student loans and taxes

[danny44]

My wife owes 3,000 for a student loan. I currently pay 50 a month to help reduce this amount. The people who set us up on this plan said when our taxes are filed they will take the rest from the refund. I was wondering if they can do this? My wife does not work, she stays home with the kids. So we file file jointly but all the income comes from me. I was just wondering how this works.
Thanks

[HRx]

Hi,

If it's a government loan, then they can seek action to collect the debt via your tax refund. Might as well pay the piper now! Since the debt isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Contact them to see if they're willing to withhold have of your refund, versus the entire amount.

Good Luck!

[tweiler]

If your wife has no income and you are not on the paperwork for her student loan, then you can avoid having your tax refund taken by filing an "injured spouse" form. On the form, you show things like total income/credits/etc and which person has what amount. Make sure to include exemptions for kids, if any, under you so you get credit for any child-related credits. Since she has no income, you will no tlose the refund. However, this adds several weks to the processing time. A better solution is to adjust withholding so that hardly anything is taken in taxes or that you even have to pay a small amount. I know there is a withholding calculator on the IRS website that asks detailed questions to give you a good idea of how many withholding allowances you can claim.