<p>ok sooo, i haven't filled out the fafsa because my parents have a problem with their taxes. they're married but they filed their taxes separately, and they each put themselves as head of households. so like, if i submit that to the fafsa they told me they might get in trouble? i really don't know what to do, and i have no clue on how to write the info on fafsa either, well if i were to. but by the looks of it i might end up not even submitting my fafsa :(
i just need advice. what should i do!? will i still be able to go to college? i've already been accepted to all the CSUs i applied to. i'm just waiting on the UCs, i reaaaally want to go to Berkeley. will that still be possible? what happens if i don't submit the fafsa?!</p>
<p>You only need to submit FAFSA if you want to be eligible for state or federal aid to help you paid for college. If you can pay for college yourself, without grants or loans, you don’t need to submit FAFSA.</p>
<p>If your parents know that they filled out their tax returns incorrectly, then they need to file amended returns to correct the errors. Using the numbers from their incorrect returns won’t get your parents into trouble - neither the people processing FAFSA nor the colleges have any interest in reporting your parents to the IRS. But, if their returns are filled out incorrectly, you might not be able to get financial aid. They should do their taxes correctly if they want you to be able to get state and federal financial aid.</p>
<p>Once they’ve corrected their returns, perhaps one of them can sit down with you and help you to transfer the data from their returns to the FAFSA, if you don’t feel confident about being able to do it yourself.</p>
<p>yeah i do want to get aid, i really need it. ummm my parents earned combined like around $70,000. would that be too much for fafsa? like would i not get that much help?
and i already talked to my parents about it and they said they’re just gonna leave things like this for now and that next year they’re gonna do it right. but i already tried filling out the fafsa and it’s kind of confusing filling it out since i don’t know what or whose information to put. do you think i should still fill it out? or should i just get a loan for this year?</p>
<p>You won’t be able to get a loan - unless your parents or someone else co-signs.</p>
<p>what do you mean?</p>
<p>pinkheartbeat, in order to fill out the FAFSA, you will need to add up the numbers on the lines of their 1040’s and put the total on the FAFSA. For example, where it says Adjusted Gross Income and gives you the line # for the 1040, add the number on that line on Dad’s 1040 to the number on that line on Mom’s 1040. Same for all the other income-related FAFSA questions. That is what you would do if they filed married filing separately.</p>
<p>Here is the problem - they didn’t file married filing separately. They incorrectly filed with both as head of household. If your FAFSA is selected for verification and you are asked to submit tax transcripts for both parents (you can’t do the IRS Data Retrieval if your parents file taxes separately), you will not be able to get aid unless your parents amend their tax returns and provide the school with the amended return(s) - either married filing separately or married filing jointly. If they don’t, you will not get any aid … no grants, no loans. I had to deny aid to more than one student whose parents refused to amend their returns.</p>
<p>My suggestion is to let them know that unless they amend their taxes before you file your FAFSA, you stand to lose out on financial aid. What they did is not correct, and they can get in trouble for doing it. You can’t make them amend their returns, though. I wish you the best.</p>
<p>kelsmom, i won’t be able to get any type of loan whatsoever!? like not even non-school ones???</p>
<p>Pink heart, you and your parents can apply for private loans. As a student, you will need your parents to cosign for any private loans you need for college.</p>
<p>How much do you intend to borrow? Will your parents even qualify for a loan for the full amount of attending college? </p>
<p>You need to find out how your family plans to fund college costs for the upcoming year. And you need to have some sense of how much you will need.</p>
<p>To be honest, it would be better for your parents to amend their tax return. Bottom line…what they did is against the tax code. They are married and filing as head of household is NOT a choice for either of them.</p>
<p>thumper1 well i’m not sure how much we’re going to borrow, but it’s just going to be for my freshman year. my mom is going to stop working this year so i’m pretty sure for my second year of college, when my parent’s file correctly i’ll get a decent amount of aid.</p>
<p>and yeah i already told my parents about the whole amending thing and they said they’re not going to do it. they said they’ll do it right next time. this was the only year they did it like this -__-</p>
<p>but idk, i’m scared :(</p>
<p>You cannot force your parents to amend their taxes. You can file your FAFSA using the method I explained above. If your FAFSA is not selected for verification, or if the school does not request the tax returns (some do for all students), their filing status is not going to be an issue for you. It will be if you are verified or asked for returns. </p>
<p>If you are unable to get federal aid this year because of the tax return issue, you and your parents can try to obtain a private education loan. This is their call, but it will cost them more in the long run to do this than to amend their tax return. </p>
<p>It is dangerous to assume that a change in financial circumstances automatically results in a lot more aid. It does not always.</p>
<p>Sorry but you need to tell your parents to stop being so selfish and just amend their taxes. Don’t they want the best for their child? Do they plan on helping you pay for the extra expenses this school year? It’s not fair for you to be stressed about something that’s so easily fixable…</p>
<p>Unless you have a full time job - and a decent credit rating from having past loans, you will not be able to get any loans without them co-signing. Are they willing to co-sign a loan for you?</p>
<p>well, i appreciate everyone’s comments! thanks for all the advice, i really hope everything goes well and if not i’ll just have to persevere 
thanks again!</p>
<p>Pinkheart, are your parents planning to help you pay for college? If so, maybe you can explain to them that they might come out ahead if they pay a little more in taxes so that you are eligible for FA. </p>
<p>But listen to Kelsmom…and don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched. There is the very real chance that your FA won’t change much at all if your mom quits working.</p>
<p>Pinkheart…you have a couple more things to consider.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Does your prospective college meet full need? If NOT, you might not see a penny of financial aid beyond federally funded loans when you apply your sophomore year.</p></li>
<li><p>Some colleges will not allow you to apply for INSTITUTIONAL aid in subsequent years if you don’t APPLY as an incoming freshman. You need to check that too.</p></li>
<li><p>A parent quitting their job to get more financial aid doesn’t always work. Much depends on YOUR college’s financial aid policies. If the school doesn’t meet full need for
ALL students, you have NO guarantee that you will see increased aid. Many schools reserve their BEST aid for incoming freshmen.</p></li>
<li><p>You might want to consider taking a gap year…don’t go to college this upcoming year at all. Work instead, and implore your parents to get their taxes straightened out.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m not a tax expert, but others here are. I am thinking it will be a headache in the event that either of your parents get audited re: their taxes. They will most certainly have to change them at that point…and will owe any additional money with their correct filing status.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Along with owing penalties and interest. What the parents are doing is illegal.</p>
<p>Tax fraud (and FAFSA fraud, for that matter) can really save you money… until you get caught. So can robbing banks, running ponzi schemes, etc. Your parents know they’re committing fraud and seem willing to take that chance. It’s NOT just a matter of being too lazy to file ammended returns, with tax program that would take an hour total. They likely pay less taxes the way they did it, just like your net worth goes up if you rob a bank or comitt insurance fraud. It’s an easy “catch” for the IRS, btw, so don’t be surprised when they get called on it. </p>
<p>As far as FAFSA goes, you’ve told them your problem and they have chosen to not care, so you’re in a bind (as you know). I don’t know if you can fill out FAFSA with this situation - does FAFSA ask the filing status of parents beyond “have you filed yet”? If not, then just add up their numbers for the appropriate total income question(s) and you’ll have filed a legit FAFSA. If your FAFSA is pulled for verification, the FAFSA will at least have been filled out honestly and correctly - it’s the taxes that have the problem. How it ends no one knows … “not well” would be my guess.</p>
<p>OP keep in mind that YOU file the FAFSA, not your parents. So if there is tax fraud in the form and it is caught (good chance) not only will you lose your aid and have to pay back anything disbursed but depending on the honor policy at your school you could be immediately expelled as well. </p>
<p>You could choose not to file the FAFSA to avoid this and somehow find the money. But keep in mind that some schools if you don’t file FAFSA your Freshman year you are not eligible for institutional aid in subsequent years. And some schools require FAFSA to be considered for merit scholarships as well. </p>
<p>A gap year may be your best bet if your foolish parents won’t pay their fair share of taxes. They may be caught anyway. And as others have said your mother’s plan to quit work to get aid is a very bad one.</p>
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<p>Just to be clear, the OP never said her mother was quitting work in order to increase the OP’s financial aid. We have no idea what the mother’s circumstances are or why she’s leaving her job. Frankly, given the parents’ unwillingness to help the OP get financial aid, it seems likely that the decision to quit work has nothing to do with the OP at all.</p>
<p>First of all, even if you did fill out the FAFSA, there is absolutely no guarantee that you will GET anything. Most schools don’t meet need anyways. It appears as though your parents make too much for you to get PELL money, and unless your state has some program where you are eligible, (NY has TAP, for instance), there is nothing in terms of guaranteed grants. </p>
<p>You do need to ask your parents how you are going to be able to afford college. Since they won’t give you their financial information, you cannot apply for financial aid at the schools, so that if you do qualify for aid, you aren’t going to get it. Also, if both filed as head of household and claimed you, the chances are very good that the IRS is going to flag that and catch them anyways. With things computerized, the auto cross checks are getting better. </p>
<p>What schools are you eyeing and how are you thinking about paying for them? What do they cost? What are your parents willing to contribute towards them and towards what you need to live next year? Even if you don’t go to college, you will need living expenses. You are an adult for all purposes except drinking alcohol and college financial aid, pretty much, so your parents obligation as well as a lot of built in protection for children ends at age 18. So you do need to talk to them.</p>