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Can PAYE payments be adjusted to consider child support paid?
Hi Heather,
I am the borrower and in PAYE. I was married last year to a non- borrower. In hindsight probably not the best decision BUT we filed jointly. Not sure about this year.
My husband pays child support for 2 children, which is taken out of his paycheck every week. This drastically reduces our disposable income and this is not reflected on our tax return (of course). Is there any way we can offer alternative income, like his paystubs, to show that we really do not have the disposable income our tax return states but alot less? If we file jointly again this year, I do not want to struggle with a much higher payment when we truly don’t have the income for that. Maybe filing separate would be the simple answer…
Hi all,
I see a good number of folks looked at my post so there may be other folks in the same position. Well, I got my answer from Fedloan regarding child support - Makes no difference. Your adjusted gross is the bottom line. They do NOT consider any other adjustments to your adjusted gross income, such as how child support payments affect you ACTUAL take home pay. Suffice it to say, we filed jointly this year because it was a greater benefit to us in that regard BUT specifically with regard to my loans, it affected my payment, which more than TRIPLED! So, the CSR at Fedloan suggested I switch repayment plans to the extended (which I had already researched) with the prospect of returning to PAYE next year when I can file separately. I am not seeking PSLF yet, so it doesn’t matter if I’m in PAYE right now or not. Plus I was told in my case, there would be no capitalization (gonna check on that). My only concern now is if I’m in the extended plan for a year or more, that makes the 20 year forgiveness a little longer to reach. I already had 2.5 years I PAYE…
So, simply put, if you are in PAYE AND you want to keep your payments low, filing jointly is not a great idea. My spouse does NOT have student loans so considering his income when determining my monthly payment only makes things less budget friendly for both of us.