<p>While I understand that colleges request a signed copy of the 1040 tax forms-- and you sign off on the college's and FAFSA forms that you are being honest....in fact I have heard people "lie".</p>
<p>So my specific question is whether the FAFSA is verified by matching up SS #s through the IRS and would FAFSA contact you if there is a discrepancy?
What if you omitted a 1099 from the FAFSA and didn't catch in until later in April after the FAFSA was filed and you also filed your 1040. You ammend your 1040 - but if you don't ammend your FAFSA-- will you be contacted by them if records are out of line with IRS records?</p>
<p>Do I presume too much from the federal government...???</p>
<p>At this time, there is no direct link. However, there may be one someday in the future.</p>
<p>If you amended your return, you should have updated your FAFSA accordingly. It may not have made any difference, but at least you would know for sure (and you wouldn’t feel guilty).</p>
<p>Remember…not putting the accurate information on the FAFSA is considered fraud. AND if you ARE caught, you risk losing not only your financial aid but also your admissions to the school. </p>
<p>Assets are a reflection of your assets as of the day you file FAFSA. Income is the actual income you received during that base year. A return is amended because the original return was incorrect, not because the income changed.</p>
<p>Swimcats is correct. Changes to the FAFSA do NOT reflect changes to the asset section…unless they were reported in ERROR. For example, we incorrectly placed an account in OUR asset section that was really DD’s. When we amended her FAFSA, we made that change. The total AMOUNT of the assets didn’t change a bit…but they were listed in different places. IT WAS AN ERROR. You do not report changes in the amount of assets when you amend the FAFSA.</p>
<p>I have a question for all of you who are thinking changing these things would be a good idea…</p>
<p>If your assets signficantly increase, would you take the time to tell the colleges? I’ll bet not. (It’s not required…but I find it interesting that folks are wondering about DROPS in assets like stocks…but in boom times, I’ll bet NO ONE asked about telling the colleges they had MORE money available).</p>
<p>I’m still trying to get an answer about FAFSA and the Cal Grant. I know the Cal Grant is based on the FAFSA. The FAFSA asks for Adjusted Gross income – Line 37 from income tax form (and this is after you can take the $4,000 tuition deduction). So is the Cal Grant maximum based on Line 37? It’s important to us because family income is very near the maximum for our family for a Cal Grant. Without the $4,000 deduction from Gross income we may just exceed the Cal Grant Ceiling. With the deduction we’d be fine. Can anyone let me know the answer? THANKS SO MUCH!!!</p>
<p>I think you are not getting an answer because non of us know the answer. We know haw the FAFSA EFC is calculated because there is a formula out there that we can look at to tell us how it is calculated. Cal Grant is a grant specific to your State of California. I can’t see anything on the Calgrant page that says what # they use for income. However if it is based on numbers filed on FAFSA then as far as I know there is nowhere on FAFSA where you report tuition and fees deductions so I don’t see how they could be added back to the AGI just using FAFSA information.</p>
<p>There are some pre line 37 items that do have to be reported on FAFSA, such as contributions to an IRA. For the FAFSA EFC those *are * added back to the AGI before calculating the EFC. FOr Calgrant - no idea.</p>
<p>Thumper said, "I have a question for all of you who are thinking changing these things would be a good idea…</p>
<p>If your assets signficantly increase, would you take the time to tell the colleges? I’ll bet not. (It’s not required…but I find it interesting that folks are wondering about DROPS in assets like stocks…but in boom times, I’ll bet NO ONE asked about telling the colleges they had MORE money available). "</p>
<p>I think the FAFSA rules are often misunderstood and most people just file the FAFSA once and forget about it. Filing on time or early seems to be challenging enough for many people. Only after reading questions on CC does one get to thinking if they filed correctly or not. People with lower incomes are probably concerned with stocks because every dollar counts. What may seem like a significant loss to one, may mean nothing to someone else. </p>
<p>Are you suppose to report a large raise at work or just wait until the next FAFSA? Do you report a gift after FAFSA is filed or would it appear as an asset on the next FAFSA? How about increases in rental property? I can see the confusion and lack of consistancy.</p>
<p>It’s not nearly so confusing if you realize that the FAFSA uses base year earnings & the other financial info represents a snapshot in time. So … if you reported your base year earnings incorrectly (either because you estimated or because you had to amend the return at a later point in time), you must adjust the info on FAFSA. But that “moment in time” for the other info does not change.</p>
<p>I certainly realize it is confusing for some … especially based on how many students/parents do not get the concept of the e-bill being a snapshot in time ! ;)</p>