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married but i didn’t work

hello. i’m married, but i didn’t work and i do have a few grand (maybe 5 grand max) owed in school debt and my husband did work. we also had a child in july. would our best option be for him to file married but separated or jointly file? we’re worried that my school debt is going to take a lot out of our refund. 

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married but i didn’t work

if you're not in arrears on the student loan debt the IRS shouldn't be taking the refund. if you are,

file jointly but include form 8379 - injured spouse allocation which should prevent the IRS from taking the refund attributable to your spouse's income.

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married filing separately will cost you more in taxes. certain credits are not allowed. the tax rate on his income will be higher 

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Only federal student loans in default can subject your tax refund to garnishment. Federal student loans typically enter default after 270 days of past-due payments. However, if you are behind on your payments for 90 days, the loan servicer will report the delinquency to the three major credit bureaus, which could damage your credit rating. Private student loans in default aren't eligible for tax refund garnishment.

If your tax refund is subject to garnishment, you’ll receive a letter from your loan holder saying it has referred your account to the Treasury Offset Program, or TOP. This is the part of the U.S. Treasury Department tasked with taking federal payments to cover delinquent debts owed to government agencies, such as past-due child support and defaulted student loans.

Your student loan holder will send you a tax offset notice before your refunds are seized. This notice typically arrives months before you file your tax return, so you have time to take action. But you might receive that notice only once.

You can't dispute tax garnishment on the grounds of not receiving the offset notice. Check that your loan holder has your up-to-date contact information. To learn who your loan holder is, contact the Education Department’s Default Resolution Group or log into your account on studentaid.gov. The Treasury Department will contact you after the offset.

 

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