<p>Hello. I have a question regarding tax returns. My early action & decision colleges are requiring I send them signed federal tax returns for my parents.</p>
<p>For example, on Colorado College's website it says
"Submit completed, signed copies of 2013 tax returns to our office by email, fax, or mail (include all pages, schedules, W-2s, and forms)."</p>
<p>My mom uses TurboTax for tax-stuff...I'm not too sure on how tax stuff works in general..I have a PDF file with the tax return and all the schedules... I do not see any W-2s though. Are those seperate? </p>
<p>Also, how do I e-mail "signed" tax returns? Where is it signed at?</p>
<p>Sorry if my questions seem silly or incoherent. I thought I was done with FA process but there's apparently more to do. Why do these colleges even need the tax returns? Isn't everything on them they would need to know on the CSS profile? at least WashU is not asking for them.</p>
Because the schools believe you’re less likely to lie to the IRS than you are to lie to them. The IRS can put you in jail and seize everything you own for committing fraud.</p>
<p>You will need to print out the return from the PDF and have your parent sign the 1040 in the signature block. Then you can scan the return, print and send it in. If you prefer to email it, you will have to re-scan the return, including the signed 1040, all schedules and W-2s and convert the scan to a PDF to attach to an email.</p>
<p>If your mom doesn’t have her original W-2s (employers give you at least 2 copies – one to file with the return and one for your records, so she should have copies), check to see if she recreated them in TurboTax. If she saved all of her relevant documents as part of the PDF in TurboTax, she may be able to reprint the W-2 pages. They won’t be the originals that the employer provided, but they will probably be acceptable facsimiles.</p>
<p>I recall a post from a kid last year or the year before. The kid had sent in a recreated W-2 and the school was asking for a copy of the original. The kid didn’t know the difference so it was explained here and he sent in the original. Some schools may accept it but I think it’s a better idea to send in a copy of the original. </p>
<p>Used the scanner at school today. Sent them to Colorado College and they replied saying it was perfectly fine and that I don’t need to do anymore! Hopefully UChicago will give me a similar response.</p>
<p>@rhandco</p>
<p>They wanted the 2013 forms. It’s not stated on the CSS profile specifically, but rather as a step in their financial aid process. CC wanted them by Nov. 10, UChicago by Nov. 21. WashU does not require them at all.</p>
<p>I looked on the three colleges FA pages, their FA FAQ and filed CSS Profile as they all requested. No supplemental questions, no 2013 tax forms.</p>
<p>Yet - two FA sites said they would need tax forms to finalize the awards.</p>