<p>Hello all. My son is a college freshman we are re-applying for financial aid for next year. The financial aid department has asked that returning students not fill out the FAFSA and CSS Profile until they file their taxes. The college also uses IDOC so it requires all of the tax returns. I just filed my taxes electronically this weekend.
One hour after I filed them my husband finally got engaged in the process and noticed that I had omitted the deduction for his traditional IRA (he is opening one this week).</p>
<p>This will be a $6,000 deduction and will increase our refund so I will be filing an amended return. I have not filed yet. </p>
<p>My question is the timing of it all. Do I do the FAFSA and the CSS Profile with the amended tax return information or use my original tax submission and file the amended return later? The advantage with the first approach is that I can hopefully use the IRS retrieval tool and get the financial aid process going. I have plenty of time to file the amended return later.</p>
<p>Not sure that the slightly different tax burden and AGI will make that much difference in aid anyway. I hesitate to not use the IRS retrieval tool and that may really slow everything down. If I file for an amended return then I cannot use the retrieval tool.</p>
<p>Sorry I meant that I would like to use the second approach; fill our the FAFSA/CSS Profile/IDOC with the original tax information and use the IRS retrieval tool; file the amended return after. Disadvantage with this is that my income is lower after the amended return, but I don’t think that this will matter much with all of the information that the school requires. The IRA deduction is the only difference between the original and the amended return.</p>
<p>Find out when the financial aid forms are due for returning students…it’s generally much later than for inbound freshman. That might help you make your decision. Personally i would do the profile with the correct information (as will be reflected in your amended return) and do the correct information in the FAFSA and wait to do the data retrieval until you file the amended return. I won’t be able to FAFSA retrieval for probably at least 3 more weeks as we’re still waiting in queue for the feds to finalize one last form that is in our tax return.</p>
<p>Amended returns cannot be accessed with the retrieval tool. Unless your college requires the IRS retrieval tool be used by all students, you would only need to worry about this if your FAFSA is selected for verification. If this happens, you would need to contact the school for guidance.</p>
<p>Thank you all. The college financial aid website was refreshed today with info for current students. They strongly advised that everyone use the IRS retrieval tool stating that failure to do so would result in several weeks delay in processing the award. </p>
<p>Maybe it makes more sense to just go with what I have filed and submit an amended return later in the year as the IRS tool is not available for those with amended returns?</p>
<p>Downside is that our income looks a little higher with more cash around (no IRS deduction and $ that won’t be in a retirement account). Advantage is that we are not last in line for any possible funds. Our income is much less than last year so we are hoping for a better package.</p>
<p>If they want all students to use the retrieval tool, I would call the Financial Aid office directly and ask their advice - Tell them you have filed, but are planning to amend your return. You can use the retrieval tool, but the resulting numbers will not be accurate. See what they say.</p>
<p>Non-filers won’t be able to use the tool either, so they must have a process in place for those who cannot use it. The sooner you know what that process is, the better.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your excellent advice. I thought that I would post the outcome of this in the hopes that it will help others with similar questions. This post may be more applicable to students re-applying for financial aid rather than those applying as incoming freshmen.</p>
<p>I called the college financial aid office. Although everyone is encouraged to use the IRS retrieval tool, it is not mandatory. Not using the tool (because we are filing an amended return) does not put us at any disadvantage from a timing standpoint (still early in the FA process for currently enrolled students). We will only have to get an IRS transcript if we are selected for verification (this college does not do 100% verification).</p>
<p>So I will file my amended return and fill out the FAFSA and CSS Profile using the latest and most accurate information. I will have to ignore the IRS retrieval tool as that does not apply to those who have amended returns (paper filing).</p>
<p>We may even have an advantage in getting our application in earlier, who knows? But at least not a disadvantage which was the original concern.</p>
<p>Every college is different. </p>
<p>Thank you for easing my stress and helping me to move forward!</p>
<p>Thank you all for your excellent advice. I thought that I would post the outcome of this in the hopes that it will help others with similar questions. This post may be more applicable to students re-applying for financial aid rather than those applying as incoming freshmen.</p>
<p>I called the college financial aid office. Although everyone is encouraged to use the IRS retrieval tool, it is not mandatory. Not using the tool (because we are filing an amended return) does not put us at any disadvantage from a timing standpoint (still early in the FA process for currently enrolled students). We will only have to get an IRS transcript if we are selected for verification (this college does not do 100% verification).</p>
<p>So I will file my amended return and fill out the FAFSA and CSS Profile using the latest and most accurate information. I will have to ignore the IRS retrieval tool as that does not apply to those who have amended returns (paper filing).</p>
<p>We may even have an advantage in getting our application in earlier, who knows? But at least not a disadvantage which was the original concern.</p>
<p>Every college is different. </p>
<p>Thank you for easing my stress and helping me to move forward!</p>