<p>Just published:</p>
<p>thanks for the heads up. Will be interested to see how they ‘hook up’ with the IRS. This makes good sense and will weed out the cheaters. Now if they can do that, they can match up to the banking industry too and catch the cheaters that lowball their assets.</p>
<p>This could be very useful for a couple of the posters here whose parents will not fill out FAFSA:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That caught my eye also, vballmom.</p>
<p>Not quite what it seems. The regulations require that parents sign a statement indicating that they do not and will not provide any type of support to the student … including housing, insurance, etc. If parents are divorced, both parents would need to provide this statement. The feds are very clear that this must be properly documented. So the student can submit the FAFSA … but without the proper documentation, the student will not receive the loans. This is already in place. We have done it for one student.</p>
<p>Why is the FAFSA so hard to complete? Can someone tell me where on the IRS 1040 (what line) is the answer to “Enter the amount of your parents’ income tax for 2009:”? My parents are making me do it and it’s my first time.</p>
<p>Detailed instructions are here, they are very helpful:</p>
<p>[Completing</a> the FAFSA 2010-2011](<a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/completing_fafsa/2010_2011/main.html]Completing”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/completing_fafsa/2010_2011/main.html)</p>
<p>Here’s what it says about this question:</p>
<ol>
<li>Income tax. Enter the amount of income taxes your parents paid in 2009 from IRS 1040—line 55; 1040A—line 35; or 1040EZ—line 11. They should not copy the amount of federal income tax withheld from a W-2 Form. If they did not pay any income tax for 2009, they should enter zero (0).</li>
</ol>
<p>The FAFSA is easy to complete. People that whine about how difficult it is to fill out are usually the ones who are trying to find free money they don’t deserve or a way to cheat on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>I disagree. It appears relatively easy to me now, after having done it six times, and having read a book about it, and having researched strategies before first filling it out. And after having filed taxes for some 30+ years.</p>
<p>But for a 17 year old, with no experience completing taxes, little understanding of the jargon of either taxes or investment or retirement accounts or financial aid? These kids have no idea what an AGI or an EFC or an IRA is. And it’s not their fault that they don’t.</p>
<p>So I tend to cut them a little slack, and help them where I can.</p>
<p>^^^ agree with sblake. I am always amazed how many 17-18 year olds are left to complete FAFSA on their own. Most of them have never even completed a tax return themselves before. The majority of questions I see here are people (kids and adults) just trying to understand how to do it correctly. CC is a great resource for help and advice. Helped me out a lot when I first started completing FAFSA 3 years ago. The link sblake posted was one of the most helpful things that someone referenced me to back then.</p>
<p>:)
…</p>
<p>This is my fifth year doing the FAFSA (4th year doing the Profile). It took me seven hours to fill out both forms. I just want to be accurate and some of the questions are hard to decipher (for me).</p>
<p>Kids and parents alike should keep ears and eyes open for free clinics provided by local schools to help fill out FAFSA. I know there are several in my area.</p>
<p>I just completed the entire thing on my own in about 15 minutes. Every single question has that little box on the side that helps you find everything. </p>
<p>That part about bypassing it to qualify for loans is interesting. I wish I could’ve just done that last year and avoided the headache that happened because no one filed their taxes and no one wanted to (and no one wanted to help me pay for school, either!)</p>