<p>I don't really understand the css profile form. One question is about other untaxed income, and says don't include gifts and support other than money--but do you have to report gifts of money as income?</p>
<p>Yes. The instruction
[quote]
Don’t include: any income reported elsewhere on the PROFILE Application, money from student financial aid, Workforce Investment Act educational benefits, gifts and support, other than money, received from friends or relatives ....
[/quote]
has a confusing double negative: "Do not include ... gifts ... other than money" means --Do include gifts of money--.</p>
<p>There is a controversy whether inheritances of money are to be included, but I don't want to get into that again.</p>
<p>Another way to interpret the instruction is:
Don't include:
1. any income reported elsewhere on Profile;
2. money from financial aid;
3. Workforce, etc.;
4. gifts; and
5. support, other than money, received from friends and relatives</p>
<p>This interpretation would require reporting of all gifts. Is this instruction hopelessly ambiguous or is there some rule of grammar or construction that would apply?</p>
<p>I have stewed and stewed about this and thought I had the answer (that you do not report gifts), then saw a form that sounded like you do. I finally just wrote the colleges and told them we had gifts, couldn't tell whether we should report them or not (since you do <em>not</em> on the FAFSA) and would detail them on request. I have not heard back from any but one that said they did not need any more info.</p>
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<p>dt123,
I read that instruction and thought at first it meant don't include gifts, and don't include support other than money received from friends and relatives. So I didn't include anything. Then I thought about it some more, and thought it meant don't include gifts and support other than money, but do include money! We have actually received a lot of money this year--one of us got laid off, other is working and in school, parents decided it would be good to give us some money now instead of waiting until they die. I still have the profile form waiting to be sent.</p>
<p>An update on the above post for future archive searchers. I sent letters asking colleges to let me know if I was supposed to report gifts to parents on the PROFILE, since you do <em>not</em> on the FAFSA, and I would send them details. Not one of the eight schools requested the information. I think from our experience, that you do not include gifts to <em>parents</em> on either the FAFSA or PROFILE.</p>