<p>I am a rising senior for the 2011-2012 year. I will be going to college fall 2012.</p>
<p>I live with my mother, my great aunt, my grandparents, and my aunt. My mother is deaf, unemployed, receives child support from my father, & receives social security benefits. I do as well.</p>
<p>My grandparents own the house we live in. The breadwinner is my grandfather, he makes about 120k per year. He claims my mother & I as dependents on his tax forms, but he is NOT my legal guardian.</p>
<p>I have looked through some of the forums, and have found that FAFSA only looks at the parental income &/or whoever is the student's legal guardian...</p>
<p>When I apply for FAFSA, do I report my mother & I's income, or my grandfather's?
Another thing is, my mother (I think) doesn't pay taxes since she is unemployed. When I apply for FAFSA, what documents would I use or how would I explain our situation?</p>
<p>You don’t use your grandparents’ income, but I don’t know if you need to include some amount that your grandparents are contributing to the household… Hopefully others who know can comment.</p>
<p>The good news is that the untaxed portion your or your mother’s social security income is not reported. So if you and she are not required to include it on your taxes then you won’t have to include it on FAFSA.</p>
<p>In some cases, such as my own, we do pay taxes on a portion of my husband’s social security disability payment. I am the breadwinner, and since we file taxes as a married couple, our household income is high enough that some of his benefits get taxed too. However, it doesn’t sound like this applies in your case.</p>
<p>However, the benefits that my minor child receives are not taxed because she has no other income.</p>
<p>I believe FAFSA will also ask you about other money that your mother gets to support you. I think this is where you would report the amount your grandparents pay.</p>
<p>It makes no difference who claims whom as dependents on the IRS tax forms.</p>
<p>You will only report information for your mother (and info for yourself, when asked). Your household size will be 2 (you & mom). If all she receives is social security, and if none of it is taxed, her income is 0. Same for you. Your mom does have to report the child support she receives for you on the FAFSA (under untaxed income). You may be asked for tax returns if selected for verification … since you won’t have them, you will then be asked to fill out non tax filer forms. This form will ask about any untaxed income, so you would put the social security income on this form … the point is to find out how you & mom live on no income. You would put the child support, which would have been reported on the FAFSA, on this form, as well.</p>
<p>You would not be required to report any of your grandfather’s income, nor are you required to report a value for the support your grandfather gives to your mom. As stated previously, it doesn’t matter who claims you for income tax purposes.</p>
<p>Thank you very much everyone. I’m relieved to know that I’m still eligible for Pell Grants & loans… I may have more questions in the future, but thank you everyone. You made the process a little more clear to me.</p>
<p>Last question:
Since my mother is unemployed & hearing disabled, & receives social security benefits, she does not file any taxes as of 2010 correct?</p>
<p>Since I am a minor, I don’t pay taxes either, correct?
Also, I had a few jobs since 2010, but I am not employed any longer. Would I report my incomes to the FAFSA?</p>
<p>You would ONLY fill out the PROFILE if your colleges require it as part of their financial aid application process. In your OP you mention child support from your father. That being the case, some colleges will require the completion of the non-custodial parent Profile form. Some schools using the Profile do not require this…it is school specific…and you need to check. If your school requires the non-custodial parent profile, your dad would need to complete this and his income/assets would be considered by these schools when awarding institutional aid (not Pell grants or any other federally funded aid).</p>
<p>For both you & mom, go to [Internal</a> Revenue Service](<a href=“http://www.irs.gov%5DInternal”>http://www.irs.gov) and search “Do I need to file?” You will be led through a questionnaire that will help you decide the answer to this question. If you don’t have to file, just list your income earned from work (not the SSI) on the FAFSA as “income from work,” and do not fill in AGI or taxes paid.</p>