<p>i filed my taxes as independent. i do not live with my parents but everytime i try to fill fafsa out it says it needs both of my parents tax information and my mom will not let me have it. so my question is, do i have to fill out fafsa??</p>
<p>only if you want to be able to qualify for federal grant money (if your EFC is low enough) and to take out stafford loans (which anyone can do). Some schools use the fafsa to determine scholarships and/or merit aid.</p>
<p>No, you don’t HAVE to, but you will have limitations if you don’t</p>
<p>Only if you want financial aid. Otherwise no, you don’t have to file FAFSA.</p>
<p>For financial aid purposes it is irrelevant whether you file taxes independently or not. The dependency criteria for taxes and financial aid are completely different. You are considered a dependent for financial aid purposes unless you meet one of the criteria to be considered independent (age 24 or over, married, have a dependent of your own, are a veteran, are doing a masters/doctorate etc etc).</p>
<p>Agreed with the others. If you want (and need) federal need based aid, you will need to use your parent’s information on the FAFSA. And just FYI…if your school requires the Profile, you will need to use BOTH parent’s info.</p>
<p>Here’s a link to the FAFSA FAQs that should answer some of your questions:</p>
<p>[FAFSA</a> - Free Application for Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/faq002.htm#faq002_3]FAFSA”>http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/faq002.htm#faq002_3)</p>