I promise I'm not trying to be dense here, but I'm not seeing my confusion. I get the difference between the standard deduction and personal exemptions. I am talking exclusively about the personal exemption, which is what the quotes above are about. The instructions are explicitly addressing when one can take the personal exemption for a spouse. I'm just trying to figure out if I meet those conditions, given the discrepancy in the criteria listed in the two documents.
I have run the numbers both ways, and while we lose pretty substantially on the tax side, it's not as much as we'd lose paying the loans. My spouse is in the public service loan forgiveness program. This is the first year she has not worked. The quickest way to get the loans off our back is for her to work in public service for another three years.
