Financial aid for 2018-2019 opens soon and I’m confused as to what I’m supposed to report. my mom did not file taxes for 2016 because she was pregnant/and then took the rest of the year off to care for my little brother. She said she wasn’t required to file because she did not work at all(is this true???). The person who supported us that entire year was my mom’s long time boyfriend(not married yet). He legally isn’t my stepdad so I don’t think I have to report him, but he made the household income for 2016. Which leaves me wondering what exactly will I report when applying for financial aid? Does my mom still have to file taxes? Is there a section where I could put my mom’s boyfriend’s income or do I leave it out completely? please help
If your mother didn’t have income to file, she doesn’t have to file. She will most likely be required (by the school) to provide a ‘non-filer’s letter’ (which she can get from the IRS.
Just answer the questions as asked. Do not count the boyfriend as a member of the household. You will likely be flagged for verification, so be prepared (and look for the emails that sometimes end up in spam)
Leave mom’s boyfriend off, but if your income was zero expect to be flagged for verification. They’re going to want to know how you survived without any money. At that point explain that boyfriend was supporting you and her that year. If your mom is currently working, you may have to update the school with her current income and your financial aid might be based on that.
If mom and boyfriend marry, your financial aid will be based on both incomes, but for now, for the FAFSA, only a custodial parent and that parent’s spouse count.
There is no space on the FAFSA to explain special circumstances, so just answer the questions as asked and wait until they ask more questions.
Are any of the bills in your mother’s name? Apartment lease, phone. Utilities?
yes most of the bills are in her name
@thumper1 Why do you ask? The FAFSA has zero questions about rent, phone, and utilities.
The FAFSA has a question about bills (would include rent, phone and utilities) paid by someone else on the student’s behalf. But, there is no question about bills paid on a parent’s behalf, so it’s likely not an issue in the situation as presented by OP.
Just keep track of everything…and be able to show how your bills were paid.
Your mom will need to complete a non-filers statement for 2016.
And as noted above…you likely will be selected for verification with income $0.
Also, understand that at most colleges, this will get you a $5900 Pell Grant, and a $5500 student loan. It will not guarantee any money beyond that amount.
The bills-in-your-name-paid-by-someone-else thing is only for independent students. It doesn’t apply for dependent students.
Is this new for the 2018-2019 FAFSA? The 2017-2018 FAFSA (and previous years as well) makes no distinction, that I can tell, between dependent and independent students when it comes to reporting as student untaxed income bills in the student’s name that have been paid by another person whose financial information is not included on the FAFSA.
Here is the pertaining language from question 45.j. of the 2017-2018 FAFSA:
Money received, or paid on your behalf (e.g., bills), not reported elsewhere on this form. This includes money that you received from a parent or other person whose financial information is not reported on this form and that is not part of a legal child support agreement.
But the original issue was about bills in the mom’s name being covered by someone else. I don’t see anything that says a dependent student is required to report that money as their own.