<p>Financial aid. I thought once applications were done, it was all smooth sailing until I realized that I still had to apply for financial aid and that meant getting my parents involved. </p>
<p>First off. My parents own their own business. I have no idea if this means anything, but they keep telling me that it does. </p>
<p>My parents have none of their 2005 taxes done. Seriously none of them. I don't know if this is the same for anyone else, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do at all. </p>
<p>There's a bunch of other stuff I'm not sure about in regards to aid, but that's one of the main things. I don't know how to do the IDOC thing, and my parents are acting clueless and it's the blind leading the blind. </p>
<p>I could really use some help. A PM or anything, but all my dates have already passed and I was unable to get any of my financial aid forms in until now (extenuating circumstances other than the taxes thing that was explained in a letter), but NONE of the forms are completely done because, my parents claim, they own their own business and they do their taxes a year late or something.</p>
<p>I really just need help understanding the financial aid process. I know nothing about money. I just need help knowing what to do. I feel like I've gotten accepted to good schools and I won't be able to go because my parents are screwing me around, basically. </p>
<p>I'm so stressed!</p>
<p>I already did the fafsa based on projections of 2005, but I'm talking about school specific forms that require signed w2s and things like that. My parents don't have them yet, and I'm just wondering if this is normal or what I'm supposed to do if it's not. </p>
<p>PS. I already posted this in the fin. aid forum, but figured it'd be good to post ith ere as well since this is the parents forum and as parents, might have an okay idea as to what I should do.</p>
<p>Contact the schools and send the 2004 tax returns, explaining that the 2005 returns are not done yet. </p>
<p>Then sit down with your parents and find out from them exactly what their expectations are about paying for your college --how much are they willing to pay? It may be that your parents' reticence about the financial aid process simply reflects that they don't expect to get much aid, and are prepared to support you through college with or without aid. So don't despair yet -- but if your parents are expecting significant financial aid, you will need to impress on them the importance of getting returns in early.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that it is relatively easy to file amended returns with IRS, so if your parents rush through their return and later find a mistake, they will be able to fix it.</p>
<p>I'm sorry that this is happening to you. You sound like a wonderful kid and I wish that your family's financial situation wasn't such that you have to experience all this stress.</p>
<p>My husband and I own a small business and I know first hand how difficult it is to get those taxes done this early. But, I also realized that if we wanted my son to qualify for financial aid, and we did, we just had to do it.</p>
<p>Frankly, we started working on our taxes in Dec and there was a week or two in January where one or both of us was working on it several hours per day. We persevered and our taxes were completed by Feb 10th.</p>
<p>Now, there is no way our son could have helped in this process. He doesn't understand our business, our finances or even how to interprete the FAFSA and PROFILE. I really think your parents need to get involved.</p>
<p>All this to say, you need to have a heart to heart talk with your parents and see if they are willing to do their share or are they in essence saying that it doesn't matter to them that you do not receive financial aid. Perhaps they make enough money to totally fund all your college expenses???</p>
<p>If your parents are self-employed and didn't work for anyone else, then they don't receive W2s so you don't have to worry about submitting those. There is a business/farm supplement that your folks will need to fill out (PROFILE) which can be somewhat difficult if you haven't completed your taxes yet. Perhaps you can use 2004 numbers.</p>
<p>Call your colleges and see what they say. Calmom gave some great advice. </p>
<p>I am not that good with money, taxes etc, but feel free to PM me and I'll try my best to help.</p>
<p>I don't understand. If they own their own business, haven't they had to file quarterly? (I'm not an accountant, so maybe some small businesses don't file quarterly). If they are required to file quarterly then they should have at least 3 quarters completed for last year.</p>
<p>It also sounds like your parents might be hesitant because "on paper" they may look like they have a huge income. </p>
<p>I don't understand why they are "so blind" about all of this. If they have always filed their own taxes (for a business, no less!!), then certainly this type of process should not be unfamiliar to them (tons of paperwork, etc.)</p>
<p>Maybe I am "going down the wrong path", but could this be because they don't file taxes at all or seriously under report their income and don't want this process to "rat them out"? If their business operates on a cash basis, this may be the issue. </p>
<p>We filed self employed in 2005 for 2004 taxes. We just told our accountant that our taxes HAD to be done EARLY. The forms weren't really that hard to fill out. It may have taken us a Saturday afternoon. Once you have all your stuff in hand it isn't too hard. </p>
<p>Most people don't have their taxes done yet. So the schools know that. I recall that you didn't have to send in your documentation (in most cases) until you had actually committed to a school.</p>
<p>However, we didn't qualify for anything, so some of the details are a little sketchy for me.</p>
<p>When I was a high school senior, my dad (a farmer) refused to fill out financial aid forms. Everything was on the up and up, but he just didn't want other people to stick their nose in his business. Fortunately, he could afford to send me to our state school without financial aid.</p>
<p>I am discovering that there are many parents that just don't want to fill out the FA paperwork (for whatever reasons).....and they either choose to pay full fare for their college bound senior, they encourage their son/daughter to apply to schools that are known for giving merit aid, or they send their child to the local state school.</p>
<p>I just wish these parents would be upfront with their kids and have a heart to heart talk with them before senior year.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't understand. If they own their own business, haven't they had to file quarterly?
[/quote]
Self-employed individuals pay estimated taxes quarterly, but there are no returns filed -- its just a matter of writing checks. Most of us simply make the estimates based on what our prior year's income + tax liability was.</p>
<p>I just think its a bit weird that in this case self-employed people are acting like they are completely clueless about paperwork that concerns their money and income. Certainly, self-employed business people (who pay taxes) are very familiar with a variety of paperwork, records, forms, etc. I know that when we owned rental property (different situation, I know) we had to fill out all kinds of forms. It just seems to me that, in this case, these parents don't WANT to fill out any forms because of some kind of "personal reasons" (& not because they are "clueless" about this type of paperwork.)</p>
<p>Forgive me, jlauer95, but the kid is asking for help in getting his forms filed, not for an analysis of his parents' motives.</p>
<p>As a freelancer who has a variable income year to year (and who was still receiving 1099s and partnership forms in the mail last week), I can sympathize with your parents. It's difficult to meet these early deadlines if your situation is anything out of the ordinary. ( I found it practically impossible last year - I submitted numbers that I basically made up. Fortunately, my D is attending a state school, so we didn't need any financial aid.) I think calmom and EllenF have given you good advice - talk to the schools, talk to your parents. Would they consider hiring an accountant just to work on the forms, knowing that it might save them a ton of money over the next four years?</p>
<p>I had to do essentially the same thing -- practically "make up" the numbers, and then later filed an amended return - the year my older child applied to college and I first had to apply for financial aid. I admit it was because of poor bookkeeping habits -- I used to habitually file for an extension and file my returns in August. Now I've gotten more disciplined about it all --- but there is a down side to that, too. I now have a CPA doing my taxes and I rushed to get him all the docs by mid-February- he's extremely efficient and had it all done in a week. But just today I received an "amended" 1099 that shows me getting $60 more than previously reported.... I had to email the CPA to ask him what I should do. I honestly don't want to go through the trouble of amending returns and recorrecting 3 FAFSA sets over $60 -- but it illustrates the problems with waiting. </p>
<p>Its March already and both my kids still haven't received W2's from some of their employers -- with my daughter I just corrected her FAFSA to "will not file", as the employer hasn't paid her most of the money she earned either. My daughter's problem is with a big national retailer, my son's problem is with a local small businessman who is probably just disorganized. But either way, its not realistic to expect that they will be able to file by April 15th.</p>