So my situation is a little reversed from the typical.  I have just under 60k in loans and only make 39, but my spouse makes 30.  I am on the IBR waiting out PLSF which is about 5 years away.  My question is this, if we file MFS and it lowers my AGI under the community income law would be around 30K, would that reduce my IBR amount or will fed loan calculate it using another method, i.e. will they ask me for pay stubs or would they just accept the AGI on my return?

Thanks,
Kyle B

They will use your agi just like always. Think about it: what reason would they have to decide to use a different method on your repayment then they do on everyone else? The key is filing seperate. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise.  Your income may double when you’re married but now you have 2 people to support with that income instead of one

shweetpickens - 09 March 2017 09:54 AM

They will use your agi just like always. Think about it: what reason would they have to decide to use a different method on your repayment then they do on everyone else? The key is filing seperate. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise.  Your income may double when you’re married but now you have 2 people to support with that income instead of one

Thanks shweetpickens,  I guess I just wanted to confirm that the AGI is what they will use since filing separately would reduce my payment by nearly $400/mo they couldn’t go back and be like well actually…..

So am I correct in assuming then that the Alternative Documentation is only for my supplementation to them, they can’t ask me to provide it to contradict my tax return, right?

Thanks shweetpickens,  I guess I just wanted to confirm that the AGI is what they will use since filing separately would reduce my payment by nearly $400/mo they couldn’t go back and be like well actually…..

So am I correct in assuming then that the Alternative Documentation is only for my supplementation to them, they can’t ask me to provide it to contradict my tax return, right?

As far as I know (and I’m not an expert or a lawyer) is the AGI is all that they look at since that’s all they have ever asked for from me.  I’m in a community property state as well.  I’ve done a ton of research and what I’ve found is that you don’t need to do anything special on the student loan end if you’re married filing seperately.  It’s all AGI.  The alternative documentation should only come in if you have a spouse that makes tons more than you and you don’t want her income jacking up your payment.

Ex 1: you make 50k and she makes 0k.  Your agi would be 25k which is good for agi. 
Ex 2: you make 50k and she makes 150k.  Your agi would be 100k which is no bueno for your ibr.  You submit alternative documentation to get around this.

Every year I renew my ibr online using my agi from my tax returns.  Nobody calls me and asks questions about my marital status or income, etc.  Plug in the agi from taxes, wait for it to get approved, then DONE.

This is how I understood it.  Once again, though, I’m not an expert lol