<p>Hello,
I am a senior and i have been accepted into the school that i wanted to go and plan on going to that school. now here is my problem, i am looking at the fafsa and i am on the part where i need to fill out the AGI and the thing is my dad does not know exactly what it is because he has not done taxes yet and he is the only one who makes money in my house. How do we finish filling it out if he has not done taxes yet? he has his own small buisness and the total money he makes is not what he actually makes... he has to pay people and supply houses and workers and things like that and the money is coming in slower and he makes much less than the 102,000 the papers said he makes after it is all taken out... so how do we fill this out? who can we talk to in order to help us fill this out? who can we talk to get loans from banks to help me pay for school?
please help im lost and have no idea who to talk to about this.
thanks, Garrett</p>
<p>Did your dad own this business in 2009? If so, did he complete the Schedule C (is that the one for self employed business owners?). If he did, use the information from your 2009 tax returns to do the estimated FAFSA. If your dad knows there were large changes in the numbers, you can adjust those numbers to reflect what happened in 2010. Regardless…you will be using estimates for now. Choose the “will file” status…meaning you WILL file your 2010 taxes but have not yet done so. </p>
<p>Your dad should then get his 2010 taxes completed as soon as possible. </p>
<p>Remember that any financial aid award you receive based on estimates…will also be an estimate. Your finalized financial aid award will not be issued until your FAFSA (and Profile if your schools require it) are amended to reflect the 2010 tax returns.</p>
<p>ok so in the spots where it says the “2010 AGI” things like that and the other 2010 income sections just put the 2009 digits? then once he files the taxes go back and change the numbers?</p>
<p>Yes…you can complete the FAFSA using estimates. If your Dad KNOWS that there is a significant difference in the 2010 numbers from 2009, he should try to make the adjustment to a VERY close amount to what actually HAPPENED in 2010. </p>
<p>You want to use VERY GOOD ESTIMATES to what actually was earned in 2010, and taxes paid. But your dad can use the 2009 as a guideline.</p>
<p>Then get those 2010 taxes done ASAP and amend ASAP.</p>
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<p>What papers are you talking about? Is this a FAFSA-only school or did you have to submit Profile too?</p>
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<p>You will be eligible for federal student loans in your own name - the Stafford loan limit for freshmen is $5500. If you want a private student loan on top of that, you need to apply to a bank (in-person or online) that offers them. Parents can borrow federal loans too…they’re called the Parent Plus loan and your school’s website should have links. You can find all kinds of loan info on finaid.org, including calculators to determine how much you should borrow and what the payments will be.</p>