FAFSA and the IRS

Paying for College
1

<p>I just got off live chat with them. The chat person kept feeding me canned responses and it just made me want to throw things. I really hate that they are outsourcing our financial information. But I digress.</p>

<p>Anyway, my s2b freshman has applied to one college that wants the FAFSA and CSS by February 1. But for those of us who have to fill out the 1040, who don't get W-2s but file Schedule Cs, we have to wait. I am not sure what the program is going to do with the deductions - we use TT Online. I've entered all the data. But even more frustrating, TTO won't really give me an estimate.</p>

<p>Any advice? Does anyone know how far off you can be in your estimate? I know you can correct it - and you are supposed to wait until you get something back, but then if that's wrong.... the outsourced chat guy said "contact the financial aid office of your school." He applied to half a dozen...so where do I even start with that???</p>

<p>This isn't supposed to be this hard.</p>

2

<p>I would just estimate using the 2009 forms and a “will file” status until the IRS gets through updating for 2010.</p>

3

<p>The first year of doing these forms is truly horrible – and then it gets better. Make sure you print off a copy of what you submit for your own files. Next year it will be a template for your use. Also, next year you should only have one college to make happy. </p>

<p>Think of this as a Monopoly game in which you are playing against the fin aid department – and they are the big brother who is only telling you part of the rules. Now you know your role: young, ignorant and playing out of your depth. </p>

<p>Fine. Time to get shrewd and determined and win a few rounds. There are 100 questions on the FAFSA. About 80 of them you should be able to breeze through. Start a separate sheet of paper for each of the remaining difficult questions and make notes to yourself as you work through to an answer that you will fill into the slot. This is important because 1) you will forget how you got to that answer later and 2) you will use this “footprints of how I got there” sheet after you get your taxes done to evaluate whether or not you need to change the answer to that question. </p>

<p>Do the same with the CSS Profile (Actually I did the nastier Profile first and then the FAFSA seemed easier in comparison). </p>

<p>Play the “I just a widdle kid” card when you need to. By that I mean: do your level best to answer fairly and then, IF there is a problem, tell the appropriate fin aid office that it really is your first time and you didn’t understand and if they will please explain it to you that you’ll try to learn. </p>

<p>Right now it is very, very important that you meet that Feb 1 deadline. Here’s why: the fin aid department is going to work through their pile of money/Pell grants/scholarships in a numerical fashion. The first family that submitted their form gets analyzed first, etc. You want to be as close to the front of the line as possible (ie, get this done this weekend if at all possible). </p>

<p>You really should be able to do this by using the 2009 tax returns as a starting point. If 2010 was hugely different, then your bank statements will help. </p>

<p>Keep in mind that the fin aid officers deal with this every year. You can, indeed, email each fin aid office (all six) and say "I’m having trouble with question 87b is it ok to say . . . " and they should get back to you quickly. </p>

<p>Honestly, I suspect that it is five or fewer questions that are giving you the headache. That’s ok. Work up your best estimate (leaving yourself lots of notes on how you got there) and submit.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the great info. I am still laughing at “Widdle Kid” LOL Good one! But yes, I know what you mean about getting in early and that Feb 1 date has me worried. Actually, I could file the thing tonight. Both of them. I just don’t feel secure because of the numbers, I am afraid TTO is going to change the crap out of them.</p>

<p>I have sort of been going through both the CSS and the FAFSA together. That is, at the same time as I am slogging through the redesigned (with no GOOD index) TurboTax Online. My week is shot and so is my brain.</p>

<p>Do you have to eventually send them forms? I don’t need IDOCs for any of them.</p>

<p>Thanks again -</p>

5

<p>Sometimes you do eventually have to send those stinking tax forms. Some students are selected for verification when the FAFSA is submitted and colleges are required to verify a certain %age of those. We hit the jackpot four straight years with DS…got verified each time and also selected by the college. The funny thing was that he wasn’t receiving a nickel of need based aid. But we sent the forms anyway…we were only completing the FAFSA to get the Stafford loan!</p>

<p>So…make sure you print out copies of everything you submit online. Then they will be “handy” when you need to submit them.</p>

6

<p>When someone needs to estimate their current year taxes and feels that the previous year’s taxes won’t be similar enough to use those numbers, I think the Dinkytown calculator does a reasonable job. Go to Dinkytown.net, look for income tax calculators, then the 1040.</p>

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<p>@Thumper, you have my sympathies.</p>

<p>I paid off a couple of credit cards yesterday. Today I checked the bank, they hadn’t cleared yet, so my account balance is still higher than I want it when I file the FAFSA. Now, my bank is notorious for being a day behind online. </p>

<p>When they say FAFSA is a snapshot of the moment you click Send, what about things like that? I can show they were paid yesterday…</p>

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<p>Use your own checkbook balance. Verification isn’t usually that detailed and IIRC we were never asked for supporting docs on the asset side. I doubt it’s required unless they have some reason to believe underreporting is going on (like oodles of interest/div income but low asset values reported).</p>

9

<p>ARRRGH. I clicked Send. Came back that he was not eligible because he is not a US Citizen. YES HE IS. And I checked all the correct boxes. </p>

<p>Of course the chat moron is useless. And I can’t get back in to correct it.</p>

<p>So what happens next? She couldn’t tell me. She says “wait until it’s accepted” - so now I get to call all the colleges anyway and tell them he’s a citizen, right?</p>

<p>I hate using Internet Explorer. Stupid Fafsa doesn’t work in Firefox or Chrome.</p>

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<p>You are the third person whose post said they got the “not a citizen” thing … maybe the processor is having issues right now. If that is the case, I am sure it will be fixed soon.</p>

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<p>It’s unbelievably frustrating. Of course, it <em>would</em> have issues when <em>I</em> clicked Send…</p>

<p>At least I can correct it before the schools get it. Can’t I? I hope so, because one of them is due Feb. 1.</p>

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<p>It should just be a couple days before you can view it and change it, if need be.</p>

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<p>Newmann, a couple of others have gotten that “not a citizen” message but a couple were naturalized citizens. Is that the case with your son?</p>

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<p>He is a citizen, he was Born here. </p>

<p>BUT I figured out the problem, it <em>is</em> Internet Explorer. When you use the up/down cursor functions - even if you aren’t clicked into a box, it spins the boxes all around…</p>

<p>One more reason they should make it compatible with Firefox.</p>

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<p>It is compatible with firefox. I filed FAFSA on the 1st of Jan using firefox browser.</p>

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<p>I use Safari & just ignore the warnings.</p>

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<p>NewMann- if you also don’t file the Schedule A the tax software should be updated for you. I work part-time for a tax prep firm and I know our C information had no issues. You would be able to get an accurate estimate. Even our schedule A software is correct as of this week. I know many people hate to have others do their taxes but since there was a 2010 Small Business tax bill that passed in September, it couldn’t hurt to try out a tax prep firm. Even if you don’t file with them, you will have a better idea of the numbers.</p>

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<p>For some reason, FAFSA didn’t work with Firefox on my computer. Probably a conflict with a plugin or something. Figures. Don’t care for Safari. Chrome is great, though, very fast.</p>

<p>MizzBee - Ah, but you see, we <em>do</em> file Schedule A. Anyone who itemizes deductions…</p>