I had $15 of jury duty pay that I have to report on my taxes, so now I have to file a form 1040 on my daughter’s FAFSA… I i earn less than $50.000, so I have filed a 1040A in past years and qualified for the simplified needs test before. Will filing the 1040 disqualify me for test now? I do have a son living in the household who is disabled and recieves SSI benefits, so will that help?
The 1040 A is one of three other qualifiers beside income for simplified needs test.
Any chance you qualify for free/reduced lunch or SNAP?
Also…all this does is make you NOT have to report your assets. Do you have significant assets??
Well enough assets that she probably would lose her Pell Grant and state grant. I am a single mom, nearing retirement age. There are 3 of us in the household, and her brother is permanently disabled and receives SSI benefits, but no SNAP. I support him also.
someone in the household needs to qualify for a means tested benefit. I don’t think SSI is a means tested benefit.
SSI is a means-tested program.
https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v66n3/v66n3p53.html
https://www.edvisors.com/fafsa/eligibility/simplified-needs-test/
It looks like the silly $15 in jury duty pay, and the consequent requirment that OP file a 1040 to report this income, will not disqualify the student from using the simplified needs test.
It’s ironic that doing one’s civic duty, for minimal remuneration, might disqualify one from using the simplified needs test. I’m thinking that this might be an area where professional judgment comes into play.
Excellent…so this family WILL qualify for simplified needs test because of the SSI, correct?
Based on the information provided, I think yes.
Thanks for the information. I would hate to think that $15 jury pay would cause such a problem!!
Was this jury duty income from 2016? Then that would be reported on the 2018/19 FAFSA, available October 2017.
What year in college is your D?
Yup, jury duty can throw a wrench in things - so can state income tax refunds that have to be claimed the next year (like my state’s have to be). The SSI will work here for SNT, though.
http://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/is-my-state-tax-refund-taxable-and-why-90/
^ I thought state tax refunds were only taxable if they were previously deducted by itemizing?
Jury duty from 2016, I know it is for 2018-2019 which is her senior year. I just found out that I need to file 1040 for 2016 only because of jury duty, and I was upset ahead of time!!
@mommdc , I honestly don’t know … I just know that we had parents caught up in this at my former school. I think it does have something to do with itemizing, though.
Let’s say you itemize deductions on your 2015 federal return, and state income tax payments you made that year are included in items that you deduct. Then you receive a state income tax refund check in 2016 for overpaying your 2015 state income taxes (which were fully dedcuted on your 2015 federal tax return). Let’s further say that when you do your 2016 federal tax return, you don’t have enough itemized deductions to make it worthwhile, so you take the standard deduction. You’re thinking, great! Now I don’t have to file a 1040, because I’m just taking the standard deduction. I can use the 1040A, and maybe qualify for the simplified needs test. Except, you have to file a 1040, because you need to report the state income tax refund as income due to the fact that the previous year you had claimed a deduction for that same money, and the only form available to report taxable refunds is the 1040.
If it was really $15, I’d just use the A and include it in the wage line. You may get a notice from the IRS about the $15 in a year or 2, but for FAFSA, the $ is included and doesn’t muck up the works.