Hello All,
Are Involuntary Retirement Contributions supposed to be reported on the CSS? I think the answer is no but the language within the profile sounds like I must report. Here is the line from the profile:
Enter the amount of payments (paid directly or withheld from earnings) to tax-deferred pension and savings plans your parents made or expect to make in 2014 including, but not limited to, amounts reported on W-2 Forms in Boxes 12a through 12d, codes D, E, F, G, H, and S. Include untaxed payments to 401(k) and 403(b) plans.
What makes you think the answer is no? Are those involuntary retirement contributions reported on the W-2 form? If so, in what box and with what code?
The think the answer is…in a gray zone because of discussions I have read on College Confidential. I am trying to research the question and have not found a solid black and white answer.
The W2 box that the info. is reported in is 14.
(Reporting these on the FAFSA is not required:
Involuntary payments, such as nonelective pension plan contributions and nonelective contributions to certain state retirement plans, are not reported on the Fafsa.). This is a black and white answer. Just looking for the same black and white on the CSS.
Thanks!
FAFSA and PROFILE do not jive in a lot of ways. You can ask the fin aid officer of the schools that are using the PROFILE info. My guess is that if your W2 shows the money being taken out of your pay, it gets added back in for PROFILE, from that language, but that is just my opinion and the bottom line is that the fin aid officers make that determination, and it can vary. Those pension plans where the employer contributes amounts,whether they are supposed to be reported or not, I have seen not reported with no consequence but it might be merely because those amounts are not easily verifiable as the they do not show up on the w2 anywhere, and therefore are not found during the verification process. Still for one to want to be sure, the only way is to ask the fin aid officers, some who won’t even know.
Thanks for your response! It prompted me to call the College Board. They gave me the answer:
I do not report the information in PL 190A. I have to include it in the special circumstances box at the end of the CSS so that when the college gets my info. they can square up the W2 with what I have reported.
Thanks for your info, Bundo. I figured that the info has to “square up” with the W2. Again, how each school taking PROFILE could differ in how they use the info or if they do, though IMO, institutional EFC tends to stand for “Every Friggin’ Cent”.
I agree. I find the CSS to be a pain financial audit designed to suck the life out of me. I have had Rotary exchange students stay with me over past few years and the system is so much more humane. Starting to wonder if the kids should just become locksmiths, skip college and call it a day.
Wow. I just reread my response and it was an incomplete thought! Meant to say…Rotary exchange students from Europe have told me about their college systems and experiences and their systems seem far more humane than our college system and application process, esp. the financial aid piece.
You do not need to report mandatory retirement contributions. In the Profile FAQ it says
“If pre-tax payments to ANY type of retirement plan are VOLUNTARY, they should be reported on the PROFILE Application in PI-190. It does not matter if the plan results in exemption from FICA contributions. If participation in the retirement plan is mandatory and there is no discretion as to the contribution amount, nothing needs to be reported on the PROFILE Application. An explanation can be provided in Section ES.”
Good find. That is pretty clear.