<p>Hey everyone!</p>
<p>I am working on my FAFSA and reached the section for my family income. Since my dad is self-employed, he does not know what his AGI is until April. He cannot estimate either. What do I need to do about this? I have our 2010 1040 tax return, but 2011 will not be ready until April.</p>
<p>Does your dad think his info will be close to last year’s? If so, use last year’s info as an estimate. Put “will file,” then update it once your dad files. Remember, though, that an increase in his income may decrease your awards.</p>
<p>Your dad needs to provide you with the VERY BEST ESTIMATES he can give you for 2011. Put those on your FAFSA and select “will file” for your tax filing status. </p>
<p>I will say, however, your family really should get those taxes done before April if you want to know what your actual real financial aid package really is. Any package you get using estimated information will be an ESTIMATED PACKAGE. Do you really want to make your college choice on May 1 with an estimated package that could very well change? And yes…it could go DOWN. If you don’t submit your finalized FAFSA with info from your completed return until April, the college(s) will not have time to complete and finalize your financial aid package by May 1.</p>
<p>So…use the best estimates you can…and get the taxes done ASAP. The year your child is a freshman in college is NOT the year to do your taxes in April.</p>
<p>Does he know when the priority FA deadlines for your school(s) are? Based on the 2010 return, would you be eligible for any aid othere than loans? Some schools will use the date you initially filed (with estimates) as the filing date, others use the date the FAFSA is finalized (with actual numbers, taxes filed). It’s up to him whether he makes an effort to get you decent estimates or gets his taxes done early, but parents who wait should probably be prepared not to rely on initial awards or to forgo most financial aid and pay for their offspring’s education out of pocket.</p>
<p>Ok, he is in a partnership, which means there are very many variables involved when filing our taxes. We do know, however, that it will not be close to our 2010. I am eligible for a lot of financial aid based on 2010, but it’s different with 2011. I’m the first child in my family to go to college, so we’ve never done this before. I’m freaking out.</p>
<p>File with the 2010 figures. You will get an estimated package based on that which will be reduced when the real 2011 figures become available. </p>
<p>This is much better than over-estimating your family income at the beginning. In that case the colleges/universities might not be able to up-grade your aid when you report the real, lower figures later on.</p>