I am graduating from med school this year and will start residency in July. I am married with no kids and my wife works full time. I have been told I should use IBR. My residency will be 5 years and it's likely I will work at a non-profit hospital after that, which would make PSLF a possibility. The problem is, with my wife's income, IBR won't give me much benefit unless we file our taxes 'Married Filing Separately'. But doing so will cost me at least $2000 on my tax return this year (as I won't be able to take the Lifetime Learning Credit), and in subsequent years I won't be able to deduct student loan interest. Someone advised me that I could file my taxes 'Married Filing Separately' for IBR purposes, and within 3 years I can amend the return to 'Married Filing Jointly' to recoup those losses. Has anyone else tried this? Is it even legal? It seems like the government could come back and say I owe them a ton more money for my past IBR payments once I amend my return.