<p>Anyone else having this problem? I have searched everywhere on FAFSA and there is no link to the IRS for data retrieval. I even started a new FAFSA and still no IRS link.</p>
<p>Where is it?</p>
<p>Have tried Firefox and IE 7.0(which I know is supported)</p>
<p>The IRS did not start accepting returns until today, so it is possible that it won’t show up until this week.</p>
<p>When the link is active, you will see it when you enter “already filed” on the FAFSA for tax filing status. An offer to link to the IRS site for retrieval will then pop up. It makes sense that the link might not yet be active … it takes a week or two (my guess is closer to two) AFTER the return is accepted electronically by the IRS before the return can actually be accessed. Once the IRS link goes live, you should be able to link up. If it hasn’t been enough time for your return to be processed & it’s not ready, you would be able to link, but you would get a message that the return is not found. Try again in a few days if that happens.</p>
<p>The link won’t go live until 02/01/2012, and even then you’ll have to wait until your tax return is processed: 2 weeks for electronic filing and 6 weeks for paper filing.</p>
<p>Hmm… this could be a problem? Some schools (Caltech, Rice, and likely others) require that the FAFSA info be done through the IRS retrieval. I think Caltech won’t even look at your FAFSA if the form was not “filled out” by IRS. Their deadline is 2/2 I believe. </p>
<p>Hmm… I’m sure it’s not as strict as I think it is, but it is confusing at the moment.</p>
<p>I would call those schools to ask what they want you to do.</p>
<p>Here is an excerpt from a letter published for all financial aid professionals last March:</p>
<p>Applicants who file their IRS income tax returns electronically (according to the IRS expected to be more than 70 percent) can expect their tax return information to be available for retrieval and transfer within two weeks of filing. Information for paper tax return filers will generally be available within eight weeks of filing. Finally, we are working with the IRS to help taxpayers authenticate their identity to the IRS more easily and securely, allowing even more applicants to benefit from the FAFSA-IRS Data Retrieval process.</p>
<p>I did call Caltech who said that the FA package will not be done until they have the official (IRS retrieval) numbers. But they also said that the package will be the same in April as it will be “today”. That’s not really a chance we want to take, but at least it shouldn’t be a problem if they don’t get official numbers until mid-Feb.</p>
<p>when I click on financial information, I do see an enlarged section with IRS retrieval info on it, but it goes away within 2 seconds. It’s not a pop up.</p>
<p>What happens if you e-file, close your tax file and open FAFSA, dump the numbers in, hit filed and submit then wait until your SAR arrives and then go hit the data retrieval tool? Does that work? I guess I don’t’ see the point of the data retrieval tool if you’re pulling the numbers right from your e-filed tax forms. The numbers will be the same.</p>
<p>You can’t access the information from the IRS until it is in the IRS system. That is why you have to wait a couple weeks … it has to process. The reason you can’t dump your numbers in yourself is because the retrieval tool is designed to talk to the IRS and get the correct information into the correct places on the FAFSA. It won’t take numbers from your electronic return. When you e-file, the info is available sooner. The retrieval is not taking info from your e-file, though … when you e-file, the IRS takes the electronic file and puts the info into its system … it doesn’t retain it on your e-filed return. The retrieval tool then links to the IRS system and pulls what it needs, using it to fill in the FAFSA in the correct spots.</p>
<p>The retrieval is not a pop-up, but it “pops up.” That is, it does not appear until you hit “already filed.” The reason it is disappearing now is probably because it isn’t ready quite yet for business.</p>