<p>If i receive social security cuz my dad died where do i put that? also free lunch?</p>
<p>You don’t put the social security anywhere - it’s not required to be reported. Free lunch is under the parent section - there is a check box for free/reduced lunch - it’s a Federal Needs-tested Benefit.</p>
<p>You don’t income from put SS or free lunch (not that that is income) on FAFSA. There is a parent question about whether anyone in the household receives free lunches. Answer yes to that.</p>
<p>You can report social security income in the income estimator under “other taxable income” to arrive at a more realistic agi, if you haven’t filed yet. </p>
<p>[Parents</a>’ Income Estimator - Worksheet - Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/fotw1011/WorksheetServlet?locale=en_US&wstype=PWSINC]Parents”>http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/fotw1011/WorksheetServlet?locale=en_US&wstype=PWSINC)</p>
<p>The repeated posts about not reporting social security benefits makes it seem like taxable social security benefits are not considered in determining efc. Also, might it help to report it after filing, as otherwise there would be a big gap between agi and the reported parents’ income from work? Maybe fafsa would not like the gap between agi and parents’ income from work if you did not report social security benefits in the income estimator, and that would make you more likely to be reviewed by fafsa?</p>
<p>Do not report untaxed SS income. It is important to differentiate between taxed and untaxed social security income. Social security income is not taxed until other income reaches a certain level. untaxed social security income is not part of the AGI and is not reported on FAFSA. If other income is high enough that all or part of the SS income becomes taxable then it will be part of the AGI and will be reported on FAFSA in the AGI. But for untaxed SS income is not reported on FAFSA. In the OPs case his SS income is likely to not be taxed, in which case he does not report it on FAFSA.</p>
<p>My husband is retired and we have SS income and some other income. Our other income is not very high but just high enough that a little of the SS income becomes taxable. That part of the SS income is in the AGI so is reported on FAFSA. The rest is not. (prior to 2009-2010 FAFSA it did have to be reported as untaxed income, but the rules for the untaxed SS income changed in 2009-2010).</p>
<p>I don’t always differentiate between taxed & untaxed SS because it confuses people. If I say they have to report the taxed benefits, they seem to want to double-report. If they fill out the FAFSA according to the prompts, they will use the amounts from the correct lines on the tax form & everything they need to report gets reported.</p>
<p>I was responding more to post 4 as that seemed confusing to me, especially in the context of the OP who probably does not have taxable SS income.</p>
<p>So Kelsmom do you think the simplified FAFSA they are talking about will reduce all this confusion or make it worse. Call me cynical but I’m really really really hoping they don’t “simplify” it until 2012-2013 when I will be done with it!</p>
<p>The simplified FAFSA I have seen simplifies things beyond the scope of just filing a FAFSA. It actually changes the information collected & thus the formula. I am not going to go into it, since it is too “iffy” at this stage to even bring up. Whether or not it will go into effect for 11-12 is a subject of much debate.</p>
<p>I really hope it does not, for purely selfish reasons. I understand it all fairly well right now so don’t want to have to relearn it. Plus my daughter gets pretty good aid right now, and who knows what might change.</p>