<p>My husband and I are separated and have been for 5 years. His residence is 2,000 miles away. I am definitely the custodial parent of my child and complete the fafsa this way ( this will be the second year) for my daughter's school which does not use any profile. </p>
<p>We have always filed jointly for many reasons, among them that we are not necessarily intending to divorce. ( medical issues, etc.)</p>
<p>Last year I was flummoxed by the part of the fafsa that asked how much I pay in taxes. my income is small, ( 25,000) and my husbands much more than that. </p>
<p>NOw- the fafsa only asks my income, but then also asks what I pay in taxes ( far beyond the usual for my income) . Last year I reported the amount I paid out of my income at his rate. However- there was nowhere for me to explain this! How to deal with this? We are wondering if I should file married but separately just for htis reason but on the other hand there are drawbacks to this-</p>
<p>any ideas on this sort of amorphous situation and question?</p>
<p>I believe you’re supposed to separate your income and taxes for FAFSA purposes and I think the simplest way to do so would be to run your numbers separately through one of the tax programs. It would give you your AGI, alone, as well as your own portion of the tax bill (how do you figure out who owes what now?) - you do not need to actually file the separate return, just print it for backup to your numbers.</p>