FAFSA has not opened yet, but I wanted to get a head start. Right now, I’m a bit confused about how to answer the questions regarding my family’s total income and adjusted gross income. I can find the values on their tax returns, but I was looking on the FAFSA website, and it says that Supplmental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) cannot be reported on FAFSA. If that’s true, and one of my parent’s entire income is SSI, does that mean I should subtract their income from the tax return’s total income?
My parents don’t understand what to put either. Basically, half of our total income is SSI, so I don’t know what our total income should be reported as on FAFSA.
Please help! I want to make sure I do this correctly.
SSI and SSDI is usually not taxable, so it’s unlikely that it has been reported on your patents’ tax return. Do you know for a fact that your parents reported SSI and/or SSDI as taxable income on a 2019 federal tax return? If so, are you sure that it was correctly reported?
@BelknapPoint Thanks for getting back to me. A majority of the social security benefits on the tax returns were “taxable.” I don’t know if that’s correct or not.
It is possible. If combined parental income is over a certain threshold, I think $32k, then SS is taxable. Those amounts would be subtracted from the tax return because they are not includable income for FAFSA purposes. Nor do these amounts get added in where other untaxable income is included.
I’d recommend not using the DRT to transfer the tax info to the FAFSA. It is most likely you will be selected for verification, so make sure your parents have all their tax documents, including 1099 and W2s.
Any social security income reported on the tax return will be counted in the AGI for FAFSA; that is, report all information exactly as requested in FAFSA directions (or better yet, use the DRT). Untaxed SS benefits are not reported, as indicated in the FAFSA directions.