<prompt> Human: Hi,Ive heard some awesome people are out there helping the peons like myself, and I was hoping someone would be willing to do just that. Years ago, I made bad decisions and dropped out of an overpriced vocational school, thus resulting in lots and lots of debt. Having had little means to pay them and survive, my student loans have gone into default. Theyve been in default for ages now, unfortunately, and Im finally coming to the point where Im adult enough to admit my faults and try to get some of this stuff paid off.HoweverI am still broke. I had a decent paying job last year, which gave me a decent return, but this year Im not doing so hot. I guess the point is that I could definitely use my tax return to get myself at least partially out of some of the smaller debts Ive accumulated. The creditor Im working with now has put me into a rehabilitation program to get them out of default, but in the meantime, theyre still there. They had mentioned to me something about filing for financial hardship, but trying to go online and research it has made my head spin.Can someone tell me what the general qualifications for financial hardship are? Is it worth it to go through the process? Is it a hard process? Can I still do it if my taxes were filed back in February? Thanks in advance.TD;LR - Im in some shit and I could really use some information on filing for finance hardship and how the process works.  <response>: I could definitely use my tax return to get myself at least partially out of some of the smaller debts Ive accumulated.Well, heh, thats what is happening. Your return money is being confiscated to pay off student loans in default. This will happen forever rest of your life until the student loans are paid off. On the plus side: with each refund that gets confiscated, your student loan debt gets smaller.What you want is to get into the income based repayment plans, if at all possible. 