So my wife finished grad school in June 2017 and now we are starting to repay the loans. We applied for PAYE, REPAYE and IDR and were approved for IDR. We filled jointly last year for our 2016 taxes but I was wondering if someone out here could help us figure out how to pay the least amount for IDR.

If we file separately and only use her income for the IDR, our payments should be lower considering our income will be about half right? Or does it even matter because we are married both our incomes will be considered when calculating the IDR amount? I am just curious because when we applied for IDR we said we only wanted to use only her income, but then they made me submit my information for taxes and what not. Thanks any help would be greatly appreciated!