<p>Okay i am a junior in high school now and i will be applying to schools this summer--doing fafsa etc etc. For financial aid, i need the tax returns of my parents--they are married and both live in the same house (w/ me)</p>
<p>Here the ISSUE:
--My mom files as head of household (i think she might even be writing single too be/c i looked through her tax thing and it didnt have the spouse's (my dad's) name)
--My dad does not file at all
--My dad was supposed to go with my mom to do the taxes correctly this year, but be/c she wanted more money returned she totally ignored my dad's request -_-
--my mom got her money back (tax check--whatever you call)
--my dad is now trying to schedule an appointment for himself before april 15 to straighten things out.</p>
<p>BUT i need the 2009 tax returns for colleges
--is it possible for my dad to straighten things out in time?
--what will be the penalties?
--will he be able to get tax returns too?*</p>
<p>If your a junior you will need your 2010 taxes…you can estimate your 2009. But they will only ask for 2010. Make sure they straighten things out.</p>
<p>Head of household is for someone who is not married or is married but was not living with their spouse for any part of the last 6 months of the tax year, and has dependents (well more complicated than that, but roughly). If your parents are married and were living together for any part of the last 6 months of 2009 then your Mom is not eligible to file as HOH. They can file as married and filing jointly (which usually is the best taxwise). Or if they don’t want to file together they can each file as married filing separately. But neither can file as HOH.</p>
<p>This will probably cause problems when applying for financial aid. </p>
<p>If you are a junior why will you be applying to schools and FAFSA this summer? Are you graduating early?</p>
<p>If you are a junior in high school and you are applying to colleges starting this summer, than you would be starting college in fall 2011, correct? If that is the case you will not have to file a FAFSA until January 2011, for the 2011-12 school year, and your 2010 taxes will be what you base your FAFSA on. </p>
<p>Therefore the 2009 taxes are irrelevant and your dad can still straighten this out.</p>
<p>also YES my parents are married and have been for 7 years.
she is illegally filing as hoh be/c she think she will somehow get more in taxes returned</p>
<p>As noted above…if you are a junior this year, you will need your 2010 taxes for the completion of your financial aid applications for the 2011-2012 college year which will be your freshman year. Some schools may want two years of tax forms sent (2009 and 2010) but your financial aid applications will be based on your family’s and your 2010 tax return information, NOT 2009. The FAFSA for that year will be available on Jan 1 2011.</p>
<p>BUT if you apply early action to any Profile schools, the CSS Profile could have a priority deadline in the fall of 2010.</p>
<p>I am not a tax expert but it seems to me you have a bigger issue. You need to be certain of your parents’ marital status…and discuss the financial aid forms with them. Your taxes and your financial aid form should usually indicate the SAME marital status…unless that marital status CHANGES between when the taxes are filed and when you file your FAFSA…in other words…if your parents were married in 2010 but divorced on Jan 3 2011…and you file your FAFSA on Jan 4…parents would be listed as divorced and their tax return could indicate married. NOW…your mom can file “married filing a separate return”…but if she’s married she cannot file as single. If your dad HAD income, he is required to file as well. AGAIN he can file as married filing separately but he cannot file as a single filer.</p>
<p>I gotta tell you…I’m perplexed. It seems this tax filing is problematic. I think this does need to be straightened out and NOW is the time to do that for your parents. I would suggest showing them the FAFSA worksheet…you can print that out. It shows what you have to put on the FAFSA (you can print out the worksheet for THIS year…it doesn’t change that much). Also show them the financial aid requirements from a couple of colleges that require tax returns…so they can understand why you are asking. Just tell them…you want to make sure you are doing this accurately.</p>
<p>Oh…I don’t want to scare you…but putting inaccurate info on the FAFSA knowingly is considered fraud and can jeopardize financial aid, admissions offers, and result is a rather hefty fine.</p>
<p>What worries me about your situation is the possibility that your family will owe back taxes for taxes not paid by your dad if he has an income. Those back taxes and fees are not considered by colleges when determining your EFC.</p>
<p>If you will be applying for school for fall 2011 then for FAFSA they will only want your 2010 taxes. If you are applying to any schools that use cssprofile they often ask for the prior years tax returns as well, so they would want 2009 tax returns.</p>
<p>There are more problems here than financial aid though. Filing as HOH when you are married is illegal.</p>
<p>Filing as single when you are married is also illegal. Having income and not filing is also illegal (if the dad has income he is supposed to file).</p>
<p>OP, both of your parents can file an amended return as soon as they straighten out their particular situation and I would assume they know this if not you can nicely remind them… so no need to be scared…yet but do help them understand that what they do can impact you in a very negative way. This might be a point (college financial aid) that they have not previously thought about or did not understand how what they do connects to what you do…</p>
<p>Something seems very odd about the way this family files taxes…</p>
<p>If the dad has no income, then the mom should be claiming him which would mean she would pay less taxes. By not claiming him, and filing as “head of household,” I think the mom is actually paying more in taxes. Wouldn’t she be? She’d be claiming less people as exemptions, right? </p>
<p>I wonder if the mom does this so the tax return check is ONLY in her name so she doesn’t have to share it with the H who’d have to co-sign in. If the H doesn’t work (and she feels that he should be working), then that may be why she’s filing the way she is…even if it’s not the right way. </p>
<p>But…I’m only guessing and could be completely off-base… :)</p>
<p>She can file as married filing separately if she wants to do so. That is perfectly legal (he would then also be required to file a return). Does not make much sense from a financial point of view. Given their circumstances (married and living together) it is illegal for her to file as HOH.</p>
<p>In addition to apparently filing taxes fraudulently have you discussed with them this other potential impact regarding college financial aid? There are often consequences for fraud and breaking the law and perhaps this is one of them. Handling the taxes in a fraudulent way such as they’ve done may end up costing them far more than they felt they were gaining in doing so.</p>
<p>i know!!! my dad and i have been telling her to staigthen this **** out!
my dad DOES have an income and he is supposed to file…but my mom is messing him up be/c she wont remove the HOH status! i told her that what she is doing to affecting me but she’s like “whatever, you werent saying that when i got all that money back.” and im like “***, i dont care about short-term…i am talking about paying for college!” and then she’s says like “there’s loans. as soon as you get your high paying job, pay em off”… fuvck guyss i am so sad…she’s making me soo fcking angry
i am trying to tell her but she’s just so erratic sometimes</p>
