<p>My mom works part-time at a dry-cleaners and received her payment in cash so she did not file anything. Should i provide that information to the colleges when applying for financial aid like in the other circumstances space?
because i put that she is employed but no income so i thought that might look weird :/</p>
<p>You have a real problem as it is tax evasion (illegal) to accept money “under the table” and also you can’t falsify the FASFA (fraud). You may want to ask an attorney. These could both cause a heap of trouble for both you and your mom. Good luck.</p>
<p>I would fill out your FAFSA accurately, check the box did not file which is an accurate statement and go from there. I have no idea how much money your mom actually made and I don’t want to know. If it was low enough she may have fallen under the minimum needed to file, she may have known she wouldn’t pay any taxes (but should have filed). It’s none of my business. Regardless if you need finaid for college you will need to file FAFSA and since it has your name attached to it, I would suggest to your mom the need to be honest.</p>
<p>See IRS Publication 17: [Publication</a> 17 (2009), Your Federal Income Tax](<a href=“http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/index.html]Publication”>http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/index.html) </p>
<p>All income received in the form of money, goods, property, and services must be reported to the IRS. Your family should consult an attorney to correct the tax issue of prior years.</p>
<p>I agree with momofthreeboys: fill out your FAFSA accurately, check the box “did not file” which is an accurate statement and go from there. Most likely, your financial aid application will not be processed, as saying your mom was employed, but earned no income, will raise a red flag.</p>
<p>^^I’d fill out the form accurately. The OP said his mom did make some money so the OP would not be putting zero in for income. Hopefully the mom kept track of how much money she was paid. If the OP wants to help his mom, they could see if she qualifies for the 1040A or 1040EZ. There are “free” tax programs now. It might be worth running one of those then filling out the FAFSA. If the mom doesn’t owe any taxes then she can file for 2009. Put the $$ in the FAFSA where it asks how much income came into the household. Technically I think there are low incomes that fall below the necessity to file. Again, we don’t know the situation.</p>