Gotcha, thanks so much all of your help! Just received confirmation that only one parent can claim the child tax credit, not both.

Yes, if you file separately, you can re-file your SAVE application and get your payments adjusted.

As for the tax question, that’s for a tax professional. I’d have your tax preparer run the various scenarios for you so that you can be fully aware of the tax implications before making repayment plan adjustments.

• We have a toddler and pay for his daycare monthly. Currently, receive the dependent care tax credit.
• She has about $130k of student loans and I have $12k left.
• We filed married joint earlier this year, 2023.
• IDR SAVE plan status: She’s been approved, but the monthly payment is $880+ because we filed jointly

Based on your responses to some of the comments, am I understanding correctly that if we file our taxes separately early in 2024, I can apply to recalculate her monthly loan repayments?

Additionally, we would lose the dependent care tax credit and owe that money instead the following year?

You could do that with a tax professional and pay the extra tax you’d owe. But we’re already so close to 2023. Why not just use the alternative method to certify your income at your current level, and then file your tax return for this year (2023) as soon as possible in January/February?