<p>Well I live with my parents, we make up a family 3. Last year my Dad only held an icome, while my Mom did not. My Dad made about 15k but with expenses and taxes the adjusted gross income came out to be around 9k. As you can imagine living with 9k a year is a hassle which is why my sister helps me and my parents out every month with about $500. My question is should this "financial aid" given unto my parents from my sister be reported in the FAFSA? I understand that such financial gifts don't have to be reported in the taxes, but in the FAFSA is it the same? If I should report, under what box should I do so?</p>
<p>Another thing is, my Sister payed for my cell phone bill every month last year, which happens to be my only bill, should I report that in my FAFSA as well? If so which box?</p>
<p>Sorry to ask such complicated questions but I like to be honest in everything.</p>
<p>It seems unlikely that the extra money from your sister is going to affect your potential for aid very much if it is only in the range of $6K-7K and you are only making $15K to begin with.</p>
<p>sk8ermom:<br>
j. Money received (44 only). The student reports any cash support
he has received. But if he is dependent, he does not count his parents’
support, with one exception: money from a non-custodial parent
that is not part of a legal child support agreement is untaxed income
to the student. Cash support includes money, gifts, and loans, plus
housing, food, clothing, car payments or expenses, medical and dental
care, college costs, and any money paid to someone else on his behalf.
For example, if a friend or relative pays his electric bill or part of his
rent, he must report the amount as untaxed income. If he is living
with a friend who pays the rent and the student’s name is on the
lease, the rent paid on his behalf counts as cash support because he
is responsible for payments that his friend is making. Note that this
item does not appear in the parents’ question (93)—only the student
reports this information.</p>
<p>Kelsmom…I think that’s what I said, or am I missing something? The student reports bills, like the OP’s cell phone bill if it’s in their name, paid on his/her behalf by someone other than the parent. The parents aren’t subject to the same requirement, which is why I didn’t mention any reporting for their D’s help to them. Either way, this student will very likely qualify for the Auto 0 EFC.</p>
<p>See, this is what I get when I rush to answer posts at lunch (too tired most nights!) — not sure what I was reading when I answered! ;)</p>
<p>Yes, if your sister paid your cell phone bills, you have to report that as untaxed income. However, since the family will most likely be automatic 0 EFC, it won’t make a difference.</p>
<p>Ok well I know where to put those cell phone bills expenses, but where do I put the financial help my parents receive from my sister? Do I put it under “Parent’s other untaxed income or benefits”?</p>
<p>Your post just says that if I am dependent that I should not consider money given unto me from my parents as cash support. But I’m not referring to myself but m pants, so in the section where it asked for my parents other untaxed income should I list that?</p>
<p>You sure? When I went to verification for last years FAFSA the guy was surprised on how low our family income was that he asked if we were receiving any food stamps or government aid and I said we never have which is true. He then asked me if we received help from people and I said yes and gave him the amount. He then proceeded to change my FAFSA accordingly. What he did was just change the value from " parents other untaxed income or benefits" from 0 to the amount I told him. I also thought that it did not need to be reported since it money gifts are not reported to the IRS but for FAFSA they see it as “untaxed income” I guess. Unless the guy that verified my documents did not know what he was doing. Either way my EFC remained at 0.</p>
<p>As I said before, and kelsmom (who until recently was a FA officer at a large university) affirmed, it’s very likely that you qualify for the Automatic 0 EFC based on your family income. See the passage that she posted in #4…that’s from the FAFSA instructions. During verification, they can ask questions about other income but, as you saw, any type of public assistance isn’t reported on FAFSA either. I think he made an error in including your sister’s gifts to your parents in “other untaxed income” but it really doesn’t make a difference in your case. </p>
<p>If you’re sure that your school views those gifts as untaxed income, why not just report it that way to begin with? The danger in doing this is that the AGI for Auto 0 has gone down from last year and is now $23K.</p>
<p>Dear OP, if your family income is that low, your parents should apply for aid from the government. That’s the reason we pay taxes, to help fellow American when they are in financial difficulty. I would rather my taxes be given to hard working people who couldn’t make the ends meet than wasting on some nonsense regulations.</p>
<p>Ok so just corrected my FAFSA and decided to put the help my parents and I received and all was good EFC remained at 0 and it did not say It required verification. </p>
<p>Goodbetterbest, my parents especially my Dad is somewhat paranoid about the government he thinks he thinks that sooner or later they will ask him to pay things back…I dunno where he got that from. I think he told me once that when I was a child he asked for food stamps and he then was billed after. Sounds crazy but that is what he says.</p>
<p>During verification of a very low income family, there are various methods of trying to determine how it is that a family can survive on very low income. I have heard that some schools add in the value of what others provide, but that is institutional policy. For FAFSA purpose, you do not report it for parents - but schools can decide to add it in, if that is their policy, during verification. Where I worked, very poor families were quite common, and we did not put them through the wringer to find out where every cent was coming from to help them survive. If you are poor enough that someone else has to pay your car insurance so that you can get to your minimum wage job, a parent should not have to count that as income. Just my two cents on that one.</p>
<p>Amen to that, kelsmom! I hate hearing from kids who are getting grilled on this issue when their families are receiving HUD/HEAP/Medicaid/SNAP benefits and have obviously been very thoroughly vetted by the various county agencies. It’s really demoralizing to the student and family, who are already stressed out, and is so unneccessary.</p>