<p>My mother is self-employed but relies on others in order to file taxes. The FAFSA deadline is February 1 and she has told me that there is no way she can complete her taxes by this date. </p>
<p>I logged into my FAFSA account from last year and noticed that I submitted corrections in late February and early April. I believe I used my parents' 2009 information since the 2010 info was not yet available, but entered an amount in an incorrect field which resulted in an EFC of $48,000. (the amount of money my parents bring in is high ($150k+), but AGI is low). When I realized and corrected the mistake later in February, my EFC changed to $11,700. My April correction was with the completed 2010 tax information, where my mom made much less money and had an EFC of under 1,200 which qualified me for a Pell Grant. 2011 was a worse year for my mother's business. Is it acceptable, or even expected to use the 2010 information since FAFSA needs to be filed so early in the year? How will this effect my financial aid when I receive decisions and financial aid awards in March and April when the FAFSA they will see is from 2010? Should I write a note saying that our financial situation in 2011 is worse than in 2010?</p>
<p>Thanks for your help. I'm a student doing this on my own and I appreciate any suggestions you may have.</p>
<p>Are you sure your school’s priority deadline is 2/1? That seems early for returning students. I would use the 2010 return to file an estimated FAFSA and just correct it when she gets the 2011 return done.</p>
<p>But just remember…your ESTIMATED DATA will give you an ESTIMATED financial aid award. When you put your real numbers into the FAFSA, your aid could change…and yes,if your income goes up, your aid could go down.</p>
<p>The 2012-2013 FAFSA became available for online submission on January 1, 2012. You should do it in keeping with the deadline for the schools to which you are applying. If the school has a January deadline…here’s what you do.</p>
<p>File your FAFSA using a “will file” status which means you WILL file your taxes but have not yet done so. Use the BEST possible estimates based on your end of year pay stubs, interest statements etc. Then submit it to the school(s).</p>
<p>Do your taxes as soon as reasonably possible after Feb 1 when you have all of your 2011 documentation. Go back IN to the FAFSA website and amend your FAFSA to reflect the figures from your 2011 completed tax return and resubmit to the college(s). Change your status to “taxes completed”. </p>
<p>This is the year you want to get your taxes done as soon as possible. It is NOT the year to wait until April 15th to complete your taxes.</p>
<p>You really want to give the schools enough time to review your FAFSA with the numbers from 2011 so that your aid package is final before you have to make a matriculation decision by May 1.</p>
<p>I am in the process of divorcing my husband and will be filing my income taxes married buy separate. Should I use “our” or “mine” or “his” income on my daughter’s FAFSA?</p>
<p>The standard is who has your D lived with the most in the last 12 months? If you and your H are still living together, or if she lived with you both equally during the past 12 months, then you would use the parent who earns the most If she lived with one of you more than the other in the last 12 months, that is who you use.</p>
<p>I checked last year’s FAFSA (early feb) and selected “Will file.” I guess doing the same thing this year wouldn’t be an issue? Just to clarify, could I go ahead now and enter the 2010 information into the 2012-13 FAFSA? </p>
<p>There is no way I can accurately indicate that my mother has made less money in 2011. I guess what I should do is use the 2010 information and just edit it once my parents get their taxes together in February or March?</p>
<p>Also, even after I submit my FAFSA I can still add schools, right?</p>
<p>Hey!
I cannot open the fafsa website on my computer. [Home</a> - FAFSA on the Web-Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://www.fafsa.ed.gov%5DHome”>http://www.fafsa.ed.gov)
I have tried using Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer but have failed. Haven’t been able to access it even once.</p>