So, my mom told me she can’t file her taxes until the end of the month because she’s waiting to receive certain papers, so I haven’t completed the FAFSA yet. But from my own research, I’m hearing that I can basically just use her 2014 info and then submit it and once she gets her 2015 tax return I can just update it later using the IRS retrieval tool. Is this true or am I misunderstood? If I can do this, will I affect my award package? I believe my mom would be considered as a dislocated worker for both 2014 and 2015 but she did work for a few months for each year and received funds from some source (my mom doesn’t like telling my financial stuff. She hasn’t been consistently working for a few years now, but has managed to keep our family afloat with some sort of funds. Government assistance maybe, but I honestly have no idea.). I’m just confused how this would work. What if by the time my mom receives her tax returns I just received my award package and last years taxes could qualify me for more aid? Could this be updated? Or should I just wait a couple weeks until my mom files her taxes and receives her return? I’m very lost and could use some help.
^Only if 2014 info and 2015 info are similar.
I would imagine so. She was basically unemployed both years with maybe 1-3 months of employment each year.
Userestimates for 2015. You can get the estimates by using her last paycheck and if any interest is earned from other sources (such as interest on a bank account), look at the December statements. This should give you a good idea for the FAFSA. (If 2014 is similar to 2015, you can use it as a “sanity check” to see if the numbers seem reasonable)
You will select “will file” as the answer to whether she’s filed or not. Later, after she files, you use the retrieval tool to update the FAFSA. If you are very careful with your estimates there should be very little difference. I would still advise she do her taxes as soon as she has everything and update the FAFSA. Don’t wait until April to do taxes this year!
If you are needing any aid you can qualify for in addition to Pell and state aid, like SEOG, Perkins loan, federal work study, then I would submit FAFSA as soon as possible so you can be given the extra aid before they run out.