My EFC suddenly and randomly went up?

Make sure all your entries match what is in this table:

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/announcements/irs-drt-unavailable#17-18-fafsa-form

Whether or not taxes were actually paid yet is irrelevant - the amount that must be reported isn’t looking at whether or not those taxes have been paid. Again, you have to report what the FAFSA instructions tell you to report. If you report something else, the aid office, as part of the process of verifying your information, is going to update the FAFSA to the amount you should have reported. That is what they have to do.