<p>I have a dilemma. For the past couple of years, my parents haven't been filing their taxes. I never knew this, and it has caused me to forgo college for the fall semester because I wasn't able to complete my FAFSA (meaning no aid), and my parents couldn't afford to pay my tuition on such short notice. Plus, they both have terrible credit, so student loans are out! With registration for the spring semester approaching, my dad has been working to file his tax return from last year and a couple of years before that. He's not my biological father, so I can imagine that he wouldn't be able to claim me on his taxes, or would he? I've been living with him for the past year and a half. (He was married to my mom, but they got divorced years ago. He has been my "father" my whole life.) The true question is, would I still use his tax information on my FAFSA application? Also, I tried to file my own taxes and claim myself, but I wasn't able to, because my aunt claimed me on her taxes. Would I use her tax information? I think the FAFSA application only accepts information from mothers and fathers. What do I do? I've been trying to read up on how all of this stuff works, but it just seems to complex. HELP!</p>
<p>You have a lot going on here. Let’s get down to the basics. When it comes to FAFSA the person who is your custodial parent (and that parent’s current spouse )needs to complete the parent portion. Your custodial parent is defined as your parent with whom you lived with the most during the year. That does not include a former step parent unless you were adopted by that person. If you lived with neither natural parent during the year, your custodial parent would be the one who makes the most money. So unless you are adopted, it’s one of your natural parents unless you were legally removed from either of them. There are some exceptions to this, but I don’t think they are the case for you, since it appears that you have a mother in the picture. So even though your ex stepfather has been your “father” your entire life, for FAFSA purposes, it’s not his financials that count unless he legally adopted you.</p>
<p>Dependence status for tax purposes and who your custodial parent is for FAFSA are completely different things and have nothing to do with each other. Your step father may be able to claim you as a dependent for tax purposes if you meet the IRS requirements. I won’t go into the tax issues as I am not at all strong in that area to be giving any tax advice other than what little I am saying. Which is that declaring you as a dependent on his taxes has NOTHING to do with being a custodial parent for FAFSA purposes. I will say, that if your aunt or someone else is already declaring you as a dependent for tax purposes, that has to be straightened out because two people claiming the same dependent can result in IRS problems. But, again, that has nothing to do with FAFSA.</p>
<p>For FAFSA, your custodial parent, and I will assume that’s your mother, needs to fill out the parent part of the form. Not your aunt. Only your mother or your father. If your mother has remarried, her current spouse’s information has to be included. Those are the rules.</p>
<p>If your mother cannot or will not fill out FAFSA, you can still get loan money. It won’t be subsidized and you could be missing out on other monies, but you can get something. There is a form to file for that situation. If your mother (and current spouse) has a low enough income, you could qualify for the PELL grant and possibly some state money if your state has such programs and college monies if the college has the funds and you are eligible and selected. But you and a parent need to fill out FAFSA to get access to those funds </p>
<p>So your step father, unless he adopted you, is off the hook for FAFSA. It’s your mother’s information that you need.</p>
<p>My mother hasn’t been filing her taxes, and telling her that she needs to for my benefit has no effect. So basically, if this keeps up, government aid is out of the question?</p>
<p>No. You can still get unsubsidized loans. What, approximately, is your mother’s income? Do you have your father in the picture, not your step father, but your natural fahter, at all? </p>
<p>If your mother’s (and spouse if remarried) income is very low, you can qualify for up to $5550 of PELL grant money, and some of your loans would be subsidized. Also, as I said before, there could be other funds that you are eligible for, if you and a recognized parent can complete the FAFSA. Does your mother, by any chance, make little enough, that she does not need to file taxes?</p>
<p>I’m not totally positive, but I think she made around $50,000 last year, which I do know makes filing taxes a requirement for her. As for my natural father, he’s not in my picture, but he exists. I can’t imagine he’d contribute to the cause in any way, though. I am going to try and file the FAFSA with her.</p>
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Even if someone else claims you as a dependent, you still have to file your own taxes if you made enough income to require you to file (and should if you are due a refund). As a single person you get a standard deduction of $5950 (2012), so your first $5950 earned income would not incur any taxes. In addition to the standard deduction there is another exemption of $3800. If someone else claims you as a dependent, then you claim the exemption as a personal exemption, so your total exemption would be $9750. If someone else claims you as a dependent, they claim the $3800 as a dependent exemption and you can only claim the standard deduction of $5950. (basically it is the same exemption but is a personal exemption if you claim yourself and a dependent exemption if someone else claims you).</p>
<p>None of this would make you independent for FAFSA.</p>
<p>Does your Aunt support you? Do you live with her? On what basis is she claiming you as a dependent? It sounds odd that she is claiming you if you live with your Stepdad.</p>
<p>One last thing, does your dad have legal guardianship of you granted by a court? If so, then you may be independent for FAFSA purposes.</p>
<p>Squireboy, your natural father does not have to contribute a dime to you. If he has filed taxes and will fill out FAFSA, that allows you to get financial aid. You do have to make a case of living iwth him more than her during this past year, as well, as that is another requirment. If he is extremely low income and will go through the FAFSA applciation with you, that could be a go.</p>
<p>First of all, if your mother made about $50K last year, and unless there are a lot of other kids in the picture, you are not eliglbile for PELL. That means that you will be eligible for $5500 of Stafford loans, and MAYBE some of them subsidized, depending on what the Expected Family COntribution (EFC) turns out to be and what the college Cost of Attendance (COA) is. Unless the college you are applying to tends to meet a goodly portion of need, you are not likely to be getting much money from them. You should talk to the financial aid director there to find out what is likely for you. </p>
<p>The fact of the matter is, unless your state also kicks in some college money, at that income level, many students just get the non subsidized Staffords after all of that. Yeah, I know. It’s not an easy go, and I am sorry. But that is the way it usually works. </p>
<p>To what sort of college are you applying? Are you planning to commute or trying to go away to school? What kind of aid do you need to make that work, and do you have other sources to pay for college? Do the colleges you have in mind tend to meet full need?</p>
<p>The reason I am asking these questions, is because, for a lot of kids, filing a FAFSA to go to a local state school and commuting there, and the parent’s income is at the $50K level often means you get to borrow the $5500 in unsubsidized Staffords, and maybe some work study. Which is about what you would get with an override of your mother’s FAFSA. So I’m trying to gauge here, what your possibilites for aid are with what colleges you have in mind. </p>
<p>I helped some folks with FAFSA some years ago, in a state that had no state level aid, and for all the trouble, all the kid got was the Staffords unsubsidized. The parents were also invited to borrow through PLUS, but they were not interested in that. If your mohter does fill out the FAFSA and does apply for a PLUS (parent loan, that is quick and easy to do on line at home once FAFSA is completed), but gets declined, you can borrow an additoinal $4K. </p>
<p>So I do want to warn you that a huge windfall of grants is not waiting for that FAFSA completion.</p>
<p>Swimcatsmom, brings up some good points in terms of whether your aunt should be claiming you as her dependent. Are you making money? Since you are not in school this year, and living with a non relative, depending on what you make in 2012, you might be eligible for an Earned Income credit and if you have taxes withheld, that can be returned. You might want to find out about your own tax status. Make sure you tell your aunt–writing as well as verbally (email, text something) if you are going to claim your own exemption. If you are 18 and not living with her, not getting half your support from her, she should not be declaring you on her taxes.</p>
<p>If your mother cannot or will not fill out FAFSA, you can still get loan money.</p>
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<p>In order for this to work, though, the parent must sign a statement indicating that she refuses to give any support whatsoever to the student. This includes money, food, shelter, insurance, etc. It must be done every year, as it is possible that the situation could change.</p>