<p>I am in the same exact situation. Our taxes are not completed until Oct. due to waiting on several partners to complete the K1s . I got all our 2012 tax documents/paperwork done ASAP on my end for last year, but our partners did not hold up on their end to get it completed. I begged and bothered them on a regular basis to please make it a priority for us due to my daughters financial aid. It still did not happen. She is still a senior in HS so last year was not as critical as this year…but I am fearful it wont happen soon.</p>
<p>I called one of the schools she applied to and explained this situation. She said many self employed parents go through this. I understood her to say that a package will be put together based on the current estimated information but we will be audited and once the 2013 taxes are done and verified, we need to know that the package may change. She didn’t say that a package won’t be done until the 2013 taxes are completed??? But after reading all your posts I am very concerned and will make another call to them next week verifying what they told me.</p>
<p>Maybe there are different rules for different schools…I will call each one she applied to!</p>
<p>I hate that this is out of my control!!! Thanks for posting this everyone!</p>
<p>My H also is self-employed and we had to make the switch from oct. to feb. tax filing when the oldest applied to college. The first year was the toughest. Our oldest’s school CSS profile didn’t add back deductions for us either. Sorry about your selection for verification. This process is tedious enough without the extra hoops to jump through.</p>
<p>We are in the same boat as charlestonmom and squanmom, waiting for partnership K-1s to file in Oct. Unfortunately, there is no way to speed the process and personal income forms can’t be done separately since my H receives income from those partnerships. It really sucks that it screws up financial aid possibilities. I am planning on having to pay full freight until an official package comes through in October and then hopefully anything we get can be retroactively applied to the tuition bill. We have a bigger problem, that due to various businesses, income fluctuates quite a bit each year so estimates do no good. Ugh!!</p>
<p>how would you know if you get selected for verification? does it show up in the SAR?</p>
<p>Yes, it showed up on my son’s SAR that we were selected for verification. It was just a line of text in the document. Had I not read it carefully I would not have noticed it.</p>
<p>SO… IF H is able to file by early February will we be able to compare packages? I really don’t know how this works and how much the verification will slow things down. I guess I’m still trying to get over the shock of it all. Our plan all along was to apply to the schools and then see which one was the most affordable since we just didn’t have much of an idea of what type of aid he would be offered… both merit and needs based.</p>
<p>I just sent an e-mail to our partners begging them to please make getting the 2013 taxes done a priority for our family. Although we may own our business and be partners in several restaurants, we are NOT rich…there are loans to pay and no income comes from these ventures yet.
And, last year we were personally affected at our home as well as all of our businesses due to Super Storm Sandy. We had to put a lot of money out of out pocket to do repairs, pay loan, etc. that insurances wouldn’t pay!!! We are truly “cash” poor. We still have a family of 5 living with us that were displaced and are trying to keep our heads above water at home and our businesses.<br>
Having to put money out of pocket until the financial package is completed and verified is not an option<br>
Oh boy is right!!! “Charlestonmom”, if you were closer I would invite you over for a glass of wine!!!</p>
<p>In previous years and probably this year too there was an asterisk next to the EFC and a line of text about verification.</p>
<p>If you can file electronically in early February then wait a week or so for the return to be processed and then you can use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool on the Fafsa site to pull over the IRS data to Fafsa. If you owe an amount with your return, pay it when you file. There have been posts here the last 2 years about the return not being processed and the DRT not being available until payment is made. That was my experience 2 years ago.</p>
<p>Good luck to all of you dealing with this situation! squanmom, I would definitely make sure to get the information about your extenuating circumstances due to Sandy to all the relevant financial aid offices. They can do some professional judgment, though I don’t know what qualifies.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Probably. To be absolutely sure, you’d have to contact each school and ask them when they would be able to get your child’s package ready for you if you filed your taxes by whatever date you think you can get them done by.</p>
<p>Ok, so possibly the financial aid office will listen to my situation and take in account the reality of our dilemma? (I have not done this before, first college student)
May I ask, should I call the fin aid office, write them, e-mail them, or go to them in person??? The schools are not all close to home but I will do what it takes.
Again, thanks for the feedback.</p>
<p>I usually initiate conversations with fin aid by email, so you have a record of the discussion. In some cases they’ve called or asked me to call at some point. </p>
<p>There’s 2 things, I think. One is official “professional judgment” which would apply to your FAFSA and possibly increase your eligibility for federal financial aid. There are obviously pretty strict rules that apply there. [FinAid</a> | Professional Judgment | Special Circumstances](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid) might be a good place to start looking. The second thing is if a school gives their own institutional aid, they can be flexible about it.</p>
<p>*Quote:
SO… IF H is able to file by early February will we be able to compare packages?
*</p>
<p>Yes, likely, if the schools accept the stuff you submit to satisfy verification.</p>
<p>Any chance to file your 1040 ASAP, with the very best estimate you can make…then file an amended 1040X, as soon as everything clears up as far as K’1s, etc?</p>
<p>I was wondering about that too, but it will depend if they can submit at all without the forms they don’t have. Some forms have to be submitted with the tax return, and you can’t file at all without them (or at least not an accurate estimate).</p>
<p>Re: the amended 1040x…another person said the same thing today about filing an amended tax return. I sent an e-mail to my accountant asking this question. I will post the reply when I get it. It seems there are many of us in the same situation. I also spoke with two schools that my D applied to. They both confirmed that the worst case scenario will be that we will have to initially pay OOP until the aid gets completed (based on the 2013 taxes). This was my fear b/c of being “cash poor”…And they said the school will most likely set up a payment plan until the money gets released.</p>