<p>It's almost too late and I was unaware I needed to file this form:</p>
<p>I thought I would only need the fafsa.. anyways I dont understand what to do... what "tax returns, all supporting schedules, and all W-2 forms" do I need from my father?</p>
<p>BTW: He is self-employed</p>
<p>What does this line mean:
Applications received without either 2004 or 2005 tax returns, or a letter of explanation, will not be processed because they will be
considered incomplete</p>
<p>How can one possibly have the 2005 tax returns? Does this mean.. I can send this form in after the Jan 1 deadline?</p>
<p>Other poster will no doubt chime in, but I believe it means you should send in the 2004 tax return. Ask your father to provide whatever documents he sent in to the IRS last April. As a self-employed person, he does not have W-2 forms, but he had other forms to fill out such as real estate property, depreciation, earnings from interest, etc... These are reported on different "schedules" or forms.</p>
<p>What are these "schedules".... what do they look like and what would the be titled.</p>
<p>BTW: Do colleges expect my father to say he will be wiling to contribute "x" ammount even though he won't do that (I'm the one filling this stuff out).</p>
<p>For parents who own a business or a farm, there is a special form they need to fill out. I saw it on their website.</p>
<p>re: the Business/Farm Supplement (BUFS). </p>
<p>I wonder if it is necessary to send this form in to Cornell with the Cornell FA app and 2004 info. The BUFS requires income statement and balance sheet information for both 2004 and 2005. It seems inefficient to submit the form partially completed with 2004 info and then to turn around and submit it again fully completed with 2004 AND 2005 info.</p>
<p>We are also self-employed and had planned to fill out the CSS, FAFSA and BUFS when our 2005 tax return was completed. /Hopefully we'll have a 2005 tax return finished by 2/1.... my husband will be overseas for most of January. :-/</p>
<p>Question for anyone in the know. Is this a huge waste of effort for us? I know we won't qualify for grants or need-based assistance. But we will need loans and it would be nice if our D could qualify for some sort of campus part time employment. Do we need to go through all of this to get favorable loan terms or for work/study jobs?</p>
<p>Well I found that out this form is due Jan 1st =-(</p>
<p>"Please note that financial aid application deadlines are firm."</p>
<p>theonekid-</p>
<p>Are you having a hard time getting this stuff together for the deadline? I'm working on my D's as we speak. (If I hadn't seen your post, we would have completely missed the deadline!) Let me know if you need help figuring out what is what.</p>
<p>Our business is consulting, so we don't really have balance sheet items. If I filled out the BUFS, I would basically transfer a few 2004 income and expense items directly from our tax return. Seems so redundant. I guess since I am a CPA, it is easy for me to glance at a tax return and get a decent idea of what is going on....no need for a separate form like the BUFS. (Despite the fact that I'm an auditor, not a tax accountant...grin!)</p>
<p>If your Dad's business is similar (consulting or service), the BUFS should be easy for you to fill out from his business tax return if you have access. If he has business property or other assets, and liabilities, it may be a little trickier. But the info should be there in the tax return. The 2005 columns will be left blank for now.</p>
<p>UPDATE:</p>
<p>Just ran through the BUFS....there is no way to complete it prior to the completion of your parents 2005 tax return. It is a 2006-2007 BUFS and the 2005-2006 is not provided or required. Soooo... I think all you need to submit is the Cornell FA form and attach a copy of your parents' 2004 tax return, including all schedules. Just to cover my bases, I plan to call Cornell Monday and confirm that the BUFS can be submitted with the CSS Profile and FAFSA later in January.</p>
<p>I'm glad this post was useful to you somehow.</p>
<p>I have no idea what BUFS are.. (is that the cornell form?) and I dont have access to any tax returns right now, I believe there is a "business" under his name... I guess I'll just photo copy what he gives me tomorrow (what are these ' schedules" you guys speak of?) and call them on monday aswell.</p>
<p>BTW: Anyone have a link for the other form I would need if my father is self-employed and owns a business.</p>
<p>The BUFS is a CSS Profile supplement for business or farm owners. Cornell and a few other colleges require it in addition to the CSS Profile and FAFSA. When you register for the CSS Profile at College Board, the site will explain exactly what to do with the BUFS. </p>
<p>The schedules are just tax forms. Your dad will probably have a 1040 and then several schedules attached that report the income from his business. (Could be Schedule C or Schedule F.) I'm sure when he gives you the tax return, it will all be there. Just make sure to copy all pages, not just the 1040. And make sure it is a signed and dated tax return. Sometimes the copies don't have the signatures on them. If your copies are unsigned, just ask your dad to sign and date them.</p>
<p>This is the link for the business owners supplement (BUFS):</p>
<p>It is a College Board form and can be found a the CB site as well. You have to register for the CSS Profile first.</p>
<p>I wonder why cornell would do this.. !!!!!!!!</p>
<p>I actually think it may be a good thing. Cornell is known for having a very proactive financial aid office. The sooner they get a kid processed, the better chance they have at getting that kid some money. From the mail we have rec'd, it seems their FA office is deadly serious about getting aid for their students. </p>
<p>(Pain in the booty though...lol!)</p>
<p>Ah, I posted in the other thread but might as well here, since I'll get faster help this way.</p>
<p>I just talked with my mom, and we're getting through the Cornell FinAid, slowly and painfully.</p>
<p>Well, for the BUFS (Business/Farm Supplement), would it be bad if we put down estimates for 2005, and then maybe call or resubmit once we get final numbers? Or just simply wait until we get the final numbers?</p>
<p>Also, what is the 2006 estimate? Both my mother and I are confused on this one...</p>
<p>hi syneria -</p>
<p>I responded on the other thread. I'm taking a chance and not submitting the BUFS yet. I can only fill out a small portion of page 1 wih confidence. It's a 2006-2007 form and the other colleges that require it don't want it until the CSS Profile is submitted later in January or February. So...gonna gamble.</p>
<p>The 2006 estimate is just that. I would wait until I had actual 2005 income and expense data before I would try to estimate 2006. But if you have actual tax info from the first three quarters of 2005 and can reasonably estimate 4Q 2005, you can probably venture a guess for 2006. 2006 most definitely will not be expected to be an exact number.</p>
<p>err so you are not submitting the BUFS? I'm looking at that now and I just can't see how I could possibly fill that out with just the Tax Return forms and Sch. C ( I have these forms now.. but only for 05). I'll probably need a lot of assistance =-/</p>
<p>theonekid - can you give us an idea of what type of self-employment your father has? Some will be simpler than others. I suggest you submit everything you are able to complete by tomorrow (!). Then, when offices open, call the FinAid department at Cornell. Speak to a fin aid officer and I think you can expect s/he will be very helpful. Let them know you are completing all this information yourself and ask each of your specific questions. You'll be able to give specifics which you may not be able to post here and so get better answers.</p>
<p>Well there is no way I can do the second page of the form (BUFS)... Any idea where I could find all this information.. (I'm guessing it's not anywhere in the Fed-TAX return or Sch. C, SE, EIC//</p>
<p>theonekid- depending on what type of business/self-employed person your father has/is - it may be that this form will be mostly blank or "na" ("Not applicable"). EG, I am a self-employed realtor and, in completing the BUFS, had "0" or "na" for pretty much all/all of page 2. </p>
<p>Tell us more here, or PM someone, and we can try to help further.</p>
<p>As a last resort, I suggest you fill in what you don't know as "na", "not available" in order to meet the deadline. Then, you can get advice/help from a Finaid officer next week. </p>
<p>Edit: the form's instructions say that if a question does not apply to you, fill in "0",do not leave blank. You can do that wherever you don't know, unless we can figure out something else via PM.</p>
<p>Looking at the website re deadlines, it looks like the BUFS is due 2/10 along with the CSS Profile. So, you have time. The basic Financial Aid app is due 1/1.<br>
<a href="http://finaid.cornell.edu/Prospective/ProspectiveDeadlines.htm%5B/url%5D">http://finaid.cornell.edu/Prospective/ProspectiveDeadlines.htm</a></p>
<p>Unless I'm misreading - anyone?</p>