CSS - Parents pay no taxes

Paying for College
1

<p>My parents have filed tax returns (1040s) for 2011 and 2012, and after filling in the entire CSS application with info on the 2 forms, I get this message before I submit:</p>

<p>"Your parents reported that they paid no federal taxes. Please review the federal income taxes paid reported (PROFILE Help Code PI-140) and correct if appropriate."</p>

<p>I followed the directions exactly from the form, and there are zeros in fields 46 and 55. I know absolutely nothing about taxes and finances, but I'm worried that I've done something wrong. Is it illegal to not have paid income tax? My parents don't even file them themselves; they hire an accounting firm. </p>

<p>Could it be that the values are 0 because our income is very low (technically below poverty level for 4 people)? </p>

<p>I want to submit within the next few minutes, so any help is appreciated!!</p>

2

<p>If your parents did not pay any taxes then, you are fine. It is a flag because the taxes will reduce income and the system wants to alert your for common mistakes made on the form.</p>

3

<p>So I don’t have to change anything? I never suspected it was odd until I saw that message… Any more advice, I want to submit soon…?</p>

4

<p>Low income folks paying no tax is not unusual. One thing you could double check is if you made a mistake on any of the income questions. Maybe the system saw a high income(by mistake) and thought there should have been some tax paid. If all the income fields look good I would submit it.</p>