<p>I do all sorts of jobs, some for groups I work with( salary ranging from 50$ to one beer), other freelance projects( <100$), private tutoring(5-10 bucks for 2 hours of physics training), small merit scholarships(about 80$/month), and a whoopin 2000$ award</p>
<p>I don't have a contract for any of these things, money comes randomly, and not in very big amounts</p>
<p>I really want to use this huge amount of money (woohoo) to help pay for college (yeah, i'll cover about 0.1% of the cost :D), so i'll probably show it on the fin aid app. Yes, i'm mostly just trying to impress them.</p>
<p>But I have no tax returns, letters from employees or anything official to certify these sums.</p>
<p>Any problem?</p>
<p>And don't really have any place to write them all...should I write a letter or something to go along with the fin aid app?</p>
<p>Did you file a tax return and just "forget" to include these amounts or is your income low enough that you are not required to file a return?</p>
<p>If the second case, some colleges have a form for non-filers to fill out. You list sources of income and amounts. In my sons' case, no further documentation was required. Look for that form on your college's financial aid webpage.</p>
<p>In the first case, it is more complicated, because you likely owe back taxes on those earnings (possibly not on the scholarships).</p>
<p>I don't really think i'm supposed to file taxes for 20$ I get after organizing an underground concert, where "1 for you, 1 for me , 2 for you, 1-2 for me" is the paying method.
Also, it is a well known fact that about 80% of teachers here do private tutoring and do not pay taxes. Yes, an officially known fact (the ministry of education refused to raise teachers salaries, and that was the official reason). Most of them win more than 500$/month with tutoring. So should I file for my 20$? Really now, they would start laughing hysterically if I'd submit such figures.
The scholarship is something the school secretary hands me in an envelope. I don't even sign for the money or anything</p>
<p>Whoa, there. Don't compare the $20 bucks for dog walking or baby sitting that kid gets with money that teachers get for tutoring. For adults making enough money that they are over the income levels for tax returns, ANY money earned is supposed to be reported. Ok, so one of them "forgets" to include $20 that someone pays them to do some small thing. Not that big of a deal. But if they are tutoring on a regular and consistent basis, the chances are pretty danged good that they will get caught on this unless they are taking some evasive actions, if they are audited. I have tutored in my lifetime, and I have reported every penny since I started making enough to pay taxes. Most teachers I know declare tutoring money as well. So I don't know about those 80% of teachers you know that are not reporting that income. I don't know one single teacher who would tell a student that they are not paying taxes on the money they are getting for tutoring, even if that is the case. It would be a foolish,foolish thing to say, as it is likely ILLEGAL.<br>
For kids, there is a huge gray area for income earned, particularly when it is low. Paying social security and other required taxes is not expected for kids who are making low amounts doing errands. But make no mistake, just because some people are not reporting income that is difficult to track down, does not make it legal.</p>
<p>Colleges generally expect you, the student to earn some of the money for college. Your $20 is well below the threshhold where they start tacking it onto the family EFC. And they do not care if you do not have documentation for the amount. What they care about is if there is documentation for money, and you do not declare it.</p>