I am a US citizen, but my parents are undocumented and have no taxes/set income (they get work when they can) to report. How do I apply for financial aid when my parents did not file taxes? I am dependent on them financially and I’m a high school senior (17).
If your parents earned any kind of income in this country in 2018, they were supposed to file income taxes assuming that income is above the threshold for doing so.
I’m not sure what to tell you…
You want to file the FAFSA and hopefully get U.S. federally funded need based aid, but your parents didn’t feel they needed to file taxes?
You will need to include any income they earned on your FAFSA form. If they didn’t file taxes, they will need to complete a non-filers statement. However, I don’t think one if the reasons for not filing is “we just didn’t”.
@happymomof1 any suggestions for this student?
You can still file. Enter all zeros for the parent SSN. The parent won’t be able to get an FSA ID, so you will need to follow the instructions for sending the signature page by mail. Report the amount of money they earned.
If they actually do have an SSN but don’t earn enough money that they have to file a tax return, you just report the amount they made. Aid officers are used to seeing low income on the FAFSA, so don’t worry about that.
Yes, you can file. You will have to print out the forms and submit them by mail because your parent(s) can’t get an FSA ID number. There are instructions on how to file. Your parents will still have to report all their income and assets.
Yes, you can file as @kelsmom pointed out.
If you put $0 for income, you will surely be selected for verification. The colleges will justifiably want to know how your family paid day to day living expenses with no income at all. So be prepared to provide this information.
@kelsmom wouldn’t this applicant still need to list any income earned? Even if they didn’t file taxes?
Yes, all income has to be reported.
In addition if your family is receiving public assistance snap benefits for the children, you will have obtain budget letters from social services to explain how the family eats every day.
Your parents can file federal income tax returns using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN). Help them read through the information here: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/taxpayer-identification-numbers-tin#itin
how does your family pay rent, buy food, pay the electric bill, get around (car?), etc?
even if your parents work for cash, that income will need to be reported. are they willing to do that?