If a parent is old enough that they receive retirement Social Security and it is NOT taxable on their IRS 1040,
is it counted as income on the CSS Profile?
I was under the impression that it is NOT counted on the FAFSA.
Also, is it possible to see a copy of the Profile before filling it out?
You are correct that untaxed SSA retirement benefits are not counted on the FAFSA. I believe that the PROFILE would ask about this income, as would some schools using their own additional forms. How the schools use this information in their financial aid calculations most likely varies by school. I think it is possible to print out a paper copy of the PROFILE, but I’m not certain. My son only applied to FAFSA-only schools.
It doesn’t take much income for SS benefits to be at least partially taxable.
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/Are-Your-Social-Security-Benefits-Taxable
If your parent(s) is/are low enough income that none of the SS is taxable, then it’s not likely to be counted much if at all for profile schools. I don’t know if profile asks about the amount of untaxed SS, but how the schools would use that number is up to each school. For fafsa, the amount not included in AGI is not reportable as other untaxed income.