I am afraid though that if we submitted an amended return to the IRS, the IRS would look at our returns from other years and realize the filing status has been incorrect for those years as well, and require us to submit amended returns for multiple years. Would they do that?
It doesn’t matter if you are afraid or not. Read post 15 and 20 again.
If your parents filed incorrectly for the tax years being used for financial aid purposes, you WILL NOT get aid until this is reconciled.
Thank you all ! I have submitted my parents returns and will update as to what happened for those who are curious.
@brucecallahan did everything work out for you?
@NolaGemini0612 Yes, @kelsmom was correct, they asked for either amended returns or “a statement from an accountant as to why they [my parents] can file this way,” so we have filed the amended returns. Fortunately, there is little change in taxes owed for us. Really dodged a bullet there.
Thanks to all that helped me out, really appreciate it!
I am glad you got things worked out with your school.
Now that your parents have seen that there was no negative effect from filing the correct way, maybe they can work with a tax preparer to amend their previously incorrectly filed returns as well.
And if they would qualify income wise for the AOTC education credit, they might want to file married filing jointly for the 2017 tax year and three years after that, to take advantage of this up to $2,500 credit.