<p>So I have applied to a number of Ivies and other selective schools that are all requesting all federal tax returns for 2010 to be turned in by March 1, 2011. I didn't think I was the only one with this problem but after talking to a couple of people, apparently I am--My dad is telling me that March 1 is extremely early and that usually he doesn't begin his taxes until mid-March or April. And its not due to "laziness," he said its because of the specific information he needs that doesn't come until later and other financial tangibles that I have no idea about.</p>
<p>My top choice states on their website that tax returns can be turned in after the date, but financial aid eligibility cannot be reviewed until all forms are received. I cannot wait until late April or even the commitment deadline to find out how much money I'll be getting...my family makes below $90,00 a year.</p>
<p>So, what do I do? Is this something that I'll have to talk to my dad about and just tell him no matter WHAT this year he's just gotta do it differently and file his taxes THIS month in February so they'll be to the colleges by March 1? Or is there a way to work around this issue...</p>
<p>Also, is the March 1st deadline a postmark date or a "received by" date. As in, do I need to mail all the forms and schedules a week before March 1 or is March 1 okay? I will be utilizing the CSS IDOC service for the majority of my schools.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot CC, I truly appreciate a place and resource where I can ask such pressing questions like this.</p>
<p>Schools have these deadlines for a reason. Students need to make a matriculation decision by May 1. MOST students want to know what kinds of financial aid they will be receiving before they make their matriculation decision.</p>
<p>If you don’t send your taxes to the college PRIOR to April, they will NOT have time to look at your tax returns to make certain that what you put on your FAFSA/PROFILE/School form is in fact accurate. These very generous Ivy schools and the like are giving students a LOT of their money and they want to be certain that the numbers are correct prior to sending a financial aid award out.</p>
<p>If your dad doesn’t have the “information” yet, it sounds like he must be self employed in some way. Is this correct? Anyone who is an employee who was to receive a W-2 form for income earned and taxes withheld, should have received it by Feb 1.</p>
<p>NOW…having said all of that…many self employed folks do not get their taxes done by April. I’m not sure what these schools will do about that. You need to contact the SCHOOLS and ask them what to do. You will need to explain that WHY your taxes cannot be filed in a timely fashion…that is to say EARLY enough to meet the school deadline.</p>
<p>I’m assuming you already completed the FAFSA and Profile and any school forms required by the schools. Since your taxes were NOT completed, any financial aid award you receive will be an ESTIMATED one. The school will not finalize your financial aid awards until you send in your amended FAFSA and Profile forms to reflect the numbers on your tax returns. AND YES…your financial aid award could very well change based on the accurate 2010 tax return. </p>
<p>SO…call the schools…but please do have a good reason why you cannot meet their deadline. They will tell you what to do.</p>
<p>Thank you very much thumper. A couple questions.</p>
<p>Would schools actually send an estimated award before receiving the tax returns? I thought they would just not review you. And yes, I have completed the CSS Profile and FAFSA. I need to get one more school-specific financial aid app done.</p>
<p>Again, the postmark question. Is March 1 a postmark deadline, or do all forms need to be in their hands at March 1? I couldn’t find a consensus answer for this.</p>
<p>My dad is actually not self-employed. In fact, he works for the government. I’m not quite sure what he means. It wasn’t “information” that he lacked but rather an inability to most accurately/efficiently fill out his taxes. I’m not sure. But this matters to him, and I think he will try to get them done in February.</p>
<p>When I thought my tax return was going to be delayed by IRS forms not being ready (only a week or so past the deadlines) I called my S’s schools and asked. One said they could do an estimated award based on 2009 tax forms (I also offered the a close-to-final draft of 2010 because I had that ready, which they said they would also use.) Another said they would not review my S’s file until they got our completed tax forms, and that if we missed the deadline, they may not be able to get him his offer before May 1. So… if you NEED to miss a deadline, call the schools and find out what that is going to mean, and whether you can get an estimate by providing partial or past information. </p>
<p>However, it sounds like your dad should be able to file his return this month. He’s probably just not <em>used to</em> doing it this early! (Neither were we!)</p>
<p>Schools might give you an estimated financial aid award based on your “will file” status (meaning you have complete the FAFSA and PROFILE using estimates and WILL file your taxes but haven’t done so yet). BUT do you REALLY want to base your college decision on an ESIMATED award? When our DD was entering college, we completed her finaid applications using very good estimates. Our AGI actually went up a little (several thousand dollars). She had already received awards from three schools. Two made NO change at all to her award (one was a Profile school and one was FAFSA only). The third school DECREASED her grant by over $5000 a year (I don’t remember the exact amount). Guess where she did NOT go!!??</p>
<p>We updated our FAFSA/Profile forms in February…waiting until April is mighty risky in my opinion.</p>
<p>The year you are enrolling as a freshman is NOT the year to do your taxes in April. Hopefully your dad can get these done ASAP so you can amend your forms. Tell him…next year when you are renewing your applications for aid, the deadlines are usually a little later!!</p>
<p>If your schools use IDOC - March 1 would be the date IDOC needs to have the paperwork. So - you would actually need to mail it a week prior in order to have IDOC’s website confirm receipt by March 1.</p>
<p>Your Dad needs to get the taxes done asap. You can tell him I said so. :)</p>
<p>If your Dad uses an accountant, he may need to make special provisions, our very first year doing all these forms, I asked the accountant if we could do everything early, got my info together and had an early appt., but he still ran my return in April with all his others. He uses a service that prints them all together. Had I needed an actual return sooner I would have needed to ask him not only to review my info early, but provide me the return early. Most accountants don’t know anything about the finaid details.</p>
<p>i truly do appreciate everything everyone has said. my dad actually does his own returns, and now we’re in a rush to get these done in the next few days so they’ll be in by march 1. quick question, how late after my acceptance will i get my award if the forms don’t get to the colleges until a few days into march (around march 3-6)?</p>
<p>Get the forms done ON TIME. March 1 is two weeks away. You should be able to complete your taxes and get the copies sent to the schools…work on them this weekend.</p>
<p>There are deadlines for a reason. I can’t verify this personally, but I’ve heard from finaid officers that they work on the applications that are done ON TIME first. Some schools then go through the ones that are late. Some schools don’t award institutional aid at all to late applicants. Since I don’t know a thing about YOUR schools, perhaps you should call and ask them. Just say “my dad completes his own tax return and he’s ‘working’ on them but he might not have them done on time. Will that affect my aid?” See what they say…but first read that sentence aloud and figure out yourself if you think it sounds like something they will consider.</p>
<p>I hate to sound harsh but the deadlines for these things have been on the school websites since at LEAST October…and the deadlines from the previous year were up prior to that. It’s not like these are not well known deadlines. Schools have them for a reason.</p>
<p>Also, some awards (work study and Perkins loans) are on a first come/first served basis. The schools are given an amount of money and those funds are awarded to applicants in the order in which their applications are filed. My guess is late filers are truly at the bottom of the heap for these awards.</p>