css profile -- gift to parents

Paying for College
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<p>Hello, crowd --</p>

<p>I'm looking at question PI-230A in the CSS Profile, which says:
"Enter the amount of cash your parents received and any money paid on their behalf (e.g. bills) in 2011. (Don't include child support or any other amounts reported elsewhere on this application.)"</p>

<p>Apparently the college board considers this question to be self-explanatory, because they don't offer a help button for it, or any discussion of it that I could find. The advice for the comparable Student question is either to report a gift of money as a gift, or to include it in assets, but not both. If the money given to the parents is reflected in their assets, does the same advice apply -- don't report the gift as such?</p>

<p>I've found discussions of this topic from several years ago, but the wording of the question seems to have changed slightly. It hasn't cleared anything up, though, as far as I'm concerned!</p>

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<p>I interpret it as both. It was “income” and is now an “asset”.</p>

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<p>But is it to be included, or is it an “amount reported elsewhere on the application?” On the comparable student question, they are very clear that if the gift amount is reflected in assets, it should not be reported as income.</p>

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Is this same thing reported on fafsa?

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Closing this thread since you asked a more clarifying question on another, and this thread is two years old.