<p>nice abbrev list…but never would have guessed “L” for Little</p>
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No. It only works if the IRS has the data to give. Typically the student will have to submit a form that states they did not file a tax return.</p>
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<p>Nice, but…judging by the address my transcript was mailed to, in my case they apparently also abbreviated my town name, so something like Smithtownville was abbreviated Smthtwnvlle. (Not to mention the post above yours that had different address abbreviations for different people living at the same address.) There’s no standardization at all. They should ask for the SSN, zipcode, and the PIN that you used to e-sign your federal return with. Asking for anything more is just a badly designed system doomed to failure. But I’m not bitter… :)</p>
<p>Here is the latest I heard about IRS return processing.</p>
<p>I filed my return on Feb8th, received acceptance message on 9th. I owe IRS. I was told that IRS will keep re-sequencing( I guess that means delay processing in practice) any return that owes money until all refunds are processed. When I asked the logic for this the agent told me that since IRS will have to pay interest on refunds after April 15th, there priority is to get the refunds done first.</p>
<p>The agent said that she has been on three way call with parents and college financial office explaining the IRS processing and IRS inability to provide transcript at this time. She also indicated that if I am lucky the return may get processed any time and that I should keep checking with IRS. </p>
<p>Any information on how parents might be handling this with schools that are insisting on transcript or online data retrieval to correct FAFSA is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Has anyone posted the FAFSA/IRS Retrieval Tool Tutorial? If not, here it is: (from our friends at UCSB)</p>
<p>[IRS</a> Data Retrieval - 2012-2013 FAFSA - YouTube](<a href=“IRS Data Retrieval - 2012-2013 FAFSA - YouTube”>IRS Data Retrieval - 2012-2013 FAFSA - YouTube)</p>
<p>The IRS manual states “If the input of the cities and towns will not fit into the available space, abbreviate them to make them fit.” So if they run out of space on their computer input screen, they will use whatever abbreviation that works to squeeze it in. In cases like that, JustAnotherDad is absolutely right, there probably is no standardization at all and there is no way for us to know what they actually typed in their system.</p>
<p>This is the absolute epitome of frustrating. I have tried every iteration of my address that I can think of but there are just too many permutations. I called the IRS and after a 45 minute wait spoke with a very nice older gentleman who knew absolutely ZERO about anything web-related. He was unfamiliar with the site and I could not even convince him that it was an IRS.gov page. He kept suggesting that I contact the organization associated with the page to find out what was wrong. ARRRGH! I asked if I could speak to a supervisor and he said he could write up a request and someone would get back to me within 30 days! I asked to speak to a tech support person and he said there is no such thing. This is a total FAIL! If anyone has any helpful advice, I’d love to hear it.</p>
<p>I don’t know, it worked fine for me yesterday. I filed my taxes about 3 weeks ago online using TurboTax & had already gotten my refund in the mail. So when I did the FAFSA yesterday, when I got to that point with the IRS Retrieval Tool button, I clicked on it and the info was transmitted. I may have had to use my FAFSA PIN. However, it only transferred the total income, and I had to fill in the ‘wages, salaries & tips’ off our W-2’s manually, which was no problem really.</p>
<p>So the IRS tells me that while they host the Data Retrieval Tool page, they have nothing to do with it and I need to talk to the FAFSA folks. FAFSA folks say it is an IRS site and it clearly states that you are leaving the FAFSA site when you click on the button to use the IRS Retrieval Tool. Not only can I not find anyone to help me, I can’t even find anyone who will own it! So where do I go from here?</p>
<p>Did you already order a tax transcript? If not, I suggest you order one right away, for two reasons.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The tax transcript is your alternate route to verification.</p></li>
<li><p>When you receive the transcript in the mail, the address on it should show you exactly how the IRS has your address stored. Then you could copy that address to get the FAFSA tool to work. This is just my theory, no guarantee of course.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>This suggestion assumes the IRS has actually completed processing your return. If you’re not sure about that, try ordering the transcript online. If that doesn’t work, then your problem is that the IRS hasn’t processed your return, in which case, there’s no permutation of your address that will make the FAFSA tool work.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions. I e-filed my taxes on Feb 11 or 12 and completed the FAFSA on the 13th or 14th thereby making me ineligible to use the Retrieval Tool at that time. Of course I was selected for verification. I waited 2 weeks and then ordered a copy of my transcript online and started trying to use the Data Retrieval Tool. Have not rec’d the transcript and so re-ordered it by phone last night. Would still like to expedite this by using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool as I am afraid that my daughter could be losing out on aid at some of her schools. Incidentally, I find it curious that the IRS accepted the information I provided online when ordering my transcript but did not accept the same information for the Data Retrieval.</p>
<p>TheMomster – my time frames were similar to yours. I e-filed around Feb. 9 and owed money, which I paid around that time. I had FAFSAs due Feb. 15 and had no option to link. I was finally able to order transcripts online on March 2 and they came March 12.</p>
<p>I ordered a transcript already, but that won’t help me, or others in my situation, because I can get to the IRS part of the site, I can see the information, I can check transfer data to the FAFSA, I can click on transfer or submit or whateverthehell the button says, but then it just goes to a FAFSA error page, which FAFSA denies exists.</p>
<p>I have a better story. I was able to use the retrieval tool for both our and my daughter’s return. I went to the school web site to confirm they received the FAFSA and it listed that we needed to provide tax returns for her and us. They also indicated they needed W2’s. When I called the fin aid office they have a recording that stated that even though the IRS retrieval tool is supposed to satisfy the need of sending returns, that they have no way of viewing or accessing the data so we still needed to send in the returns. What a joke! :(</p>
<p>Interesting. Schools are able to view a code that tells them if the FAFSA was transferred via the link, as well as whether it was changed after the transfer. Maybe this school doesn’t know how to do it? </p>
<p>I did have to sometimes request W2 forms even if the parents did the direct link … if the amount of income from work did not equal the amount on line 7 + line 12 + line 18, and if there was more than one parent, the W2s had to be requested. Stupid as it seems, this was considered conflicting information, so I had to get the W2s, they had to add up correctly to the amounts on line 7. If not, it was time for the old amended return.</p>
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Well, considering this is one of the top public institutions in the U.S. I would hope they would know how.</p>
<p>Okay, I called the school to find out the reason they needed the tax returns and they said because they look at more than what the retrieval tool provides to determine school grant aid, not federal aid. Specifically, they want to see the Schedule A to see where the itemized deductions are coming from. At least I know the reason now.</p>
<p>Two tips for getting tax transcripts ASAP! (Thanks Kelsmom and others who have suggested):</p>
<p>1) Visit your local IRS field office. They can print out the tax transcripts on the spot. Just remember your ID and SS#.</p>
<p>2) Call the IRS directly, push “0” until you get a person, tell them that you haven’t received your transcript (my transcript 2 weeks after ordering it online) or that you couldn’t order it online (my D’s transcript). Talk super nicely to the person and hope that they’re in a good mood… and they will fax it to you AS YOU TALK TO THEM!!</p>
<p>I have done both of these things in the past 2 days, and am finally finished with the verification. I was able to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, but because the tool showed my IRA rollover as ‘income’, I had to edit the transferred information. According to the schools, this makes the tool no longer satisfy the verification process. </p>
<p>Good luck to all!!</p>
<p>Im in the same boat as you selected for verification, owed taxes and paid them, but not able to get transcript yet or use retrevial tool.</p>
<p>I contacted the colleges and I think they can still offer you an aid package but it will be conditional untill verification is complete.</p>
<p>contact your college financial aid and keep them up to date on what’s going on. You are not the only ones</p>
<p>So I contacted all 7 of my daughter’s schools just to keep them in the loop and see if they had any advice. I just received an email stating that once you’ve unsuccessfully attempted to access the IRS Retrieval site it locks you out for the rest of the year! Firstly, the site doesn’t indicate at any point that you are locked out. Secondly, I am questioning whether this can possibly be true based on what I’ve read here about people making multiple attempts and finally stumbling upon the right combination. Is there anyone here who has tried and failed at least 3 times (because the site was unable to match up the information you provided with what they have on file) but then eventually was successful?
My larger question is: Does anyone know how to contact someone who can effectively and reliably help resolve this issue? Any help in this regard would make you my new BFF.</p>
<p>I tried at least 10 times each for both our and our son’s taxes before it finally worked. No, you don’t get locked out permanently. When did you file and when did you pay if taxes were due?</p>