i have twins that recieve social security benfits, my question is do we have to tell fafsa about the benefit? i get a lot of conflicting answers…
I don’t know the answer, but may I suggest that you change the title of the thread, or get a moderator to change it, so that knowledgeable people can be alerted that they should participate in the discussion?
Call FAFSa and ask. They are very good at answering questions like this and you don’t have to give them your name.
https://fafsa.ed.gov/fotw1617/help/pTotalotherUntaxedIncome.htm: “Do not include … untaxed Social Security benefits …” [This is supposedly question 94i and seems inconsistent with the information below.]
https://fafsa.ed.gov/help/fftoc01g.htm: “The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is a measure of your family’s financial strength and is calculated according to a formula established by law. Your family’s taxed and untaxed income, assets, and benefits (such as unemployment or Social Security) are all considered in the formula. Also considered are your family size and the number of family members who will attend college during the year.”
Beats me what the answer is.
^^^ (as to untaxed SS) IMO I would guess their SS benefits are not subject to income tax as they probably individually don’t reach threshold (ie 25K) which would trigger their benefits to being subject to income tax and hence are not reported on FAFSA. Just my opinion.
FAFSA aside, as a note I think if minor twins are receiving SS benefits, it is their income however, as parent, you could be asked to show by SS that any benefits received are spent on their behalf (eg food, clothing etc) and not for your own benefi, but that’s a different issue.
Moving to the financial aid forum where we may be able to get @kelsmom to help.
quote IMO I would guess their SS benefits are not subject to income tax as they probably individually don’t reach threshold (ie 25K) which would trigger their benefits to being subject to income tax and hence are not reported on FAFSA. Just my opinion.
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Non-taxable and not subject to income tax (as you are using that phrase) are two different things. A payment that is taxable but not subject to income tax (for instance, because total income of the person receiving the payment falls below that person’s standard deduction) must still be reported as income on FAFSA.
For instance: a student who is a dependent for tax purposes with earned income of $300 from babysitting jobs and unearned income of $500 in taxable interest would not be required to file a federal tax return (no tax owed because the income is within the standard deduction limits), but would be required to report this income on FAFSA.
Untaxed social security benefits are not included on the FAFSA. Any SS payments that are subject to taxation must be reported,
On the FAFSA help pages, you’ll see: Do not include extended foster care benefits, student aid, earned income credit, child tax credit, welfare payments, untaxed Social Security benefits, Supplemental Security Income, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act educational benefits, on-base military housing or military housing allowance, combat pay, benefits from flexible spending arrangements (e.g., cafeteria plans), foreign income exclusion or credit for federal tax on special fuels.
Be sure to include the SS money on hand as an asset on the FAFSA where required.
@kelsmom Can you reconcile the two bits I quoted above? I’m obviously missing something. Maybe the parenthetical reference in the second one to “untaxed … benefits”) is not meant to include the untaxed benefits referred to in the first one?
Just curious, kelsmom,
Is it considered income if its taxed? Would this be true as well for a parent on disability?
I’m guessing that untaxed SS benefits are not considered income.
Sometimes the info on the FAFSA website is confusing. It says, “Your family’s taxed and untaxed income, assets, and benefits (such as unemployment or Social Security) are all considered in the formula.” Because TAXED Social Security in reported on the FAFSA, Social Security is listed … the fact that the sentence says “taxed and untaxed” before it lists SS makes it seem like untaxed SS would be reported, but it is specifically excluded, per the FSA Handbook.
Thanks, kelsmom