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Just married - already have lots of debt; earn little but husband does well; can I still claim any help?
Hello, I have about $50k in debt from undergrad and am about to get another $75k in debt for grad school. I earn very little right now and just got married; my husband earns a pretty decent income. Am I eligible for anything such as the 20% cap based on my income for the loans I had prior to getting married and / or for the new ones I’m about to get? Or the PAYE program for only 10% of my income? or does his income mean I’m ineligible and he’s expected to take on my $500 a month + loans for the next 25 years? Does it matter if we file separately or jointly? This will be our first tax return as a married couple and are just unsure if we can qualify for any support on these loans. Thanks!
Based upon my experience with PLUS debt, I can tell you what we did. I’m assuming none of your debt is from private lenders, too.
I was the one who signed the note for the PLUS debt. My wife is not responsible for it. However, if we file jointly, her income would be included in the calculation of the income based repayment plan that is now available to me since I consolidated all of the debt. We filed separately. However, since we are married filing separately, we lose the ability to deduct any interest paid and also lose the education tax credit. We still file separately because the tax savings from filing jointly would be dwarfed by the higher payments we would be making if her income was included in the payment calculations.
Based upon my experience with PLUS debt, I can tell you what we did. I’m assuming none of your debt is from private lenders, too.
I was the one who signed the note for the PLUS debt. My wife is not responsible for it. However, if we file jointly, her income would be included in the calculation of the income based repayment plan that is now available to me since I consolidated all of the debt. We filed separately. However, since we are married filing separately, we lose the ability to deduct any interest paid and also lose the education tax credit. We still file separately because the tax savings from filing jointly would be dwarfed by the higher payments we would be making if her income was included in the payment calculations.