Last Thursday my parents filed their tax returns with a tax preparer but when they got home they realized he made a mistake on the filing status (for some reason he filed one as single and the other as head of household). They went back the next day to correct the error and file their 1040x. He said that it does take a while for the IRS to receive the 1040x since you do have to mail that form. My parents also received their tax return today as well. Well my question is I just completed my FAFSA with the correct information from the 1040x but I’m sure that the IRS hasn’t processed the amendment yet. Is there a chance that the computer matches the information from the IRS and denies me if they check for verification since it hasn’t been updated? Or does the government/school just ask for my tax returns? Cause i’m not sure if FAFSA has the power to cross match with the IRS or not. I don’t qualify for any grants or anything so I am only hoping that I receive need based aid from my college. I just don’t want this to be a problem because the deadline for priority aid is March 1st so I need everything to be right.
Thank you!
You can’t use the Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) to cross-match information from your FAFSA and your parents’ tax return.
If you submitted your FAFSA using the old (incorrect) tax return information, go back into the FAFSA and choose “Make a correction” and go through and change the entries that are different on the final return. Then submit the revised FAFSA for re-processing.
Check with your college’s financial aid office on what they would like you to do since you are not allowed to use the Data Retrieval Tool. They will probably tell you that you need to obtain a Tax Transcript from the IRS, but that too will not be available by March 1 because of filing an amended tax return. You might need to ask to speak with a financial aid officer. They may want you to send in a copy of your parents’ tax return and W-2 statements, with the understanding that your financial aid won’t be finalized until you can submit a tax transcript.
In the case of an amendment, the school may request to see the original IRS transcript from the incorrect return and the actual 1040x to note the differences between the two.