<p>There is another reason, as well. Many people do not have their taxes finalized by the time they fill out FAFSA. Many time financial aid is based on estimates and then fine tuned when the true tax return is filed. It takes time to be able officially do ones taxes, including all of the W-2s and other statements, send them to the IRS, and the IRS needs time to get that info onto their system. The financial aid office is not looking for a single number from the tax return, so the whole return needs to be entered into the system. It’s pretty tight as it is to get the info verified.</p>