Need help on filling out FAFSA

<p>I'm filling out the fafsa for my parents because its confusing for them, so here I have their tax return with me, and i'm working on the downloadable wksheet for online.</p>

<p>In Sec. 3, it asks what the amount my parents paid in income tax for 2007, and I'm using IRS form 1040, anyways I went to line 57 and I don't even think it's talking about income tax... also, there's a "0" for line 57. Is that normal?</p>

<p>Also, is it normal to have $0 for FAFSA wksheets A-C?</p>

<p>Additionally, my dad owns another house in another city, but we're losing money by just paying the bills and mortage for it.</p>

<p>How can we explain that on the fafsa?</p>

<p>Sorry for so many questions... I'm new at this. </p>

<p>Thank you in advance, and I may have further questions.</p>

<p>You can be practicing on last years fafsa forms, but you can't do the fafsa for school year 2009-2010 until after Jan 1 (it's not released yet)</p>

<p>Line 57 on form 1040 is the amount of your parents tax obligation for the year. </p>

<p>Line 64 is the amount they actually had withheld (do not use that number.)</p>

<p>It would be uncommon to have 0 on line 57 unless you are very low income or had tons of deductions.</p>

<p>It would be very normal to have 0 on worksheets A-C (if they had any money put into retirement plans with PRE-tax money it would be on one of those forms. You would get that number from their w-2 box 12</p>

<p>Not sure how you deal with 2nd properties on the fafsa. I think you put their equity (what house is worth - what you owe on it)</p>

<p>As Sue said - the current FAFSA online is not the correct one for aid for school starting in the fall. If you are starting in the fall you will have to wait untill after January and complete the 2009-2010 FAFSA</p>

<p>
[quote]
Additionally, my dad owns another house in another city, but we're losing money by just paying the bills and mortage for it.

[/quote]
Consumer debt is not something that you can report on FAFSA. It is a regarded as a personal choice. Bills on a 2nd property are not going to elicit any sympathy from a financial aid officer.
If you are claiming a loss on your tax return this will already be reflected on FAFSA. You will have to report the net value as an asset (value less any mortgage balance = net value).</p>

<p>Isn't there a worksheet for the FAFSA? We found (especially the first time) that printing out the worksheet first, and completing THAT, made completing the FAFSA much easier. I would suggest that you print out the worksheet and go from there.</p>

<p>Also, keep in mind that when you do the "real thing", if you are using your 2007 return (for estimates) you may find that some of the line numbers do NOT match what is indicated on the FAFSA as it will be for the 2008 tax year. Sometimes the 1040 line number items change from year to year.</p>

<p>There is a downloadable worksheet that you can get from fafsa on the web. It's helpful.</p>

<p>For the property, claim the amount the house would sell for less the mortgage (in other words, claim your equity in the house). If there is a loss, it will be reflected in the rental loss section of your taxes. This may actually explain why the have 0 taxes.</p>

<p>Next year there are no worksheets A-C. The questions are with the income questions & it's a bit more clear what is being requested.</p>

<p>thank you for the replies, and I am basing all these questions on the downloadable practice worksheet.</p>

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<p>Oh good!! So on my daughter's section, I will be indicating work study earnings with the income section instead of on worksheet "whatever it was"? That is GREAT.</p>

<p>There is a draft version of the new FAFSA available online</p>

<p><a href="http://ifap.ed.gov/fafsa/attachments/0801SummaryChanges0910FAFSA.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ifap.ed.gov/fafsa/attachments/0801SummaryChanges0910FAFSA.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>ThumperThe questions about WS are still there - they are just incorporated into the main body of FAFSA (question 46) rather than a separate worksheet.</p>

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<p>Woohoo!! I found those worksheets to be a bit of a PITA...and I've been doing them for years!! Glad to see that this part is a bit simplified (I hope).</p>

<p>46 C on page 7 , Work study goes there I believe</p>