Heather (or anyone who cares to answer),

What is your opinion on filing a married filing separate return, sending that return to the loan servicer for IBR payment calculation purposes, and then later amending that year by filing a married joint return to recoup missed deductions such as child credits/deductions, student loan interest, IRA, etc.? 

Some will question this strategy as disingenuous to the IBR folks but is it really wrong to do so?  This raises many interesting questions such as:

(1) is there a way to request formal guidance from the IBR folks on this topic? Who would the guidance come from? 

(2) What is one really saying to the IBR loan servicer when one submits a tax return to them?

(3) Is there any duty to provide amended returns to the IBR loan servicer? 

(4) If one did provide an amended return to IBR (or if they discovered it on their own somehow) do they have the authority to recalculate payments and demand the balance?  Conversely, if I filed a MFJ return and amended it to MFS, I presume the IBR folks would laugh at me when I requested they refund me thousands of dollars of overpayments as there is probably no right to a refund from IBR. 

From my perspective, the current IBR rules involving payment calculations based on tax returns seem to lack a rational basis. But unless there is something to rely on, I can’t see adopting this seemingly risky yet financially advantageous strategy.  I doubt that many tax professionals would sanction and defend this practice either.  If you know of any who do, please let me know who they are!  Thanks.