Fafsa and 1099 income

<p>So - maybe this is a repeat question -- </p>

<p>I'm sitting down to do the fafsa for my daughter-- even though I don't have all of our 1099's and am estimating based on last year's tax return.</p>

<p>All of our income is 1099 and there are a lot of deductions.</p>

<p>The form asks for our adjusted gross income -- which is one number and then it asks for our individual incomes -- which is higher than the AGI. Is this okay or are they asking for the individual adjusted totals so that they add up to the AGI?</p>

<p>Also - looking at line 55 on last years 1040 - it says 0 ... Is that going to be a problem?</p>

<p>Thanks for you your help,
Rachel</p>

<p>I called 1 800 4FED AID
and they said to use the gross income for each of us – not the adjusted individual income.</p>

<p>So all your income is from self-employment? You file Schedule C & Schedule SE.
On FAFSA, yes “Federal Income Taxes Paid” is line 55 on your 1040. </p>

<p>Self-employed people have 1/2 taxes deducted on Line 27 on front of 1040, thereby reducing their AGI for financial aid. </p>

<p>However many financial aid offices may aid back in certain deductible expenses such as vehicle expense (mileage) or depreciation expense on assets. To the financial aid people those two things aren’t “real expenses”. </p>

<p>If you made a contribution to your SEP (line 28 on 1040) that will be added back in as income! For us people with 401 (k)'s or other retirement accounts, our contributions are also added back in as income! </p>

<p>Just thought I would point out a few of these things to you! But it sounds like you are going to have “EFC SHOCK” anyway! :)</p>

<p>i’m not sure what you mean by EFC Shock … that they expect us to pay more than we can? I suppose that’s the case all around… we have nothing in the SEP and were allowed to skip the question about parent assets … Will that help or hurt?</p>

<p>Most schools don’t meet your need, schools that meet 100% of need are very few & very difficult to gain acceptance to. So, yes, you will probably pay more than the EFC you see on your FAFSA. </p>

<p>Parents Assets are assessed at 5.6%, if you don’t have any, you won’t be contributing from them! Check out the EFC calculator on the Collegeboard website. Run your numbers through it, see what you come up with! Hit “Save” so you can go back to it. </p>

<p>You have an Asset Protection Allowance as well, for a family of 4, it is $69,200 under the FM (Federal Methodology) Schools. (Usually FAFSA only schools).</p>

<p>If your child is applying to any private schools that use CSS PROFILE, also, choose the IM (Institutional Methodology) on the EFC Calculator.</p>