<p>I agree with kd that they seem to be giving out conflicting info. I was told the tool’s not working had nothing to do with whether someone owed or not, or what status they filed; it was merely that they are backlogged, and anyone having issues either hasn’t had their return processed yet, or you’re entering info incorrectly in comparison with your return. </p>
<p>My d got her packages from two colleges already, one yesterday and one today, both private, and neither required the tool or mentioned us having to link the data at this time, so I am assuming they have all they need and we aren’t being verified.</p>
<p>I am new here and really appreciate the great info sharing on finaid and other topics. Also first timer to the college adm scene for my d (yes, I got all the acronyms). I tried the link first about 3 weeks back after completing the online taxes via tt. It did not work and from my experience with such systems and the error msg, I expected it was not going to work for me and no one will be able to tell why. So went ahead & did manually as the fafsa is more of a formality and we will not qualify for any aid anyways. Tried again today and still not working so glad I did not wait. </p>
<p>The people here seem to be highly patient with big govt processes and here we have two behemoth agencies (ED, IRS) and a third (the public or semi-private colleges) running the show. Not providing any info on what the simple address input errors are or what ‘processed’ means (is it filed or taxes paid?) would seem to be very basis issues affecting millions of families and billions of aid dollars and would not be tolerated in a real enterprise. No system testing seems to have been done and was probably outsourced. Five years from now I see a data retrieval tool that the govt run hospital needs from the Health and Human Services agency that will be equally flawed and will hold up our medical care. Sorry for the rant.</p>
<p>Another data point. My son efiled on 2/8 and owed money. His check went out in the mail on 2/24 and today was the first day the retrieval tool and transcript ordering worked.</p>
That doesn’t necessarily mean anything. The IRS has already indicated they are behind (at least 3 weeks) and those with refunds are processed first. if it has been two month then I can believe it might have to do with when the payment was made. I efiled my son’s on the 6th and the IRS told me they hadn’t started processing it until the 16th. They told me not to even look for any completion before this coming Monday at the earliest.</p>
<p>I am late to this thread and have read only the last couple of pages. I’m a CPA. I don’t trust the IRS, I don’t trust new processes, and I really don’t trust new processes that involve the gov’t! As shown by various posters, it is entirely likely to call the IRS 3 times, ask the same question, and get 3 different answers. grrr.</p>
<p>I can definitely say that refunds on e-filed returns are being delayed more this year than I ever remember occurring.</p>
<p>I have been helping quite a few students and clients with their FAFSA. None of their schools required using the linking tool. I am so so so happy I moved right past that and entered info from their tax returns. I trust my input more than I trusted the ability of the tool to do it accurately (and timely too). If and when a few are verified, we’ll get the transcripts. On all the rest, looks as if I saved a bunch of time and headache.</p>
<p>So I used the retrieval tool and it switched the husband/wife salaries from work, and I lost Pell-grant eligibility due to the IRA rollover (only thing that changed). I am at a loss as to how to correct any of this, especially since I couldn’t find a way to correct the data retrieval. Can someone tell me how the untaxed pension disbursement portion would change EIC? It is already reported to the schools with CSS as value in retirment accounts.</p>
<p>Rollovers are a problem when using the retrieval tool. Write each school, explaining the issue. Include a copy of the tax return that shows the words “ROLLOVER” … make sure it is signed by the parent, and make sure the letter of explanation is also signed by the parent. Put the student’s name and ID (if you have one) on EVERY page you send.</p>
<p>Are we supposed to individually submit a copy of our FAFSA verification form to each separate university we applied to if we were selected for verification?</p>
<p>OK here is the deal…I can confirm that abbreviations do matter, and what the IRS has on file may differ from how you actually typed in your address for your current years filing. In my case I electronically filed using the words “West”, “Road” and “Little”. I tried it today and and the same error come up. I then went back and found an old correspondence from the IRS and my address was abbreviated to a “W” for West “Rd” for Road and “L” for Little. I punched those and and I finally got in …lol. This was about 18 days from when I electronically filed.</p>
<p>So, I would suggest checking to see if you have any correspondence from the IRS and see how your address is printed.</p>
<p>^^^^ That is what I feared. I was not able to get the tool to work, so I gave up and entered the data by hand. I was able to request a transcript, and when it arrived, I noticed the IRS had abbreviated my town name. I never abbreviated my address on any of my returns, so that’s an abbreviation that the IRS made up.</p>
<p><rant on="">
Doing a character-by-character match of your address is the most ridiculous requirement I’ve seen in a long time. I was able to request my transcript with less than that, so I don’t understand why importing the data should require anything more than STANDARD info (that isn’t subject to interpretation) like SSN, DOB, PIN, and zipcode. Is my knowing that Smithtownville was abbreviated as Smthtwnville, or that your middle initial had a period after it really providing any security? Why even ask for the town name at all? They have the zipcode, that is even more accurate than a town name as there are more zipcodes than towns!!! This is theatre (or more likely, a badly written application), not security.
<rant off=""></rant></rant></p>
<p>Our tax return for 2011 was accepted on Feb 8th. Since we had early FAFSA deadlines at several schools I filed FAFSA by manually entering the exact numbers from 1040. We were selected for verification. Some schools are requesting return transcript. I am neither able to use IRS data retrieval tool nor able to order the return transcript. Called IRS and this is what I am being told. Since I owe money IRS won’t complete processing till middle of May. I filed my return indicating that IRS can take out the money from my account on 4/17. I am told that regardless of when the money owed is paid, processing of balance due returns will not be complete till middle of May. One of our schools is not willing to accept any thing other than a transcript. The IRS agents I spoke to tried to figure out if they can do some thing to expedite the processing or give me some other documentation that may be acceptable, but came up with no alternative.</p>
<p>I entered my name and address exactly as it appears on my eFiled return, that worked for me. I even tried “Rd” instead of “Rd.” and it still worked.</p>
<p>I suspect there is some flexibility for common address elements such as “Rd” vs “Road”, but an abbreviated town name? I know many of their systems are antiquated, but needing to shorten a town to fit their database… sheesh.</p>
<p>Maybe people who are having trouble should call the IRS and ask them how their address shows up in their computers.</p>
<p>I was shocked I wasn’t asked for the PIN I used to sign the return, I guess they haven’t figured out how to get those systems to talk to each other.</p>
Not true in my case. I owed, I had them take the money immediately (took about 3 days), and I was able to use the IRS link a few weeks later.</p>
<p>I think the frontline customer support people are told certain things about how things work that cover the worst case, but how things are really processed is different. It’s just simpler to give a consistent answer.</p>
<p>I bet if you file on April 17 owing money, your return won’t be processed until mid-May, so they tell everyone “mid-May” regardless of the circumstance. If you file at the beginning of February though - why would they wait?</p>
<p>Thanks, makes me feel a little better. Will keep fingers crossed and keep trying to retrieve data. In the mean time will try to get schools to accept copy of my return.</p>
<p>“consistent answer” and IRS are oxymorons. hehehhe. Notrichenough, you made me chuckle!</p>
<p>Child #3 is a hs freshman. Boy, I hope they have this thing worked out before we do the freshman college ap thing. S1 applied to 11 schools in 2007. I’m still having nightmares about all the documentation that was required and I’m a CPA. So much easier after they are at one school the sophomore year.</p>
<p>I will admit I did a little happy dance when I realized none of the schools my D applied to this year require the Profile Business/Farm supplement.</p>
<p>@scion - when we found out that the taxes would not be processed until payment was received, we also got the information that it would take about 1 week after payment until we would be able to use the data retrieval and/or get a transcript… or, we could get the information on May 15th.</p>
<p>After four weeks of trying several times a day, I finally reached the point where I can see the IRS form, but when I check the box to transfer the info and hit submit, I get sent back to the “FAFSA has a problem” page. Any hints or tips on what to do to get the FAFSA to accept my IRS data?</p>
<p>@crazymomster, If you filed the return already and had a set date for with drawl of money owed, you can not do an amendment online. You need to send in paper return and that could take another 8 weeks to process. Any thoughts on how to get around that? I guess we are stuck with it. Each school is implementing the verification differently. Some schools are insisting on IRS data transfer and/or transcripts.</p>