Thanks for the input. Actually, this post is really about my son and daughter-in-law who are in this situation. I simply do their taxes along with my own.
She does have public employment, so the plan (hope) is that the loan is erased in 10 years. I am aware the erased loan may be taxable. However, paying the tax on a huge loan balance is far better than having to pay the balance. Several years back I even offered to pay off half the loan if she could get her father to pay the other half, but she didn't want to ask, mainly because she thought it wouldn't be fair to her siblings.
We have a workaround for the loss of IRA eligibility. They each do a backdoor Roth, first making a non-deductible t-IRA contribution, then converting to Roth. So that actually works out fine.
Perhaps filing MFS will result in some losses along the way. For 2020, there was at least one benefit. She and her child could claim the Covid stimulus payment because her salary is relatively low. If they filed jointly, I'm not sure they would have been eligible. (I'd have to check the limit on that to be sure.)
Believe me, I would much rather they file MFJ. That would make tax time a lot easier. It is really unfortunate that the IBR plan messes things up.
