<p>I received my FA packages from my schools however now I am getting emails that state in order to receive the aid I need to fill out my FASFA. My dad has a history of not filing his taxes and is known not to give out info regarding his taxes. Is there anything I can do? (there is a high chance of me being kicked out relatively soon so I will most likely living with my mother.) Should I change it to her info? I just don't want to loose my aid?</p>
<p>You should file your FAFSA with tax data of your custodial parent. However, see <a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/fafsa/filling-out#parent-info”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/fafsa/filling-out#parent-info</a>
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<p>If he qualifies as a non tax filer he can file a form for that. If he should file and doesn’t then you have a problem. Discuss this with him and your mother. You may not get ‘free money’ that you qualify for without it. You can use your mother if you lived with her for most of the filing year, or if she provided most of the financial support, I think.</p>
<p>You won’t get federal aid and the school likely won’t give you aid either. You can start the process to try to get the unsubsidized loans in the amount of $5500 because your parent won’t give out the info, but that’s about it for you. Let your father know, that you cannot get financial aid unless he files his taxes.</p>
<p>You cannot use your mother as your custodial parent for the school year starting in fall of 2014 if you already filed FAFSA and you had lived with your father more for the 12 months prior to that date. That status and the assets as reported for that particular date are not changeable unless you made a mistake and the info is not correct. If that is the case, then you can refile and let the school know that you miscalculated, but you cannot “reset” the clock with your Fafsa Filing date being a whole new one. You have to go back to that date and use assets of your mother as of that date and her income for 2013 if indeed you had lived with her more during the 12 months prior. Make sure you actually did and have the evidence there because that is a flag to make that change to FAFSA. That is a major sticking point with FAFSA–changing that info, so be careful. </p>
<p>Your financial aid hinges upon your parents’ financial situation and they are expected to pay for your college and, yes, provide their information. IF they won’t do so, you don’t get the money, as simple as that, when you are a dependent student. </p>
<p>From previous threads, OP, you have a number of issues. What are the updates on those issues (dad and stepmom kicking you out upon high school graduation, etc.)? What is your plan if your dad refuses to give you tax info? Did you ever contact a social worker like was suggested?</p>
<p>I’m a little confused. In your OP to this thread, you say “I received my financial aid from my schools”…but you go on to say that the schools are saying “I need to fill out my FAFSA”.</p>
<p>How did you GET financial aid packages from schools if you did NOT fill out the FAFSA?</p>
<p>I have been talking with multiple people and I am torn between commuting to wcu or just going to sru which is cheap and i have somewhere to live. My home life is really unstable, it is okay now but it could fall apart any moment. Maybe it is just an alert email but it is really concerning me. I received my aid packages but I had an email saying in order to qualify for my aid, loans & grants etc. I need to fill out the FASFA. my dad had estimates but he did had it listed as ‘will file’.</p>
<p>If your dad did the FAFSA with estimates, using the will file status, then you DID file your FAFSA. The school is asking you to update with the correct figures from your tax returns, and likely link to the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, and change your status to “taxes filed”.</p>
<p>It is NOT just an alert email. It is a requirement.</p>
<p>You won’t receive a nickel of that financial aid until you do this.</p>
<p>but my dad keeps saying he hasnt recieved them and is being shady about it. I keep telling him about it and he is just like not yet.</p>
<p>Did you submit a complete FAFSA with your father giving you estimates and his IRS filing status being “will file”? That is my assumption because the schools I know do not give aid packages without a FAFSA. You can fill out a FAFSA without filing taxes, a lot of people do so, but if you do a “will file” status, the info has to be verified after the taxes are filed. If your father does not have to file a tax return, you can change that status to “non filer”. There are people who do not have to file taxes. In that case verification is done by him submitting proof of income and other things. If he is supposed to be filing and just being a scoff law, you are not entitled to financial aid until he files his 2013 taxes.</p>
<p>There are 2 things going on here, TStuart. First is the FAFSA which is the application for financial aid that can be done on line and submitted. Your father or you could fill out the income and asset info, and whether he has, will be or will not be filing a return, and he is supposed to have signed with his PIN that the info is correct. He then has to file his 2013 return which was due April 15th without an extension, if he is required to file a 1040 or some other such tax form for tax purposes. The schools can use an IRS retrieval system to check that FAFSA against the tax return he filed or files. They often will not release federal funds, or any funds without that being done first. </p>
<p>So did you actually file a FAFSA? If you did, the issue is not filling out the FAFSA, but for your dad to get his taxes filed. </p>
<p>If you did not file a FAFSA, how did the school even come up with the estimates to even come up with any aid package? They use the FAFSA to do this. No FAFSA no aid package. It seems to me, that you did fill out a FAFSA and they need to verify the numbers against the return, but you need to know what your situation is exactly. You cannot refile a FAFSA, that’s a done deal for this year, but you can correct the one you did file if there are estimates in there that you now know are not exact, and if you filled in something in correctly, though some mistakes, you will have to talk to the financial aid officer directly to possibly get changed. The income estimates need to be changed to real numbers off of the 2013 tax return–they check them against that return. </p>
<p>I guess it was filed in order to recieve my FA packages but it does say ‘will file’. I keep hounding m dad to check it but he said he hasnt recieved a tax return?</p>
<p>So the FAFSA was filed correctly, with “will file” for taxes, and a financial aid package was issued. Now the schools need to know the situation wrt “will file”: do you know if your father does not have to file taxes? If so, he needs to submit proof of income. If he did file taxes and is just being shifty, try to convince him by stating it won’t cost him anything and you’ll soon be gone out of his life…; but if he doesn’t, the papers don’t go away and you can’t be out of his life because of his legal obligations.</p>
<p>(not sure it’d work though, you know him well and know whether that might trigger something explosive or potentially worse? On the other hand, he seems to be in a good mood, so perhaps he’ll comply since it doesn’t cost him anything at all.)</p>
<p>Have you contacted a social worker (or your GC who could contact a social worker) so that something is set in motion on your behalf?</p>
<p>Knowledgeable taxfiling parents of college kids: How long does TStuart95 have until the financial aid package is revoked?</p>
<p>BTW, since next year you’ll be living with your mother, SHE will become your custodial parent for FAFSA.</p>
<p>Darling…your dad doesn’t “receive” a tax return. He FILES his return and then he HAS it. Did your dad file his return by April 15? Or is he self employed and gets an extension? </p>
<p>ETA…if your dad uses a tax preparer, this person should easily be able to give your dad a copy of his return…so YOU can amend that FAFSA…and link to the DRT.</p>
<p>Regardless…your school wants the link to the DRT. If your dad filed, all you need to do is go onto the FAFSA website, and update. If not…well…you have issues.</p>
<p>Another thing…if after submitting the finalized FAFSA, you are selected for verification, this could actually delay any awarding of ANY financial aid until after college begins. </p>
<p>Are you able to pay out of pocket to attend?</p>
<p>what if I can emancipate myself? for next year (would that help me or could that come back to blow in my face, I wouldnt do it out of spite but my parents are pretty much dropping me in june so I might as well?) </p>
<p>I have been emailing my GC and trying to find a SW on my own but I need an adults help.</p>
<p>I will try and talk w, my dad.</p>
<p>Are you 18? If so, too late for emancipation. </p>
<p>If you are asking if you can become independent for financial aid purposes…no.</p>
<p>What is SW?</p>
<p>Which college did you pick? Your dad receives child support for you, which will end on June 12, correct (high school graduation)? You need to make a list of things you need to do (which others noted in your other threads), and then get to working that list ASAP. </p>
<p>You need to have a good understanding about what is happening with financial aid. You are an adult for most legal purposes at age 18. </p>
<p>Did YOU file a FAFSA?
YOU are responsible for filing FAFSA. Not your Dad. Yes, there is a parent section, that he needs to fill out and “sign”, but YOU should have also completed your section and “signed” it. BOth you and your father had to have filed for a PIN to complete, sign and submit the FAFSA. You would get a SAR for doing so. You need to get that essential fact right now. Did you or did you not file a FAFSA? Can you gain access to it? Forget what your father says he did or did not do, or how he said he filed it. It is your FAFSA, and YOU need to know. You make my eyes jangle with some of the things you say that show that you have no idea about what is going on here. If you want some help from us, you need to give some very basic info, like did you submit a 2013 FAFSA? </p>
<p>My “guess” is that you did, since you got a financial aid package. Or your dad did. But how about finding out for sure, which is step 1. </p>
<p>The other thing is your dad’s tax return. Did he or did he not file his tax return on April 15th or by now? When did he file it? Tax returns (Form 1040 or 1040A or 1040EZ), any of the 1040 series were due for the 2013 year on April 15, unless an extension was filed. Ask your father when he filed his 2013 tax return. If he says he did not, for ANY reason, let him know you cannot get any money for school until he does, and he has to do so quickly or you will lose your financial aid awards. If he won’t do it, you may not go to college this fall. </p>
<p>Frankly, I don’t think you are ready to go to college, given all of the issues that are at hand. You are not going to get financial aid if your custodial parent does not fill out his part of the FAFSA inf and file his taxes on a timely basis. You don’t have money to pay for it without the finanical aid. Better you get a job, learn to file taxes and other such things, for few years, maybe take a course or two as you can afford it a the local state or community college. When you turn 24, you can then file you own FAFSA, you’ll understand how tax filing works, and how the fin aid process works.</p>
<p>I am sorry that your parents are not helping you with this, and are being uncooperative, but that is the fact right now You cannot MAKE your father fill out the FAFSA, file his taxes. He doesn’t have to do it. So, you need to get yourself into some sort of shape so that you can get what is offered in the system If you are unlucky enough to have parents who are not going to help you in this regard, you have to grow up, learn the system yourself and start standing on your own two feet. You are an adult now for most things, just not for getting financial aid.</p>
<p>And honestly you are better off to wait until you are on your own. I know SO many kids who start out with aid, drop classes, mess up, waste the aid that they do get, and when they finally have it together, they have run out of aid money and owe. They say “youth is wasted on the young” and so it often is with college fin aid It would be a danged shame that when you finally are mature enough that you 'get" how this works and what you want to do to get yourself the education with the best chance of find a good job at good pay, that you flubbed it all when you were too young and unknowledgeable to know what you are doing.</p>
<p>cptofthehouse, I think you’re being awfully hard on a kid whose only chance of getting out of a terrible situation is to go to college. (Also: How many landlords do you know will rent to an unemployed high school graduate? And there are areas of the country where you can’t just “get a job” because all the little jobs that used to be done by HS kids have been taken by unemployed adults who need them to feed their families.) College is covered by a full-ride scholarship and is the only way to ensure both a roof on her head and guaranteed daily meals in the foreseeable future. And I doubt a kid who gets a great scholarship is likely to “flub it”.</p>
<p>In addition to being cruel in my opinion, telling a near-homeless kid to give up a full ride scholarship and work until age 24 isn’t very useful.</p>
<p>FAFSA <em>was</em> filed and the father entered “will file”, but refuses to indicate where the tax returns are located.
Question:
If the daughter finds the tax returns, can she fill out the information herself?
If he is in a good mood for a couple hours, would that be enough to comply ?
How long does OP have to comply?</p>
<p>It sounds like she has full tuition…not a full ride (unless I missed something). And if the schools are requesting that she complete the FAFSA as filed…with a link to the DRT, she won’t get any aid without that done. </p>
<p>It is May 2. This student now is only dealing with one school. I would suggest she sit down quietly with her dad and try to get this done. If there is a trusted family friend or relative who can assist, that would be terrific. </p>
<p>She can also contact the college so the school knows she is trying to get this done. She isn’t the first (or last) student to have a similar issue.</p>
<p>ETA…the daughter can update the information. With updates…do both parent and student have to sign with PIN? If so, she would need to sign with his PIN, and given the situation, I would not recommend she do this. He needs to enter his own PIN.</p>
<p>First of all, the student needs to know how all of this works. FAFSA, returns, the whole things clearly makes no sense to her. (am assuming a female from Thumper’s post, I have no idea). </p>
<p>Right now we don’t know what the schools are asking for. Though I’ve yet to see a financial aid package without a submitted FAFSA, if it’s some little college somewhere, it is possible. My guess is that someone filled out the FAFSA. If she did, she isn’t posting like she knows that she did. Or perhaps she just had her father fill it out, and he did so with “will file” for tax filing status. That is my guess. With that info, she got some award. Unless it’s a full ride, she’s going to have to find a place to live and a job anyways. And she danged well needs to understand how all of this works, what’s missing, and options to get it resolved. </p>
<p>I think Thumper’s idea will work fine, as long the OP can understand what specifically has to be done to make this a go. If she has a financial aid package that makes it possible for her to go to that school, she needs to find out exactly what they need from her or her father so that the package is a go. It sounds like it needs to be verified and Dad has not filed his taxes. It also sounds like Dad is not so scrupulous about filing his taxes. If Dad does not get those 2013 taxes filed soon, she won’t get that financial aid package. </p>
<p>So she needs to know what has been done, what still needs to be done, so that she can ask Dad to do it. If he won’t, within the necessary time period, she will lose her aid. Dad does not have to file his taxes if he doesn’t want to do so–he may have an extension, he might be a scoff law. If the latter, it’ll take a couple of years to catch up with him, or never if he doesn’t owe. </p>
<p>The most important thing right now is for her to understand what was done, and what the college is specifically requesting to get done. I can’t even tell what that is–I’m guessing from her scramble. If her parent is not going to be helpful, she does need to step up.</p>
<p>I know I sounded harsh, but it’s essential she understands the process how it works, what’s missing, and she does not. She doesn’t even know the difference between the FAFSA and the tax return. </p>
<p>I am also writing this as one who filled out all this and more at age 17 because my father just would not, and have pushed other familiy members along the same way. This gal doesn’t sound like she filled out the FAFSA hereself, as she seems clueless about what’s going on here. If it’s just that she forgot, she needs to write down this process and go over it, save it somewhere because this year is just the start.</p>
<p>And I do mean it in that if she can’t do this yet, it might be better for her to focus on a job and getting out of there If things are so volatile, unless she is living away, and how she can afford that…well, getting through each term is risky, and what I see too often are kids losing their aid entitlements because they took them before they understood them and then lost them by the time they could understand them. I really don’t like to see that happening. </p>