<p>I made about 1600 last year, and am not going to file taxes. But it still asks how much I made, and how much I have in my bank ($1300). My mom is freaking out because she thinks that they will give me less financial aid because of my $1300, so she wants me to take it out of the bank. </p>
<p>Will it actually change anything? 1300 is a really small amount...</p>
<p>For income from work, report your $1600. Because you don’t have to file, you can put “will not file” for your tax status. Your adjusted gross income is 0, and your taxes paid is 0. You have to report the amount in your bank account. If you don’t, you are committing fraud. And no, $1300 won’t make much, if any, difference.</p>
<p>Even if you take the money out, you still need to report it as long as you have it in your possession.</p>
<p>Note that if any of that $1300 in the bank is from a Work Study job it does not count as a student asset.
Of course, if you are still in high school and filing your first FAFSA, this will not apply to you. But in subsequent years, funds in the bank (or in your possession, as romani noted)that are from financial aid, such as a Work Study job or financial aid (loan, grant) funds that were disbursed to you to cover books and living expenses, do not count.</p>
<p>kelsmom, isn’t the OP’s adjusted gross income the amount s/he earned from work -ie, approx. $1600 - + or - any other adjustments to income, such as interest? Agree that no income tax will be owed on that amount, but it still counts as part of AGI, and still needs to be reported as income on the FAFSA, no??</p>
<p>If any tax was withheld from paychecks, then the OP will probably want to file in order to get that money back.</p>
<p>oh, i put 1300 as the amount in my bank, since I don’t believe it says to exclude jobs.
I don’t think it made much of a difference?</p>
<p>And it wasn’t much that was withheld, so I’m just going to leave it since I’d probably only get $100 back.</p>
<p>Do you really need aid if you think $100 isn’t worth filling out a form for?</p>
<p>Only $100? That’s still a lot of money!</p>
<p>*Note that if any of that $1300 in the bank is from a Work Study job it does not count as a student asset.
*</p>
<p>I don’t think that’s true. I think it still counts. </p>
<p>That 1300 could affect EFC by some amount since it’s student savings.</p>
<p>Can you use it for a computer or something before filing FAFSA? If you spend it, you don’t have to report it.</p>
<p>The FAFSA instructions clearly state not to include money in bank accounts (or on hand) thats from FA.</p>
<p>oh no no, I am a senior in high school. My job description is a “work study student” or a intern, at a public library. It’s not FA, sorry I forgot to mention that!</p>
<p>kelsmom, isn’t the OP’s adjusted gross income the amount s/he earned from work -ie, approx. $1600 - + or - any other adjustments to income, such as interest? </p>
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<p>The only amount that can be entered as “AGI” is an amount from a tax return. No tax return, no AGI. In that case, it is reported as income from work … and if any is from interest income, that would be other untaxed income.</p>