Some colleges require a priority deadline to file FAFSA and/or CSS by February 1. Just don’t understand why they cannot do it by March 1 instead like most other colleges. Most people would not be able to file tax return before January 15 as you have to wait for W2, bank interest or dividend statement, and other misc tax paperwork. On top of that, they prefer you to use the IRS retriveal took (which is a great idea itself) which require two weeks after you electronic file your federal tax.
Bottomline, next week will be crunch time to file before Jan 15 and then hopefully before Feb 1, to file FAFSA and CSS with that retriveal tool! I have at least 4 colleges that need to file on Feb 1 or before!
I know you can always file estimate first, but who would want to do this twice! Extending deadline to March 1 is just common sense!
Most of the colleges I know of have February 1st. I guess it depends.
Most people don’t get W2 forms until the last minute, which this year is February 2nd.
I put 2013 numbers in a spreadsheet, final paycheck details for both of us, then W2 last year for both of us. Then used the data to estimate the 2014 W2.
It’s the college’s fault if they get a poor estimate because they won’t wait for the W2.
And yes, the IRS retrieval tool seems only useful if your child is already in college, and the deadline is in April or May. Because it accesses the current tax form, and 2013 is closed already and 2014 will not open until some time after April 15th.
So you won’t be able to use the IRS retrieval tool as far as I know, I don’t think they will open it as soon as possible. I must assume that you work for yourself or a small company to get your W2s early.
People with 2014 HS graduates might have more info on what they did last year.
You can complete both the FAFSA and Profile to meet the deadlones using your best possible estimates for 2014 income and taxes. Then ASAP after February 1, get your taxes comoleted…and amend the FAFSA online making changes to reflect the accurate 2014 completed taxes information. link to the IRS data retrieval tool.
You will have to contact the colleges to see how they want the Profile updated. They will tell you what they want you to do.
Nobody will be able to file before January 15. The IRS won’t start accepting returns until January 20.
but you can file the FAFSA and Profile using estimates before you complete your 2014 tax return. And many folks do that to meet the deadlines.
I thought we shouldn’t estimate the Profile–too much a pain to change?
If you have a deadline to meet, and it’s before you are planning to have your taxes completed, you have NO choice but to complete with estimates.