<p>my parents aren't America citizens and my father currently lives in a foreign country. they have never filed a federal tax form.</p>
<p>colleges require federal tax form and W-2 form and other things that I haven't heard about.</p>
<p>what is a federal tax form, is it just something that states the income and amount of tax? what about W-2?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>If they have never paid US income taxes and filed the annual federal tax return, they are not going to have those forms for your financial aid submission. The federal tax form they are referring to is the annual tax return that anyone working in the US (with some exceptions, one of which is an income that is extremely low) is supposed to file annually -- for the 2006 year, the return is due by Aril 15, 2007. It is basically a form where you list your total income and then get a taxable income after doing a lot of addition and subtraction based on exemptions, deductions, other things involving income. You then pay a tax on that income less what you already paid during the year. That amount already paid during the year is something that is tracked on a W-2 form which is a form your employer gives you to show your income for the year less tax that was withheld and paid to the government.</p>