<p>I am entering my senior year of high school and got a job babysitting after school for 3-5 hours a day. I will be paid in cash weekly and had two questions regarding financial aid. </p>
<p>1) will putting that I have a paying job on the common app reduce my financial aid even though it takes up most of my afternoon?</p>
<p>2) do I have to report a babysitting job on the FAFSA and if so would it reduce aid?</p>
<p>Any input would be appreciated</p>
<p>Yes you need to report this for FAFSA and for your income taxes.<br>
[Internal</a> Revenue Service](<a href=“http://www.irs.gov%5DInternal”>http://www.irs.gov)</p>
<p>Run the income through the formula to see how much it might affect need-based aid.
<a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/2012-13-efc-forumula.pdf[/url]”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/2012-13-efc-forumula.pdf</a></p>
<p>But frankly, most places don’t have a lot of need-based aid to throw around. You are probably better off holding down that job and saving money for college.</p>
<p>If given the option though I would prefer not mentioning it at all. What are the consequences if I don’t include it?</p>
<p>That you have a part time job and contributing to your expenses is a good thing as far as admissions officers will take it. Your mentioning it on your application is not going to affect your financial aid. That is based on FAFSA and any other form colleges want to determine your need. </p>
<p>As for not reporting the income, that is cheating, it is illegal and you are running afoul of the IRS. As for advice, about that sort of thing, any reasonable and responsible adult will tell you that you need to report it. You don’t really expect to have adults here giving you advice to do something illegal do you? </p>
<p>Unless you earn over $6K babysitting, it isn’t going to affect your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). What directly affects that number is how much in assets you have the day you fill out the financial aid forms. Make sure that both you and your parents are not completing the forms on pay day, but when your bills for the month are paid, since FAFSA does not recognize payables. Also, it might be a good idea for you to pay for your expenses or reimburse your parents for them, and have one of them set up an account in parent name/ssn since any assets are directly given a 20% hit if in your name, but your parents get an exclusion allowance and are hit about 5.6% on their assets. </p>
<p>You are worrying about the wrong thing with your focus on the income rather than the asset for you. For your parents, it’s the opposite.</p>
<p>When you submit your FAFSA, you sign a statement saying that you have entered all your information truthfully. Concealing income or assets on FAFSA is considered fraud.</p>
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<p>Oh ok, thanks for clearing that up for me</p>
<p>You may want to consult a tax expert on how to report the babysitter income to IRS (and on next year’s FAFSA).</p>
<p>The FAFSA’s income protection for dependent undergraduate students is $6,000 for the 2012-2013 academic year.</p>
<p>Therefore if you making less than $6,000, there shouldn’t be any impact to your FAFSA.</p>