Rehab, Married filing separately

[ms3270]

I got married in Aug 2016. Maybe two weeks ago my husband and I called to rehab one of his student loans. We told the rep we would file separately so that my income would not be taken into consideration for the payment amount. Now that we got our W-2s and have entered info in tax software,I will owe the IRS if we file separately. I am considering us just filing jointly. My question is how would i fix this with the student loan agency? Would I just call them and let them know that we decided to file jointly and allow then to adjustment the payment?

The total of the loan is about $1500. The payment amount they orignial wanted us to commit to would have paid the whole loan before the 10 months which would mean he did not complete the rehab and defaulted status would stay on his loan. How would this change affect his credit if it is just paid without finishing the rehab?

[Anonymous]

I am going through something similiar... My loans went into default but fedloan was able to put a defferment on it and I am currently making payment again. The representative suggested that we file married filing seperate as well so that my husband's income is not accounted for. We started to file W2's and just like you, owed when filing seperate. AND we can't get our childcare tax credits without filing jointly. But what he told me is that you do not have to update the loan company until a year from the date that you made that payment agreement. So say if you made the agreement in Aug that you would file sep, Aug of this year they will ask what you filed on 2016 taxes and then your payments will go back up. But you don't have to inform them yet. They should contact you a year from the date of your agreement. 

[ms3270]

Thanks so much! Super helpful!

[Anonymous]

Can't youfile joint/injured spouse? That will protect you against his debts.