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My wife is on a student loan forgiveness program and I am not. Is it possible to get the benefits of filing a joint return or must we file separate?

The program my wife is under will forgive her student loans after 10 years of payment. She was enrolled in the program 3 years ago and his been consistently making payments. We got married last year and filed a joint return. The student loan program notified my wife that she may no longer be eligible for the program because we filed a joint return and made over $100k between us. Would the best option be to file next year married filing separately so she can remain eligible?

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1 Reply
Coleen3
Intuit Alumni

My wife is on a student loan forgiveness program and I am not. Is it possible to get the benefits of filing a joint return or must we file separate?

That is something you will have to weigh for yourselves. There are many disadvantages to filing separately. If the issues below do not affect you too badly, consider filing separately.

https://blog.ed.gov/2017/07/something-borrowed-how-marriage-impacts-your-student-loans/

If you choose married filing separately as your filing status, the following special rules apply. Because of these special rules, you will usually pay more tax on a separate return than if you used another filing status that you qualify for. 

1. Your tax rate generally will be higher than it would be on a joint return.

2. Your exemption amount for figuring the alternative minimum tax will be half that allowed to a joint return filer.

3. You cannot take the credit for child and dependent care expenses in most cases, and the amount that you can exclude from income under an employer's dependent care assistance program is limited to $2,500 (instead of $5,000 if you filed a joint return). For more information about these expenses, the credit, and the exclusion see Pub 17, Chapter 32. 

4. You cannot take the earned income credit. 

5. You cannot take the exclusion or credit for adoption expenses in most cases.  

6. You cannot take the education credits (the American Opportunity credit and the lifetime learning credit), the deduction for student loan interest, or the tuition and fees deduction. 

7. You cannot exclude any interest income from qualified U.S. savings bonds that you used for higher education expenses. 

8. If you lived with your spouse at any time during the tax year:

a. You cannot claim the credit for the elderly or the disabled,

b. You will have to include in income more (up to 85%) of any social security or equivalent railroad retirement benefits you received, and 

c. You cannot convert amounts from a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA. 

9. The following deductions and credits are reduced at income levels that are half those for a joint return:

a. The child tax credit,

b. The retirement savings contributions credit, 

c. Itemized deductions, and

d. The deduction for personal exemptions.

10. Your capital loss deduction limit is $1,500 (instead of $3,000 if you filed a joint return). 

11. If your spouse itemizes deductions, you cannot claim the standard deduction. If you can claim the standard deduction, your basic standard deduction is half the amount allowed on a joint return

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