FAFSA Do I have to use the IRS tool?

Paying for College
1

Last week when my son was home he did his FAFSA for 2017-18. He’s already in college but has a scholarship we’d like to keep. He got the message back that he was done and it told him the EFC and stated it would be forwarded to his college. I pulled out my last years tax records and hand entered the numbers. I went to the IRS site and it looked like I needed to register and make a PIN etc. and it seemed faster to me just to enter tax info myself. Today I got this message. I already entered my info. Do I HAVE to use the IRS tool? Is this some form of authentication for them? The way the earlier emails sounded I thought we were done. It was so easy! I did search on here and did not find any similar posts. We already did the FAFSA signatures and entered the FSA id’s etc. If required why would they not state “you MUST use the IRS tool.” Last year I hand entered the tax info as I did taxes the day I did the FAFSA.

The email:

Transfer your tax info into your child’s FAFSA

12/2/2016 9:41 AM

Federal Student Aid

To

OspreyCV22

Dear Parent of S16,

It is now time to transfer your IRS tax information directly into your child’s FAFSA. This takes most people less than ten minutes, and may reduce the amount of paperwork that must be provided to your child’s school.

*** Get an FSA ID ***

IMPORTANT: You must create your own FSA ID. Your FSA ID serves as a legal signature and no one else, including your child, a spouse or school official, should create or use your FSA ID. Allowing someone else to create your FSA ID can create delays or other problems with your child’s federal student aid. If you already have an FSA ID (username and password) you can skip to the next section.

  1. Go to http://studentaid.gov/fsaid.
  2. Click on the green "Create an FSA ID Now" button.
  3. Read the instructions on each page and provide the information requested. This process takes most people ten minutes or less.
  4. Be sure to create a username, password and challenge questions & answers that you can remember. You will use your FSA ID every year your child submits a FAFSA, if you need to sign a Master Promissory note, and to track your own federal loans throughout repayment.

*** Have your child create a save key ***

Have your child complete the steps in this section in order to share his or her application with you.

  1. Go to https://fafsa.gov and click the green "Login" button.
  2. Click "Enter your (the student's) FSA ID" on the right side of the page.
  3. Enter his or her FSA ID username and password and click "Next."
  4. Click "Make FAFSA Corrections."
  5. Create a save key.
  6. Click "Next" and then save and exit the application.
  7. Provide the save key to you in order for you to access your child's application.

*** Log in to your child’s FAFSA ***

  1. Once you have obtained your FSA ID, go to https://fafsa.gov.
  2. Click the green "Login" button on the right side of the page.
  3. Click "Enter the student's information," provide the information requested and click "Next."
  4. Click "Continue" to continue the correction that your child started.
  5. Provide the save key that your child created for you.
  6. Navigate to the "Financial Information" page.
  7. Enter your FSA ID and click on the "Link to IRS" button. If you have any issues with the IRS site finding your data, make sure the information you entered matches your tax return exactly, including items such as abbreviations in your mailing address.
  8. Once you've linked to the IRS and transferred your data into your child's FAFSA, navigate to the "Sign & Submit" page.
  9. In the "Parent Signature" section of the "Sign & Submit" page, read the certification statement and check the box.
  10. Click "Sign."
  11. Save the application so that your child may then go in and provide his or her signature.

Because this is the student’s application, your child must then log back in to the application with his or her FSA ID username and password; read the certification statement and check the box in the “Student Signature” section of the “Sign & Submit” page, click “Sign” and submit the application.

Thank you. If you have questions about transferring your IRS information into your child’s FAFSA, visit https://fafsa.gov and click “Help” at the top of the FAFSA home page.

U.S. Department of Education
Federal Student Aid

2

Did you NOT file a fafsa last year? If you filed one last year, you, the parent, should have the necessary log in information for the fafsa so that you can link to the IRS data retrieval tool. Schools expect this to be done…as this is how they know that the info you entered is accurate.

3

The FAFSA ID is required to sign the FAFSA. I don’t think you need another ID for the tax tool. If you don’t use the tool, you may later have to provide proof of the numbers you entered manually.

4

Right…just log back into the fafsa to update. Do the link for the IRS DRT…and submit again.

You got that email because you didn’t link to the DRT.

It’s not hard to do. Nothing new and different than you needed to get the fafsa done the first time.

5

When your son signs into his FAFSA with his FSA ID he can go to corrections, parent financial info, then select taxes already completed and you have to sign in with your FSA ID and I believe you just need to enter address and such like on the return and it should link the tax return to the FAFSA.

the autofilled fields will then say “transferred from the IRS” so the numbers get kind of “verified” for them.

6

Unless they changed it this year, no you are not required to use the IRS data retrieval tool. I filed three FASFAs without using it.

7

YMMV by college. Some schools will REQUIRE that you either use the DRT or provide a tax transcript. My kid’s college has this requirement.

Your best bet…since this is a continuing student…call the school and ask. Then do what they tell you to do.