Income Tax 2010 question

Paying for College
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am filling out the FAFSA for the first time and when it comes to question 36 " Enter the amount of your income tax 2010" I am a bit confused. I had my information transferred from the IRS and the amount says $0. Could that be right? and if it's wrong can I get in trouble for it even if it's from the IRS themselves?</p>

<p>Any help would be appreciated,</p>

<p>--Phillip.</p>

2

<p>Yes, of course it’s possible…pull out the hard copy of your income tax form to check!</p>

3

<p>I recently moved and mis-placed my 2010 tax papers. I guess I’m just a little worried, don’t want them to think I’m trying to lie. Like I said though, this is coming from the IRS website…</p>

4

<p>Since you’re filing the 11/12 FAFSA, I’m guessing that you’re currently enrolled, or starting in spring. Is there a deadline you’re trying to meet? You can request a copy of your tax forms from the IRS, there should be info on their website.</p>

5

<p>Honestly, I did 6 years in the military and then took time off. I’m 26 and wanting to finally go to college. I’m not enrolled or anything, I started looking at online colleges and decided to fill out the fafsa form to see if I could be approved.</p>

6

<p>I see…well, there is no “approval” process for FAFSA as it’s just a data collection tool. It will produce an EFC, Expected Family Contribution, which schools will use to determine what federal aid (and institutional aid, in some cases) you’re eligible for. And it will give you access to federal student loans.</p>

<p>The FAFSA that’s currently available is for the 2011-2012 academic year. The FAFSA for next year will not be available until January 1st and will be based on 2011 income/tax data.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

7

<p>Phillip0485 -</p>

<p>If you’d like a good estimate of your FAFSA EFC you can print out the formula itself, and work through it on paper. Here are links to the formulas for 2011-2012 and 2012-2013.
<a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/082511EFCFormulaGuide1213.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/082511EFCFormulaGuide1213.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Since you have completed a number of years of military service, you also should find out whether you qualify for any GI education benefits. [Welcome</a> to the GI Bill Web Site | The Home for All Educational Benefits Provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs](<a href=“http://gibill.va.gov/benefits/index.html]Welcome”>http://gibill.va.gov/benefits/index.html)
If your benefits are good enough, you may find that you don’t need to file the FAFSA at all!</p>

8

<p>No, no, no … file the FAFSA!!! If your income is 0, you are most likely eligible for a Pell grant. You would get that even if your GI benefits are good!!</p>

9

<p>Thank you everybody for the replies, they are much appreciated. I found my tax papers from 2010 and on my 1040EZ it says my TAXABLE income is $0, so I guess the IRS website is correct.</p>

10

<p>Thanks for that information kelsmom! It hadn’t occurred to me that someone could qualify for the Pell while receiving GI benefits. That’s excellent news for a lot of students!</p>

11

<p>Pel is an entitlement, meaning that the student will ALWAYS get Pell if the EFC is Pell eligible. It’s a nice bonus for the neediest.</p>