FAFSA question- Manual corrections vs.data retrieval tool

Paying for College
1

My son will be attending a UC and received a preliminary aid award. I filled out the FAFSA with estimated 2015 tax information. After submitting the FAFSA in Feb. I filed my taxes in April.

I just received a notice from the UC to make corrections on the FAFSA so they can finalize his award. It seems that i can make corrections manually as I have a copy of my printed 2015 return. However, it is required to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to make the corrections? Since I recently filed taxes would my info be available to the DRT? If not, how long would I have to wait to use the DRT?

Would it raise any red flags if I entered the info manually vs. using the DRT? Would not using the DRT mean a higher auditi/verification risk later?

My estimated tax info on the FAFSA were pretty to close to what the actual numbers ended up being.

What is the best way to proceed? This is my first time doing a FAFSA and I don’t want to make any mistakes.

2

I think that using the DRT is generally the best way to go. If you got a refund/didn’t owe anything when you filed, the DRT should be available within a week or so of when the IRS accepted your return. If you owed money, it may be a few weeks more from when your payment cleared.

3

If you filed your 2015 return electronically and you didn’t owe any additional tax money to the IRS…you should be able to link to the DRT 2-3 weeks after you filed…at the longest. Just keep checking every day…

If you had to mail an additional payment, it could take 6 weeks for the DRT to become available.

You can enter the numbers manually…and then use the DRT when it becomes available.