<p>I have a contentious relationship with my somewhat estranged father.</p>
<p>Basically, I gave him plenty of notice and several reminders but he hasn't yet filed his taxes and it's likely going to take him weeks (as far as I can remember he has always filed for an extension on the April 15 deadline). </p>
<p>I have no idea what to do, as my IDOC deadline for Northwestern (my top choice) is March 5. I will call the school tomorrow, but I'm wondering:</p>
<p>a) How much information should I give them? The situation is pretty ugly; he's abusive and controls the entire family's financials. If I push the tax returns issue in not exactly the right way there's a chance he won't give me the information at all (FAFSA and CSS were horrible.) I don't know that I want to go spilling the whole sob story to them though.</p>
<p>b) Is there anything they can even do? I feel like what they'll say is just send them in as soon as possible and nothing else.</p>
<p>Any help or advice is appreciated! I know I probably should have micro-managed a bit more to make sure this got done but like I said, it's a touchy situation.</p>
<p>First off, don’t beat yourself up. You’re in a tight spot. I don’t know anything about IDOC, but is it possible to use last years information like you can for FAFSA? </p>
<p>If not, then call the school and explain the situation. It is not a sob story, don’t be embarrassed.</p>
<p>IDOC is NOT a financial aid form. It is used by some profile schools to collect the data that supports what has been put on the FAFSA and Profile forms.</p>
<p>The OP is required to send the 2012 tax return, and the 2011 one will not be accepted.</p>
<p>To the OP, if your father hasn’t completed his taxes, you also have another issue. You filed his NCP profile as “will file” and until you update his Profile to reflect 2012 tax returns, your aid would only be an estimate. The schools using IDOC are allowing this update to be made by submitting the tax forms to IDOC.</p>
<p>Please have a talk with your parents.</p>
<p>I know that self employed folks often do not have all of their tax info by April 15 and do ask for extensions.</p>
<p>Perhaps you can call the college to find out what happens in these cases.</p>
<p>The problem is going to be that even if the school is sympathetic and says that you won’t ultimately be penalized, if you can’t get the forms to them by the deadline or very shortly thereafter, they are not going to be able to get your financial aid package to you in a timely fashion. This means you may not even have your packages by May 1 when you have to make a decision as to where you are going. :(</p>
<p>You need to call the college and ask what they want you to do. From your other posts, it looks he is the custodial parent? Given the issues you’ve mentioned in the other threads, it may be necessary to “spill the whole sob story” the the financial aid office. I doubt yours would be the first story if this type.</p>
<p>Only they can decide whether they would be willing to consider special judgement in your case - given you question earlier about legal fees, you should be able to provide documentation to back up your claims.</p>
<p>I agree with thumper1: </p>
<p>Call the school, ask to speak with a financial aid counselor (not just the student clerk who answers the phone), and ask that person what will happen if you’re unable to submit IDOC anytime soon. Make clear that you’re anticipating a delay that might well last until May (or later). </p>
<p>The details of the situation aren’t necessary. All the FA counselor needs to know is that your tax returns won’t be available for quite some time. And find out how they’ll handle this - will they give you an estimated award based on the documents already submitted, or will they delay any award at all until they’ve received the tax returns?</p>
<p>Next, if the school says you’ll be getting an estimated award based on previously submitted documents:</p>
<p>Speak with your mother (or some other adult who knows your father well) and find out how likely it is that your father’s tax returns will agree with what he submitted in the CSS. How careful does this person think your father was in providing estimates for the CSS? And how complicated is his financial situation? Is it possible that there will be a BIG difference between the CSS data and what shows up in his tax returns, once they’re finally submitted?</p>
<p>If the data submitted on the CSS was unreliable, then any estimated award you receive will be similarly unreliable. The difficulty for you is that you may have to make a decision based on that unreliable estimate.</p>
<p>But it sounds like pushing your father won’t help. So talk to the school, talk to your mom (or other adult), and do the best you can. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks guys. I’ve only just got my taxes in but hopefully I’ll receive my offers in enough time to make a decision.</p>
<p>Hey, thanks for the update! I’m happy to hear that you’re not still waiting for the taxes. I’ll cross my fingers and hope for a good (and timely) financial aid offer!!!</p>