 15, 2018 at 3:39 AM
    Reply

    Both my husband and I have been on PAYE for about 2 yrs. The first year a company did all the paperwork for us and our payments were low. Last year we did the re-certification and had filed jointly, sadly our PAYE payments doubled. This coming year we would like to file separately as we read this may reduce our PAYE payments. We understand there may be an increase in taxes being owed and will discuss with our accountant in February. Do you foresee any other issues or what is your advice? We are both teachers with about $45.000 debt each. What do I need to ask to figure out if we will have a balance left over to forgive? I want to make sure we are getting the most out of this program. Thanks

    • Travis Hornsby November 15, 2018 at 4:08 AM
      Reply

      That sounds like a sketchy or scam type of organization if they would file the paperwork for you. There’s been a lot of stories about places like that taking advantage of folks. I would not file separately if you both have loans, I’d file jointly on PAYE.

      • Stefanie Barone November 15, 2018 at 4:07 PM
        Reply

        Why not file separately?

  37. Dale Willett November 18, 2018 at 6:48 PM
    Reply

    Hi Travis,
    My wife works for a teaching hospital and has been paying her student loans and is near the PSLF threshold. I am graduating next month and have my loans coming due. We file married jointly. Is it possible for her to continue paying her loans to term and have my loans forgiven?

    • Travis Hornsby November 19, 2018 at 3:22 AM
      Reply

      Sure remember your payments can always be capped regardless of your income on IBR or PAYE at the Standard 10 year monthly payment.

      • Dale Willett November 19, 2018 at 4:19 PM
        Reply

        As I read my question again, I don’t think I was clear in what I was asking. I am not currently working for a public service but my wife has for the entirety of her loan payments. What we are wondering is if since my repayment is based on our joint income, is it possible that her PSLF could transfer to my loans if she were to pay of her loans completely?

  38. Diane November 27, 2018 at 12:32 AM
    Reply

    Travis, what a great article. Can you give me an update regarding your “best guess” as it relates to continuation of PSLF and the current administration? Is the common assumption that PSLF will go away over the next few years? I am a third year med. school student and trying to stay educated on my future options. I am most likely headed towards working with a non-profit institution after Residency. Thank you so much, and a consult with you might definitely be in my future!

    • Travis Hornsby November 27, 2018 at 1:52 AM
      Reply

      Thanks Diane. Right now its full steam ahead for PSLF. There hasn’t been any serous effort that I’ve noticed in the past year, and now there’s a Democratic House, which makes PSLF changes unlikely for the next two years.

  39. Stella December 3, 2018 at 3:59 AM
    Reply

    Hello Travis-
    I have about 100,000 of student loan debt and make roughly 52,000. My Husband has about 20,000 in student loan debt and makes about 62,000. He is doing the standard repayment plan and I am currently on PAYE and I qualify for the PSLF. Before we were married I had very reasonable payments. We got married in 2017 and filed jointly. I just got back my re-certification and my monthly payments have quadrupled! I was working with the repayment calculator and it seems like it would be better if we would have filed separately. Even though we both have loans, do you think it would be beneficial to file 2018 separately? Also since we already filed jointly for 2017 is there any way to lower my upcoming payments for 2019?

    • Travis Hornsby December 3, 2018 at 4:48 AM
      Reply

      I would suggest putting your taxes in turbotax to see what kind of penalty you’d pay for filing separately. I ran some numbers and found your payment if single would be about $282 a month. With being married, it should be $798 a month if you were both on PAYE. If his standard payment is about 200 a month, then the difference is a little more than $300 a month in extra payments you’re making overall because of being married. If your tax penalty is above $3600 a year, you should file jointly. If it’s significantly less than that, you could look at filing separately.

  40. Michelle Kelly December 7, 2018 at 12:13 AM
    Reply

    I am struggling to find an answer to this question. Currently, my husband and I both have student loans. He has significantly more. He is a physician and on track for pslf. I have some loans from grad school and am a stay at home mom. We each pay a percentage now of our loan debt based on his total income. In researching the income driven plans, I think repaye would make sense for him but I think I should stay on ibr. Once his are forgiven, I may opt for the standard or extended plan. I may not want to keep paying a portion of his gross income. If I was repaye, I don’t think I could switch back. Is it possible for spouses to be on different income repayment plans?

    • Travis Hornsby December 7, 2018 at 4:38 AM
      Reply

      If you want to do Extended you could definitely switch from REPAYE to Extended. That payment plan doesn’t require a partial financial hardship

  41. Stephanie December 18, 2018 at 1:52 PM
    Reply

    Hello Travis,
    My husband is in year 4 of PSLF with 190k in student loans and in IBR. We paid off all but 25k of my student loans and could pay off the 25k in January. He makes 120k and I make 70k. We max out his 401k and my SIMPLE (12.5k). Two questions:

    1. Is IBR really the best PSLF qualifying plan for this pre-2014 loan?
    2. Does filing separately make sense?
    (Bonus question: Should we pay off my 25k loan (6.8%) now or does it help decrease his payments?)

    Thank you.

    • Travis Hornsby December 18, 2018 at 2:11 PM
      Reply

      Is he not eligible for PAYE? If he is he should be using that and not IBR. If he’s not, then I hate to say “it depends” but it does. Filing separate with IBR is the only way to benefit with PSLF vs REPAYE. Hence, if the tax penalty for filing separate is large, then I’d go with REPAYE instead. If it’s small, I’d focus on pretax savings for him since 15% of income is a lot of savings to get on 401k contributions in additional to income tax breaks. This is a complex one though and is an example of the kind of thing people hire us to figure out: https://www.studentloanplanner.com/hire-student-loan-help/

      My best guess Stephanie is that it makes sense to pay off your loan and just treat his separately unless you have a huge number of kids. That would mess with the deductions you’d get.

  42. Smith December 18, 2018 at 3:00 PM
    Reply

    My spouse makes $350k (we paid off spouse’s loans already), I make $135k. I have $250k in student loans (We’ve filed separately while I’ve been on IBR and making PSLF qualifying payments for 5 years…so not even paying off the interest, I have significantly more debt than when I started paying, but the plan has been to get PSLF after 10 years). Now I’m thinking about becoming a stay at home parent, reducing my income to 0. Can we continue to file separately? Can I have an IBR plan with 0 income if my spouse is a high earner? If I go back to work later, can I pick up where I left off with PSLF qualifying payments?

    • Travis Hornsby December 18, 2018 at 4:05 PM
      Reply

      Yes you can pick up where you left off, but it highly depends on whether you live in a community property state or not. If you do, then you could minimize your tax penalty from filing separately. If you do not, then you could face a very high tax bill for your 0 dollar payment.

  43. Jay January 16, 2019 at 1:49 PM
    Reply

    Hi Travis, I am on the REPAYE plan and qualify for PSLF. My spouse is currently deployed. If I check unable to access my spouse’s income on my recertification, do you think I should be concerned that it will affect my payment plan or my PSLF application down the line? Thank you for your help!

    • Travis Hornsby January 17, 2019 at 4:11 AM
      Reply

      Hmm that might be reasonable actually. At least you have a real reason. Most people check it just because they don’t want to pay based on the spouses income which is improper in my view

  44. Eric January 17, 2019 at 8:05 PM
    Reply

    If wife is on IBR repayment plan for PSLF and we file taxes separate, can you go back and amend those returns to married file jointly?

    Does that impact loan forgiveness? is there risk we would have to back pay the higher monthly amount that WOULD have been owed had we filed with joint income.

    Seems like a no brainer unless that’s against the rules?

    • Travis Hornsby January 17, 2019 at 9:12 PM
      Reply

      Out of an abundance of caution, I recommend to my clients that you only do that once PSLF has been given to you. Then you can go back and amend 3 years of previous returns. It could definitely work but it might not while you’re still working towards PSLF.

  45. Josh January 23, 2019 at 1:21 AM
    Reply

    My spouse and I both have federal student loan debt. My spouse owes $42,000 and is on PAYE ($100/monthly). I owe $73,000 and am on PAYE ($204/monthly). I start making this payment once my 6 month deferment grace period ends (June 2019). We both work in government in Texas and are seeking PSLF. We both earn $41,000 each. Would it be best to file married-joint or separate in regard to student loan savings versus tax savings? Thank you for your help!

    • Travis Hornsby January 23, 2019 at 3:38 AM
      Reply

      Joint. If you both have big debt it’s very uncommon to need to file separately.

  46. Nathan January 23, 2019 at 9:16 PM
    Reply

    Hi. Looking for some advice for our current scenario as we were just married in July 2018 and this will be our first tax year together.

    Husband: $130k salary, no student debt, owns a home, small brokerage account, last year itemize deductions were around $25k (Live in MD high state tax and RE tax)
    Wife: $50k salary, $120k student debt, elementary counselor, 5 years in on IBR and working towards PSLF

    1. Her current loan payments under IBR are $250. I am assuming we should file married filing separately to make sure her payments stay low as she would get kicked out of IBR if we file jointly?
    2. Can I reduce her AGI further by contributing to a Traditional IRA in her name? Or is that excluded under the MFS rules?
    3. Should we review the impact on taking the standard deduction and itemizing our deductions?
    4. What is the box on the IDR plan regarding “Married but can not reasonable access my spouses income”?
    5. Is it better or worse in our situation since our incomes are so drastically different?

    Any suggestions on what we should do would be much appreciated! Based on the repayment estimator her payments would increase to over $1,200 if we file jointly so that doesn’t seem it would make sense. Thanks!

    • Travis Hornsby January 23, 2019 at 9:43 PM
      Reply

      If you’re eligible for PAYE she should be using that instead of IBR. But if she’s not, you need to compare the tax cost of being separate to the higher cost of payments on REPAYE. I wouldnt check the “cant access spouse income” box. Traditional IRA is not as good as her 403b options probably. 403b also has a higher limit of 19k. You could contribute to your retirement as well to lower the filing separate penalty. Our calculator can help with showing the repayment difference: https://www.studentloanplanner.com/free-student-loan-calculator/

  47. Irma January 25, 2019 at 11:13 PM
    Reply

    I have been paying my school loans for what seems an eternity! I am currently on the income driven repayment plan because that’s all I can afford. However, I just noticed that I owe almost $4,000 more than last year! Ugh! I want to look into this REPAYE plan and hopefully it will help. I’m just so discouraged about these students loans. In fact, the Bachelors degree in Human Services has done absolutely nothing for me other than being in a lifetime of debt!!

    • Travis Hornsby January 27, 2019 at 6:40 AM
      Reply

      Yeah with REPAYE you generally get a subsidy of 50% of the interest you’re not required to pay each year (applied monthly). That means under REPAYE you might’ve accrued $2,000 of interest instead of $4,000.

  48. Erin January 30, 2019 at 12:48 PM
    Reply

    I am a teacher and recently qualified to have loans forgiven via the teacher loan forgiveness program, leaving me with a balance of around 95k. I also want to seek loan forgiveness with the PSLF. Do my payments made before the teacher loan forgiveness count towards my 120 payments or does it start over? Also, my husband does not have any student loans and we both make under 75k. We are a family of 5. Will it be in my best interest to file taxes separate to decrease my loan payment?

    • Travis Hornsby January 30, 2019 at 3:35 PM
      Reply

      Probably you should be filing separately doing the PAYE plan, and no teacher loan forgiveness and PSLF payments don’t double count. Generally if you owe more than 25k as a teacher you want to do PSLF and not Teacher Loan Forgiveness

  49. George February 6, 2019 at 8:43 PM
    Reply

    My wife will be graduating with approximately $60,000 of direct federal loans and is going to work as a social worker upon graduating. Her income will be much lower than mine. Would she be eligible for the public service loan forgiveness and are we better off filing taxes separately?

    • Travis Hornsby February 7, 2019 at 12:40 AM
      Reply

      She would be if she’s at a separate employer. You have to run the math on the tax penalty from filing separate to see if it’s a lot more than the lower payments. Our calculator can do that: https://www.studentloanplanner.com/free-student-loan-calculator/

      • George February 12, 2019 at 1:19 AM
        Reply

        Thanks Travis. From a tax filing perspective, if we are currently filing jointly, when do we need to start filing separately for the purposes of the the PSLF if my wife graduates in 2020?

  50. Lorrie Cline February 7, 2019 at 2:49 AM
    Reply

    I am in the PSLF prgm and am in my 8th year. I am on the IBR plan. I’ve read through all of your comments and am confused as I see you recommend the PAYE plan for some over the IBR. I am married, we file separately each year to keep my payments lower. Can you clarify this for me?

    • Travis Hornsby February 7, 2019 at 3:44 AM
      Reply

      If you borrowed before Oct 1 2007 then you aren’t eligible for PAYE even if you paid off the loans already. So in that case your two choices are IBR and REPAYE. IBR is the only one of those two that allow you to separate your income from your spouse. So that’s when it’s useful in a PSLF context.

  51. Luke February 7, 2019 at 10:05 PM
    Reply

    That entire article was worth reading just because of the Bob Loblaw reference

  52. Steven February 17, 2019 at 1:28 AM
    Reply

    Thanks for your very helpful article.
    My newly-married wife and I are determining how to file. I have no debt, make 84k. She makes 38k, has been on the IBR plan, has made about 108 payments out of the required 120 to be eligible for PSLF, with about 10k in debt remaining. From the comments so far, it looks like filing separately makes sense to keep payments low. Is this recommended? Thanks.

    • Travis Hornsby February 18, 2019 at 2:08 PM
      Reply

      Yeah and don’t forget you’re allowed to amend up to 3 years in the past I believe. So you could wait to see if you get PSLF then see if you could amend to get the taxes back.

      • Steven February 18, 2019 at 5:43 PM
        Reply

        Awesome thanks so much.

  53. Paul February 20, 2019 at 12:51 PM
    Reply

    Just started researching this information and this is by far the best website and FAQ I’ve come across!! Married my wife (a nurse) in the fall of 2018 making this the first year we do our taxes together. At this point all I know is that I have zero student loan debt, she has about $60k in Federal Student loans that she has paid on in the past but are currently in deferment as she went back to Grad school in the summer of 2018 and we make approximately $195k. My questions are:
    1. Does it matter if we file jointly or separately this year and for the next few as we won’t start paying on the loans for at least another three years?
    2. What should we be doing in the few years as we approach that time when we begin paying on the loans?
    Thanks in advance,
    Paul

    • Travis Hornsby February 20, 2019 at 8:55 PM
      Reply

      Is she taking out more debt Paul? If not then 60k on 195k of income is likely to much income to get any PSLF benefit at all. In that case you might be unable to have a partial financial hardship. Thanks for liking the site please share it with friends 🙂

  54. scott February 23, 2019 at 7:27 PM
    Reply

    My wife is using the pslf for an income based repayment, we have 2 children. Does she have to claim the children? We are both teachers and I make slightly more than her (my loans are paid). We are filing separate to save on her monthly payments (jointly, monthly student loan = $280, separate = $40). I did not know if she had to claim the children to be eligible for the income based.

    • Travis Hornsby February 25, 2019 at 11:14 AM
      Reply

      She doesn’t have to but since they base it on her tax return I would probably have her claim them.

  55. Paul March 4, 2019 at 9:12 PM
    Reply

    If both my wife and I are on IBR and file jointly, are the monthly payment amounts simply based on combined AGI? Is combined AGI reduced by the fact that we’re currently both paying back loans? We recently got married, both make around $90k, and have monthly payments around $500 (based on last year’s separate filings). If we file jointly this year, it seems each of our monthly payments might double to around $1000k/month, or $2000k/month combined (since our combined income is double each of our individual incomes). I haven’t checked our potential tax costs if we file separately, but I’m doubtful it would exceed the additional $12,000 we would pay in combined student loans per year if filing jointly. Appreciate the help!

    • Travis Hornsby March 5, 2019 at 9:36 AM
      Reply

      Payment is always your joint AGI then its proportionately split based on debt amount if you file joint. They dont double count your income. So IBR payment of 1000 means maybe 600 to yours and 400 to spouse if you had 60% of the debt. In general, couples where both people have big debt should file jointly.

  56. Anna G. March 18, 2019 at 8:10 AM
    Reply

    My husband is a firefighter employed by our county and he does not have any student loans but I do. Do spouses qualify for this if we file married jointly?

    • Travis Hornsby March 18, 2019 at 8:44 AM
      Reply

      No the person with the loans has to be the one to do the public service

  57. Jebediah March 19, 2019 at 8:40 PM
    Reply

    It makes more sense for us to file married but separate, however, it hurts us in terms of how much were taxed (we did the math and it is MUCH better to file separately). Are we able to amend our tax return to file married after I recertify annually to have a lower monthly payment? Is there any rule that they need to have the most up to date tax return on file at all times?

  58. Rebecca March 20, 2019 at 8:53 PM
    Reply

    Hi Travis

    I have $176,041.44 in unpaid principal and $24,593.44 unpaid interest for a total balance of $200,634.88 worth of 11 Direct Student Plus loans. I make 66k a year and just finished my first year of PSLF and pending the form to be completed from my employer. I currently work a non profit large hospital that is eligible. Do you recommend I consolidate all these loans into 1? I am currently on a IDR payment plan for all the loans and the interest accrual every month is ridiculous which makes me nervous in the event the PSLF plan is terminated.

    Thanks

    • Travis Hornsby March 20, 2019 at 9:46 PM
      Reply

      No dont consolidate you have 9 years left, no reason to add another year for easier administration.

      • Rebecca March 20, 2019 at 10:05 PM
        Reply

        Should I keep it on the IDR plan? I’m a physical therapist and will be married next year to my spouse who makes 150k+ with no debt, I would imagine we will file separately though to prevent the payment increase.

  59. Jim March 26, 2019 at 8:35 AM
    Reply

    I am unsure what to do.

    I am newly married. Furthermore, we each sold a house. So, our income for this past year is massive but not a “true” measure of our income.

    It appears “married, filing separately” is the best bet. Though our taxes are higher for the year, our estimated loan payment is much lower.

    However, using our tax returns is an egregious over-estimate of our income for the year. I also found that I can use my paystub to estimate my income-based payment but that also is an overestimate. Though my paystub averages out to $109K, my tax return for the prior year (with the same pay) had an AGI of $86K (I don’t know how or why). So, a payment based on my paystub average (109) is much higher than one based on the year’s prior AGI (86).

    Someone told me I could have my accountant write a letter vouching for my estimated income based on this year’s earnings and they can use that?

    Can anyone help or does anyone have any answers about these matters?

    Thanks!

    • Travis Hornsby March 26, 2019 at 11:35 AM
      Reply

      You have to fully declare all taxable income that goes on your tax return to the loan folks who use that to calculate the payment. However, if your income substantially changes, you’re allowed to submit new documentation to recalculate it much like you suggest. I usually tell folks to make a few months of payments at the high income then get their payment recalculated because it seems a moderate step to take instead of never paying on the higher income at all

      • Jim March 26, 2019 at 11:41 AM
        Reply

        Good advice. Thanks. Yes that was my sense. Bite the violet a few months and then submit new documentation requesting a revision

        “Taxable income.” So, if I maximize my 401k contribution that reduces my taxable income and, therefore, my payment? Or, does it calculate “gross income” (ie, pre-retirement contribution)? Thanks again for the helpful comments and info!

  60. Lee March 27, 2019 at 2:08 PM
    Reply

    Travis, thanks for helping all of us in need of quick guidance!
    I currently owe in $357k in (federal) student loans from undergrad and law school and my husband owes close to $200k. Last year I grossed $67k and my husband $108k. Newly married and no kids, we filed our taxes separately to avoid higher loan payments.
    I am now re-certifying my income.
    (1) Should I use my tax return or a pay stub? There’s been a discrepancy in years past of my monthly repayment depending on which documentation I send in.
    (2) I want the lowest monthly repayment but I’m thinking they will put me on IDR. Based on my income, it will likely be around $550/mo. I can’t afford that. Do I have any other options if I can’t pay the amount they calculate?

    • Travis Hornsby March 27, 2019 at 4:09 PM
      Reply

      I think yall are making a mistake filing separate. There’s no need to if you both have loans of that size. Generally REPAYE and PAYE are decent options in terms of payment amounts. But remember that paying the least isnt a strategy.

  61. Mary April 2, 2019 at 1:47 AM
    Reply

    Hi Travis, I have parent plus loans totaling 99,000 at 8% but if I add my student loan at 3.5% the interest rate comes down to 7.2% and the total comes up to 118,000. First question… should I leave in or leave out my 3.5% student loan when consolidating?

    Like I said I am going to consolidate all my federal direct parent plus loans (99,000) however we filed jointly in 2017 for a total of 171,000.00 (I made 136,000.00) combined income. We always have to pay taxes back to the IRS because it’s just us two with no dependents. We haven’t filed for 2018 just yet but the income will be more or less the same. What plan should I choose to consolidate under? I am 61 years old and my income will drastically decrease as full retirement is around the corner (4-5 years? maybe sooner if my daughter has a baby). I probably need to look into an income repayment plan that can stretch for 25 or 30 years so that payments can be minimal during my retirement years. Being at 61 I have found out that my loans will be forgiven should I pass away before I pay them off.
    Any information will be greatly appreciated.
    Mary

    • Travis Hornsby April 2, 2019 at 9:25 AM
      Reply

      You have a tough situation where your monthly payment will be pretty high with ICR if you consolidate. I’d unfortunately suggest paying it all back, possibly with help from your daughter or just trying to get rid of the debt through refinancing a portion of it that’s at a high interest rate https://www.studentloanplanner.com/hire-student-loan-help/ if you decide you want to talk through all this

  62. Lynn White April 7, 2019 at 7:12 PM
    Reply

    It currently makes sense for my husband and I to file separately to keep my loan payments on IBR while I’m working on PSLF for loans that I took out to send the kids to school and then consolidated for the program. I’ve seen comments that you can go back and amend pst returns to file jointly after the loan is forgiven. Is this something that can be done mid-stream as well? For example, can I amend our 2017 return now that I’ve filed 2018 and will be recertifying my IBR based on that?

    • Travis Hornsby April 7, 2019 at 9:37 PM
      Reply

      I personally wouldn’t recommend it. I’d wait til the end of the program to amend anything even if it costs you money

  63. Amanda Voeker April 15, 2019 at 1:15 PM
    Reply

    Hi Travis,
    I have just finished my 2018 tax return and filed separetely (in past years I filed jointly with my husband). I am working towards PSLF and on IBR. Now that I have my 2018 return completed, can I send in a change of income request reflecting my 2018 AGI or do I need to wait until the fall when I recertify my income?

    one other unrelated question regarding PSLF—I have heard from some that once the forgiveness happens, I have to pay taxes on the amount of that forgiveness, as the IRS considers it income. I have heard from others that this is not the case because it is public forgiveness. Do you know that answer to that?
    Thanks for your help!
    Amanda

    • Travis Hornsby April 16, 2019 at 6:37 AM
      Reply

      Yes you can ask for a recalculation of your IBR payment and no PSLF is not taxable

  64. Stephen April 23, 2019 at 7:21 PM
    Reply

    Hey Travis. I am new to all this PLSF. I recently got married, and she has student loans under a IDR. I do not have any loans. Because of our situation, she had to leave federal service, and I kept my federal job. Does she still qualify for PLSF, even though technically I am the one making the payments and I am a Federal employee?
    TIA

    • Travis Hornsby April 24, 2019 at 4:39 PM
      Reply

      Unfortunately no she has to be the one working at a qualifying spot

  65. Lorrie Cline April 24, 2019 at 5:00 PM
    Reply

    Travis,
    I think I’ve seen this somewhere, but can’t find it now, hoping you can verify for me…I work full-time at a qualifying non profit but want to pick up a part-time job, about 5 hrs a week at a non qualifying for-profit. Will this part time job have any effect on my loan forgiveness? I know I would include the income when I recertify my income annually. But wanted to make sure that this would have no effect on the outcome of the forgiveness itself.
    Thank you!

  66. Chris May 28, 2019 at 8:21 PM
    Reply

    Hi Travis!

    Firstly, thank you so much for this article! Exactly the time of information I’ve been hunting for.

    My situation is as follows.. my wife is eligible for PSLF and she just got on an IBR last year and has 6 total qualifying payments so far. In her first year, the IBR payment for her was $0 (her current balance is 125k) which seemed strange at first, but when I did som researched seemed more common than I thought it’d be. Anyways, this last year was our first year filing jointly. When she did the yearly reapply form, the payment jumped to over $800 which is absolutely killing us even though I make a good income.

    So my question, can we go back to filing separately, and then when she reapplies next year could we expect the payment to go back down?

    Thank you so much for your help and guidance! It is wonderful seeing you helping so many people.

    Best, Chris

    • Travis Hornsby May 29, 2019 at 10:12 AM
      Reply

      Yes you can file separately and the payment should go down you just need to watch out for your tax penalty

  67. Laurin May 29, 2019 at 2:06 PM
    Reply

    Hi Travis,
    My husband and I are financially struggling and hoping to lower our student loans as well as start earning towards PSLF for myself. I am very confused as to what plan to choose and if we should complete the form jointly or separately. In the past, we have filed married filing jointly, but I am thinking we would save money by filing separately. He makes about $45,000 with $55,000 federal debt, and I make about $81,000 with almost $134,000 federal debt. If I add his income (file jointly), my payment more than triples which is still less than what I am paying but would love it to be much lower. Unfortunately, I have been paying under the graduated extended payment due to being stuck in a loan repayment program that would not allow me to change to an income-driven repayment plan. To make it more complicated, we have 3 children to be claimed. I am just not certain which direction to go. I feel like PAYE would be the best while filing taxes separately, but I am not certain if I can do that right now since our 2018 taxes were filed jointly. Will I have to wait until the following tax year 2019 to benefit from PAYE using my own income (filing separately)? I appreciate any advice you might be able to give me.

    • Travis Hornsby May 30, 2019 at 5:44 PM
      Reply

      If you both have debt then you need to be filing jointly and doing PAYE in that situation it sounds like. You need to let them know you both have loans and the income you do. I’d escalate it. If you need a plan we do that too studentloanplanner.com/help

  68. Erin June 7, 2019 at 7:32 AM
    Reply

    Hi! I started on the repaye plan when I graduated as an RN and took a job w a non profit hospital. That first year I also got married and filed my taxes as married separate because I thought it would help w a smaller payment not then understanding that that didn’t matter under repaye. The following year/adjustment I included my spouses income and filed married jointly (also noted that we were expecting) and my payment increased from $360 to $680/mo. My husband makes about the same if not a little less than me (he too is also paying off a small student loan balance less then 10k not sure what payment plan though – looking into). Should I go back and change my taxes for the first year to filing joint? Is there anything I can do to help lower this payment? I’m working to notify them now of our new dependent born after the last adjustment and also of slightly lower incomes last year due to less overtime and hoping that helps. But I feel like I’m barely going to have any portion forgiven at the this rate under PSLF with my current payment ( remaining balance $57k and I’ve made about 32 qualifying payments so far). Any advice appreciated I’m finding this thread super helpful! Thank you!

    • Travis Hornsby June 9, 2019 at 8:48 AM
      Reply

      If you’re eligible for PAYE you need to be on that plan if you file separately then your payment will be in the 300 to 400 range. But you should make sure the tax penalties from filing separate aren’t big (theyre probably not). Otherwise if you cant do PAYE you’d check out IBR filing separately. And of course if all this is super confusing we can help: https://www.studentloanplanner.com/hire-student-loan-help/

      • Erin June 16, 2019 at 8:35 PM
        Reply

        I don’t qualify for PAYE because I borrowed prior to 2007… so I’ll def look into switching over to an IBR. Since I filed married joint for 2018 under REPAYE, should I wait to switch until I’ve filed married separate for next year? Would they then look at both our incomes if I tried to switch earlier? I don’t believe the tax benefits would be too big of loss (was $1k difference two yrs ago when we decided to file married separate vs joint) Thank you!

  69. Travis Hornsby June 22, 2019 at 9:00 AM
    Reply

    Not in PA specifically. You wont be able to amend until 2019 tax year so I’d try to change to PAYE once you have a MFS return in Feb 2020.

  70. Eva June 26, 2019 at 7:24 PM
    Reply

    What i have done is filed married filing separate returns and the the following year file an ammended jount return after my payments have been calculated for IBR

    • Travis Hornsby June 27, 2019 at 3:06 PM
      Reply

      I think that’s fine after the loans have been forgiven or bc you genuinely made a filing mistake but I don’t think that would stand up to scrutiny as a recurring practice.

  71. Jaclyn August 16, 2019 at 10:29 AM
    Reply

    My husband has over 30k of student loans. Since I work for a public entity, is there a way that his loans can be placed on a Public Service Forgiveness Plan? He currently works in the private sector.

    • Travis Hornsby August 20, 2019 at 10:46 AM
      Reply

      No he needs to refinance them

  72. Brooke August 23, 2019 at 11:52 AM
    Reply

    I recently got married and am on an IBR working towards PSLF. Do I need to notify my loan servicer (FedLoan) of my marriage and thus new household income? Or will they just gather this information from my tax returns for this year?

    • Travis Hornsby August 26, 2019 at 6:46 PM
      Reply

      They’ll get it from your tax return, you don’t need to worry about letting them know

  73. Amanda S September 5, 2019 at 11:43 AM
    Reply

    Hi Travis! We are new to your site-thanks for all of this valuable information! We both have student loans and both work for a hospital that qualifies as a PSLF employer, so we are going for that. He currently makes $70k with $225k in student loans and is on PAYE. I currently make $105k with $200k in student loans and am on REPAYE (so I get that gov’t subsidy for interest). Currently we file married/jointly. Next year he will finish training and will make $220k; tempted to keep him on PAYE for the income cap, but wondering if I need to switch as well to get that cap (although the subsidy benefit would go away). Also, next year with the increased income, would it be wise to file married/separate? I understand that won’t help REPAYE numbers but that it should help PAYE. Thank you!

    • Ashley from Student Loan Planner September 6, 2019 at 3:06 PM
      Reply

      Hi Amanda,
      If you both work for a hospital that qualifies for PSLF, then you both should have a similar repayment strategy/plan. With that amount of debt, I’d suggest a consult to make sure you’re doing everything you can to maximize loan forgiveness and minimize payments. Please visit our consult page to learn more about the process: https://www.studentloanplanner.com/help

  74. Matt October 10, 2019 at 8:29 AM
    Reply

    Hello Travis and others,

    Here’s my scenario: my girlfriend and I are getting married in December 2019. We are also having a child (due in May 2020.) We both work in qualifiying state government jobs (certified by FedLoan via ECF yearly.)

    Me: $161K in loans, 2018 AGI $58000, approximately 8 years of PSLF payments complete, currently in REPAYE (don’t qualify for PAYE)
    Her: $350K in loans, 2018 AGI $48000, approximately 5.5 years of PSLF payments complete, currently in IBR

    Your very helpful Excel calculator shows that our payments once married could be:

    Me: $625/month filing jointly, $279 filing separately
    Her: $625/month filing jointly, $194 filing separately

    Question #1: Is the calculator saying we’d EACH owe $625/month, or is this the TOTAL that would be owed by both of us each month?

    Question #2: If we would EACH owe $625/month, wouldn’t it make sense to file separately and take the (relatively small) tax penalty to save a significant amount each month on loan payments?

    Thanks in advance!

    • Travis at Student Loan Planner October 30, 2019 at 4:11 PM
      Reply

      It’s the total amount that you’d owe not each for the joint scenario. We generally tell people to file joint if they’re both going for PSLF

  75. Alfonso October 26, 2019 at 1:44 PM
    Reply

    Hi,

    My wife owes a little over 20,000 in student debt. I’ve worked for over 5 years on a public school district as a High School teacher. I have no student debt. My wife is a stay at home mom so has no income but I’ve been helping her pay her student loans. Do we qualify for a student loan forgiveness program so I can help her pay off student loans? I can’t find it anywhere.

    Thank you

    • Travis Hornsby October 30, 2019 at 12:50 PM
      Reply

      Unfortunately it doesn’t transfer like that you’ll have to pay it off.

  76. Mark November 7, 2019 at 3:01 PM
    Reply

    Hello. My wife and I got married in 2019. She has about 80k in student loans. I have none. My income is approx 120k and hers is 70k. She is currently enrolled in PSLF and has been for about 2 years. She is currently enrolled in the REPAYE program. My plan is to file taxes married but separate because I believe that is our only option due to her not being qualified for IBR or PAYE (something with her loans). Any other options? I have read that one can claim that they cannot reasonably access their spouses income. Is that accurate? Thank you.

    • Travis at Student Loan Planner November 7, 2019 at 10:29 PM
      Reply

      No we dont believe you can claim that. PAYE filing separate might be her only option to get significant forgiveness.

  77. Jennifer January 1, 2020 at 6:37 PM
    Reply

    I will be applying for PSLF in February but my husband won’t be able to apply until December. We currently file married filing jointly. Should we have his payments recalculated after my forgiveness is granted to ensure his payment amount is high enough to meet forgiveness? I’m not sure what we should do with his after mine are forgiven.

    • Travis at Student Loan Planner January 6, 2020 at 2:59 PM
      Reply

      You dont need to do anything the payments will just continue

  78. Mahdi Mohamed January 9, 2020 at 3:46 PM
    Reply

    Hi Travis,

    Am I eligible for PAYE if I have a direct consolidation loan from December 2011 to consolidate all of my law school loans (2008-2011)? I graduated in May 2011 and have been using IBR towards PSLF ever since.

    • Travis at Student Loan Planner January 14, 2020 at 12:36 AM
      Reply

      You should be. You need no loans before Oct 2007 and at least one after Oct 2011, which you have because consolidation loans count.

  79. Kayla January 13, 2020 at 1:15 PM
    Reply

    Hi there,
    Just stumbling across this article as I got married in August and my husband and I will be trying to figure out our tax situation for this coming tax season. My income from last year will likely be around $56,000, while he makes $70,000. However, he is a consultant with an LLC and will be able to write off a decent amount of business expenses. I have 1 fedloan at 57k (I pay $336/month) , he has one that is currently around 20k (he pays $156/month). He’s on standard repayment, while I am on IBR and PSLF. I am pushing for us to file separately because I know my payment will shoot up, however he’s worried about the tax penalties. My question is, how exactly would the loan company calculate my new payment if we were to file jointly? What’s the math on that? I don’t know if it matters, but we live in MN.
    SO appreciate any help on this. Thanks!

    • Travis at Student Loan Planner January 14, 2020 at 12:25 AM
      Reply

      Proportionate split of your combined calculated IDR payment. So 2/3rd to yours and 1/3rd to his. But it’s actually quite complicated w situations like this. You might be able to do PAYE filing separate depending on what your eligibility is. I’d suggest you get a plan from us https://www.studentloanplanner.com/hire-student-loan-help/

  80. Ahmad February 1, 2020 at 9:37 PM
    Reply

    Hello Travis,

    Excellent article. Simple, direct, and comprehensive. Thanks for your generosity and insight.

    My questions are (1) whether my wife can switch from REPAYE (PSLF) to another plan that qualifies for PSLF without endangering PSLF eligibility, (2) if so, what plan would be best, and (3) if there is another creative way to address this insurmountable mountain of debt? Here’s my fact pattern:

    My wife currently owes about $300k in debt. She is a shelter veterinarian at a 501(c)(3) making about $80k and is enrolled in the PSLF program under the REPAYE plan in the beginning of its 3rd year. I thankfully make about $130k and privately refinanced my loans and currently owe roughly $90k.

    This year we just filed married but separate as opposed to married jointly because it was only a $200 tax payment difference between the two options (though I don’t know if the filing is final yet).

    I’m thinking we should switch to another eligible PFSL plan from REPAYE to lower the current $1350 monthly loan payment (for her). Would you agree? If so, what plan would you recommend, and can we make the change now (February) rather than our typical annual certification we’ve been completing in June? Otherwise, I assume we’d have to amend our tax return to married filing jointly per the comments above. Also, we wouldn’t be putting our PSLF eligibility in jeopardy by switching plans, right? (I had heard something to that effect before).

    Lastly, we’re considering having her take a couple of years off from work. It looks like there’s no time limit on the break based on your prior responses, but I wanted to confirm that and the fact that it would not affect a future grandfathering should the government “change its mind” as you so aptly said above. Also, in case her spot is not there in a few years, she could work at any nonprofit even one that we start right?

    Thanks a million in advance for your consideration and insights!!

    • Travis at Student Loan Planner February 5, 2020 at 4:29 PM
      Reply

      You need to pay the one time $5 forbearance payment and switch to the PAYE plan. There’s no concerns here if you qualify for it and are filing separately. If she takes some time off I’d suggest a strategic forbearance since that time wouldnt count towards PSLF, and you get 3 years of that anyway. Might save a few thousand bucks that way in tax penalties or payments.

  81. Kirsten February 4, 2020 at 12:01 PM
    Reply

    Hi Travis!

    You’ve helped me before with sorting through these confusing repayment plans before so I’m hoping you help me again!!

    A little background: I qualify for PSLF as a social worker at a non-profit, and have been in a REPAYE plan for a year (I was deemed ineligible for PAYE because I was not a first-time borrower under their wonky rules). I recently got married in October 2019. I have about $125k in loans and my husband has $25k in private loans (doesn’t qualify for PSLF). My gross salary is $52k and his is $100k. I had to re-certify my IDR plan request in January 2020 and they put me in the same REPAYE plan. FedLoan recalculated my monthly payments to be $0 based on my 2018 tax return and single filing status, but I’m assuming when I have to re-certify next year based on 2019 returns and married filing status, my REPAYE payments will be significantly higher with my spouse’s income.

    My questions: When it comes to our taxes this year, should we file as married filing jointly or separately? Thinking we should file jointly because I’m currently under REPAYE but just want some guidance.

    When I have to re-certify my repayment plan next year I’m assuming my payments will be significantly higher under REPAYE with my husband’s income included (according to your calculator, around $1k/mo). When I have to recertify my IDR plan later this year, should I switch to a different repayment plan (IBR perhaps?) and file taxes separately?

    Also, and on my IDR re-certification form, the box for “Married but cannot reasonably access spouse’s income is checked. I absolutely did not check that box and if so, it was done in error (I even had a FedLoan employee on the phone walking me through the re-certification application because I wanted to it do right and definitely would have brought that to their attention). I’m now worried about getting flagged for an audit if I file my taxes married jointly this year. Should I request them to change it or just be extra diligent on my re-certification next year?

    Hope this isn’t totally confusing, and appreciate your insight!!

    • Travis at Student Loan Planner February 5, 2020 at 1:43 PM
      Reply

      I would do married filing separately and request a $5 manual forbearance payment to switch to IBR. The payment will be much lower than if you file joint w REPAYE.

  82. Matt February 7, 2020 at 10:18 AM
    Reply

    Hi Travis,

    Thank you SO much for everything that you have compiled here. This is a tremendous resource!

    My wife and I got married in August 2019. No children at this point. We both have only federal student loans.

    ME: $80,000 loans / $60,000 AGI / government employer / 3 years of PSLF payments on REPAYE at approximately $290 per month (first loan issued in September 2007)

    HER: $60,000 loans / $80,000 AGI / private employer / 5 years of standard payments at about $1,000 per month.

    We are contemplating married filing separately v. married filing jointly and will likely experiment with those options in TurboTax this weekend to assess the potential tax consequences (great tip!). My question is whether any of the PSLF-qualifying repayment programs take into account my wife’s relatively significant student loan payment when determining my income based repayment amount. The Department of Education student loan calculator calls for disclosure of her loans (“Add your spouse’s loan(s)”) but, from the best I can tell, it doesn’t impact the repayment calculations. The most likely explanation is that I’m doing something wrong, but I can’t figure it out.

    If you have any thoughts on our situation, we would be so appreciative. Also, do you think our situation be a good one for a consult with your team?

    Thanks again, Travis!

    Matt

    • Travis at Student Loan Planner February 10, 2020 at 9:37 AM
      Reply

      If you were eligible for PAYE I would tell you file separately and you do PAYE and she do REPAYE and that’s a loophole that could’ve saved you a couple thousand per year. But you aren’t eligible based on Sept 2007 being your first loan. So my suggestion would be file jointly and do REPAYE for both of you. Your combined payment should be about $961 a month and that’s split proportionately based on your debt size, so if she’s been paying $1,000 standard plans yall are spending about $5,000 too much per year at least. That’s one reason we suggest six figure borrowers w complex situations get a custom plan

      • Matt February 10, 2020 at 10:43 AM
        Reply

        Thanks so much for this very helpful feedback, Travis!

        My only follow up question is whether transitioning my spouse from a standard 10-year repayment plan to REPAYE would mean that she has an additional 20 years of loan payments (albeit at a lower monthly rate)? As I understand it, the remaining balance of my loans should be forgiven under PSLF in about 7 years, but it would seem that—since my spouse is not eligible for PSLF—she would have to continue making payments on her (graduate) loans for a total of 25 years and any remaining loan balance that is forgiven would be taxable income.

        Thanks again! We’ll likely be making an appointment for a custom plan shortly.

  83. Jackie April 13, 2020 at 3:50 PM
    Reply

    Hi- I am in the loan forgiveness program and am making IBR payments. My husband’s school loans are private and not federal, why are’t private loan taken into consideration? Thanks, Jackie

    • Travis Hornsby April 14, 2020 at 9:13 AM
      Reply

      Bc Congress excluded them in their bailout bill. They might be federal if theyre old FFEL loans.

  84. Tina May 20, 2020 at 11:41 AM
    Reply

    My husband and I have parent loans for my children’s college education. My husband’s income was included when applying for the loans. However, his name is not on the loans anywhere. He works as a public servant and has for 12 years. We have been paying these loans since 2012. We only made a few payments in 2014 and 2015. Some months we paid more than one payment. Payment history shows 135 payments. Would we qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) since his income was included on the paperwork while applying?

    • Travis Hornsby May 23, 2020 at 3:52 PM
      Reply

      Only the person who’s name is on the loans can qualify

  85. Emily May 22, 2020 at 3:29 PM
    Reply

    My wife and I are married and file jointly, I am under the PAYE for med school loans. Every time I recertify, I submit our tax forms with both of our information but I select “no” when it asks if I have access to my spouses income information and can ask them to sign. I do this because they have all the information they need from our household, and I am uncomfortable asking my wife to sign anything regarding my loans for fear she could be on the hook for them should I become disabled or otherwise unable to pay or work. She has a small independent business but much less income than mine, and it is all included in the taxes.

    My question: will my not asking her to sign on to studentaid.gov and co-sign my applications eventually affect my loan forgiveness?

    • Travis Hornsby May 23, 2020 at 3:50 PM
      Reply

      It could because that’s not an accurate statement according to the way the rules were written unless there’s a separation or domestic violence situation going on.

      • Emily May 24, 2020 at 2:30 PM
        Reply

        Ok. Well, we can start having her sign yearly moving forward. But if they ask about it, I’ll just say it was a hardship to get her to sign at that time. Your point about how the question should be asked is a good one- that was not clear. Is anyone else in this boat?

  86. How Married Couples Can Take Advantage of Student Loan Forgiveness June 4, 2020 at 1:12 PM
    Reply

    […] Student Loan Planner […]

  87. Noah December 17, 2020 at 1:58 PM
    Reply

    Hello,

    I am eligible to apply for the PSLF. My spouse owes a lot of student loans but has never paid them and they just recently fell off his credit. Will me applying for the PSLF bring up any of his missed payments?

    We file married filing jointly.

    Thank you!

    • Amy at Student Loan Planner December 31, 2020 at 2:24 PM
      Reply

      Your student loans are handled separately, so there shouldn’t be an impact on his credit.

  88. Sarah January 1, 2021 at 10:56 AM
    Reply

    I have 67 qualifying PSLF payments on record. I left my job recently after having my baby. I am hoping Biden will follow through with his plan to allow you to forgive 5 years of payments. If the program remains the same, but allows for 60 payments to be forgiven I will not be eligible for forgiveness because i am no longer employed. How is this not discrimination towards mothers and stay at home parents? I put my time in. And let’s say I just finished 120, I still couldn’t apply because I left my job after maternity leave. This isn’t right.

  89. Michelle Kelly January 19, 2021 at 6:21 PM
    Reply

    I thought it would count retroactively if you ever worked in public service? I am in the same boat actually.

  90. Evelyn January 23, 2021 at 3:47 PM
    Reply

    My husband has IBR with PSLF and we file taxes separately. I know you only report last tax return to Fedloan and we wanted to go back and amend tax returns to joint for every year that has already been reported to Fedloan. We floated this past our accountant and he blew up at us saying he would not help defraud the government. Is this true? Are there IRS or Fedloan implications to doing this?

  91. James March 4, 2021 at 11:23 AM
    Reply

    My wife makes about twice as much as I do and is eligible for PSLF while I work in a field where some jobs are PSLF eligible but my current job is not. We both have student loans and have kids in college. Between community property concerns and losing the tax credits for our college kids (and loans being too old for PAYE and being in REPAYE currently) the math for married filing separate doesn’t seem to work, though I considered it again this year when there were some loan forgiveness proposals floating around where we might both qualify if we split our income vs. neither of us qualifying together. I think community property states change the filing separate math considerably, at least when I use the Turbotax what-if worksheets.

    • Amy at Student Loan Planner April 5, 2021 at 12:53 PM
      Reply

      Yes, community property states change the math because it isn’t so cut and dry. I’d recommend a consult if you want an analysis of which would be best so you know for sure.

  92. Asa March 6, 2021 at 4:53 PM
    Reply

    Hello Travis,
    Does it matter if you change between different income-driven repayment programs during the 10 years of working towards PSLF? For example, I have been on the IBR plan so far because I don’t qualify for PAYE due to taking my first loan in 2006, and because the payment for REPAYE would be higher due to that plan considering my wife’s income even if we file separately. I have been taking the tax loss and filing separately due to the benefit of a lower monthly payment saving me more money than I lose in taxes. However, for 2020 only, I am thinking I will file our taxes jointly since we will get a better return and only have to pay the higher loan payment for the last 3 months of 2021 when payments resume and maybe the first 1 or 2 months of 2022 before I can file my 2021 taxes separately and recertify my income using my 2021 tax returns and get the payment back down. Does this plan make sense to you? If I do this, than I think it would save me money to switch from IBR to REPAYE for 2021 only since I will be using our combined income anyway, and the payment is 10% of discretionary income for REPAYE and 15% for IBR (I have grad school debt). I would then to switch back to IBR when I recertify my income in early 2022 using my 2021 tax returns which will be filed separately. Am I correct with my thinking in this scenario, and if so, is that going to cause any problems with my PSLF to switch from IBR to REPAYE for one year then back to IBR? Thanks for your help with this complicated situation!

    • Amy at Student Loan Planner April 5, 2021 at 1:00 PM
      Reply

      The payment freeze has changed the repayment strategy so that filing taxes jointly might make sense for this year since, like you said, payments don’t start up again until after September 30. Keep in mind that switching payment plans can cause your interest to capitalize, but if the remaining balance will be forgiven after your 10 years of payments, there isn’t much consequence to you for interest capitalization.

  93. Elisabeth July 1, 2021 at 11:28 PM
    Reply

    Hello,

    I have a question I haven’t seen anywhere. My wife and I file together.
    We both have student loans, about $100K each. I qualify for PAYE and she qualifies only for IBR@15%. Due to this, our plan is to pay hers off ASAP and to let mine simmer until they’re forgiven in 20 years.
    Here’s the question: When my amount is calculated every year, her loans are taken into account for our “disposable income”, right? Once her loans are paid off, will that amount still be included in the calculations, or will my amount then go up? (her income + mine, only my loans left?)
    We have a windfall and I don’t know if we should pay her loans off right away or not.

    • Abel at Student Loan Planner September 1, 2021 at 3:32 AM
      Reply

      Hi Elisabeth, here is what our consultant Dan has to say (note that you may need to verify this): if you file together (married filing jointly) then you should expect a household payment based off of household income using the 10% application through PAYE and then a proportion of that payment is paid by you (the same proportion of your loans relative to the total Federal household student loan balance). For your spouse a similar calculation would be run but with 15% applied and a proportion of that payment required.

      Because of the proportional application of payments, when/if her loans are paid off sooner than your loans, you should expect your payment on PAYE to increase.

      If you file married filing separately, then both income and loan balances are treated separately.

      In both scenarios, your “discretionary income” benefits from a family size of 2.

      While the rules exist and can be googled, applying the various rules to an individual / couple’s situation is something that is somewhat unique. So it’s not surprising that your situation wasn’t found as an example on Google.

      One of the assumptions you’ve made is that it makes sense to pay down the loans on IBR to zero. That may or may not be true. The answer to that actually depends on the household income relative to household debt, not on the 15% or 10% calculated payment.

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