Already taxed Roth distributions considered income for finaid formulas?

Not sure if this is definitive or not, but a NY Times financial aid question and answer column fro April of 2014 indicates that “A Roth I.R.A. is not reported as an asset on the Fafsa. But distributions from a Roth I.R.A., including a tax-free return of contributions, are reported as income.” See http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/education/edlife/ask-your-questions-about-financial-aid.html?_r=0. I assume that the profile treats this the same way.

The double counting issue you raised exists for any voluntary retirement plan contributions, as for traditional plans they are added back to the income reported. So if you made contributions in one year, the contribution is counted as income in that year, and if you take a distribution in the next year the distribution is counted as income in for that year as well. Whether it is fair or not, Roth and traditional retirement plans are essentially treated the same in regards to how they are reported.

There have been other discussions that debate whether this is fair or not, but financial aid rules and tax rules differ on many fronts. I think the basic idea is that the schools consider all disposable income when making their financial aid decisions. Their money, so they get to make the rules.