FAFSA and untaxed income

Paying for College
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I am a rising high school senior hoping to start college in Fall 2015, and I'm trying to get out ahead of all the usual complications. At this point, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, and am particularly confused about my financial situation vis a vis the FAFSA.</p>

<p>I live with my mother, who is disable and receives Social Security Disability payments. I receive Social Security survivors' benefits for my father (though those will be ending shortly). There are no other sources of income in the household. As I understand it, that means that the taxable income for the household is exactly $0--at any rate, no tax return has been filed by anyone in the household in many years--but none of the official or unofficial instructions for completing the FAFSA I've found seem to take a situation like this into account, and they all mention tax documents as something you MUST have to complete the FAFSA. Since those tax documents don't exist, um... what do I do? :)</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>If you or your mother are not filing a tax return, send a Non-filer Statement instead of each return that is requested. Read the FAFSA instructions. That is covered. Also go through this: <a href=“FAFSA - question by question explanation - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>FAFSA - question by question explanation - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;

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<p>You may not even be asked for the non-filer statements. Just fill out your FAFSA honestly & send any documentation requested when/if the time comes.</p>

4

<p>@Evan111‌
At my school, several people (including myself) had non-citizen, non-resident parents who didn’t pay taxes in the U.S. For the FAFSA, the parents couldn’t get PIN numbers, so they had to mail the signature page to the designated address.
I’m not exactly sure how it’ll work out in your case, but my guess is that you’ll have to do something similar.</p>

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<p>Fredjan…the OP’s parent has NOT filed tax returns and is not required to do so. </p>

<p>She/he will need to complete a non-filers statement. The family will NOT be mailing in ANY tax returns if they are not required to file.</p>

<p>For their FAFSA, they will complete the form, and will list their income (which sounds like it is $0). They can submit that online just like anyone else. No need to send in a paper copy.</p>

<p>As noted, the schools may ask for additional information, mostly because they will wonder how the family is paying their bills with $0. The family will need to provide any documentation the colleges ask for.</p>

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<p>As long as the OP and mother have SSNs they will be able to apply for a PIN and sign and submit the fafsa electronically.</p>

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<p>@thumper1‌
I am aware that they won’t be filing any tax returns. The mailed signatured replaced the PIN, not the tax forms; however, it appears that the OP won’t need to do this.
In his case, your advice and @annoyingdad‌ 's counts</p>