FAFSA ISSUE HELP

[TheIntegration]

For me to receive any kind of aid, UCR has told me this…

“Before an official financial aid offer will be made available to you, your parents need to log onto FAFSA on the Web , click on the Link to the IRS, and follow the instructions to update your FAFSA using the new IRS Data Retrieval process. They will use the new IRS Data Retrieval Tool to authorize transfer of their income and tax information from their IRS tax return to your FAFSA, once they have filed their federal tax return with the IRS.”

However, when I go and try to use the data retrieval tool on the FASFA website, it says that I am unable to use it…

“Based on your response, you, the parents, are not eligible to transfer your information from the IRS into this FAFSA.”

My parents have completed their taxes for 2014…

Does anyone know why this is happening?

[4kidsdad]

Does anyone know why this is happening?

See https://fafsa.gov/help/irshlp10.htm

Most students and parents are eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool if they have already filed their taxes.

However, there are a few scenarios in which students and parents are ineligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, such as:
•The student/parent is married, and either the student/parent or his/her spouse filed as Married Filing Separately.
•The student/parent is married, and either the student/parent or his/her spouse filed as Head of Household.
•The parents’ marital status is “Unmarried and both parents living together.”
•The student/parent filed a Form 1040X amended tax return. Remember, the Form 1040X is used to correct your original tax return.
•The student/parent filed a Puerto Rican or foreign tax return.

Any students or parents who meet the above criteria will need to enter their tax return information manually.

Additionally, students or parents who filed their tax returns electronically within the last three weeks, or through the mail within the last 11 weeks, might need to enter their tax return information manually or return at a later date to transfer their tax return information into the FAFSA, as their tax return information might not be available for transfer from the IRS.

[arabrab]

Call UC Riverside’s Financial Aid office and tell them that you attempted to use the Data Retrieval Tool, but that it says you are ineligible. They may instead ask you to get a copy of the IRS Tax Transcript (free on the IRS website) instead of using the DRT.

[thumper1]

When did your parents complete their taxes? If they did them on April 15, it has not been three weeks since completed, and the DRT would not be available…yet.

Did your parents owe money to the IRS? When was that sent? Again…this could slow down your ability to use the DRT.

[adkdad]

Update the FAFSA with the tax return information manually.

[kelsmom]

That won’t work. If the parents can’t do the transfer, they must send an IRS tax transcript, which can be requested and downloaded online. First, though, here are some ideas:

• Look at question #80. Does it say My parents have already completed their return? If not, update it to My parents have already completed their return (assuming they have) - you will then be able to use the DRT.
• If that is not the issue, did your parents file as Married Filing Separately? If so, you cannot use the DRT. Both parents will have to request/download their tax transcripts, sign them, and send them to the school with a note of explanation.

[thumper1]

When we did the fafsa…for the DRT, there was a question “were your taxes completed within the last three weeks?”. If the answer was YES, the DRT was not available to use.