Can my husband claim me as a dependent? Will marriage increase the income driven payments on my student loans if I do not work?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
May 31, 2019
6 replies
30 views

I do not work and my boyfriend claims me and our son as dependents. Assuming I continue not to earn an income, can he continue to claim me as a dependent after we marry? If I am his dependent after marriage, will his income affect my student loan payments on an income based repayment plan?

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SweetieJean

Alumni - Champ

"Assuming I continue not to earn an income" Do you have any income at all, such as investments, unemployment comp, etc?

edenneroseAuthor

Level 2

I do not earn any income whatsoever.

SweetieJean

Alumni - Champ

"Earn" means wages, etc. Any other types of income?

edenneroseAuthor

Level 2

No. I do not have any form of income.

null725

Level 13

If you are married, your spouse can not ever claim you as a dependent. Your filing choices will be Married Filing Jointly, which gives you a personal exemption (same as the dependent exemption) for each of you[and you can use that status even if you have no income], or Married Filing Separately. Married Filing Jointly is almost always the best filing status. How that would affect your student loan payment plan is a question for the student loan people, it is not a tax question.

The Married Filing Separately filing status is very different than the Single filing status. There are a number of severe restrictions on deductions and credits, and on the amount of IRA contributions that you can deduct, especially if you live together with your spouse.
You can not take the EIC,
You can not take the credit for Child and Dependent Care, in most cases,
You can not take the Education credits/deductions, and there are many other restrictions.
If either of you receive Social Security benefits and you live with your spouse, more of the SS benefit will be taxable, and the person receiving it will have to include the SS benefit in their gross income when determining whether they have to file. If one of you itemizes deductions, the other must also itemize even if they have nothing to itemize.

Before you decide, you should carefully read the restrictions that go with MFS in IRS Pub. 501, at this link:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

You should carefully read the limits on IRA deductions in IRS Pub. 590-A at this link:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p590a.pdf

In addition, if you live in a Community Property state, there are special rules you must follow for reporting income and expense. For further information on that, see IRS Pub. 555, at this link:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p555.pdf

and/or the Turbotax FAQ at this link:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901162-married-filing-separately-in-community-property-states

macuser_22

Alumni - Champ

As to the student loan question see this recent thread and the TurboTax Pro's answer and the links provided by SweetieJean. There seems to be a difference in opinion. AFAIK the IBR loan will indeed be based on your combined income, but the TurboTax pro seems to disagree. As Jerry said, you should consult the holder of your loan since they are the ones that set the rules for your loan.

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2925725-i-was-told-by-my-student-loan-company-to-file-married-filing-separately-to-reduce-my-income-based-repayment-if-i-file-as-mfs-can-my-husband-file-as-hoh">https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2925725-i-was-told-by-my-student-loan-company-to-file-married-filing-separately-to-reduce-my-income-based-repayment-if-i-file-as-mfs-can-my-husband-file-as-hoh</a>

**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**