Student's income(?) kerfuffle

Paying for College
1

Hi! I’ve already applied for financial aid to all the colleges I applied to, but it seems I’ve made a mistake (or not?) on my CSS and ISFAA forms. See, trouble began when I asked my “boss” to give me some kind of wage statement to go with my tax non-filer. They can’t get me one because my income isn’t “technically” income and I’m not “technically” employed (I help out at my mother’s friends’ restaurant).

But I already stated on my forms that I earned income! It seems like I have three options:

  • ignore it and just not send any documentation with my tax non-filer (it's not as bad as it may sound because I only "made" about $200 so maybe the colleges just won't care)
  • attach some kind of document explaining that I can't get an official statement (seems like the most honest option but can I even do that?)
  • message all the schools that I've made a mistake declaring my income (basically a whole lot of mess over 200 bucks)

What do you think I should do?

2

Oh, and I’ve sent the tax non-filer to IDOC already, but not anywhere else.

3

If it is from a friend and they didn’t count it as an expense then it is a gift. See if you can reclassify it as such, it may require explaining that to the school.

4

You are fine. You have $200 of income without any tax documents, which is fine. It is not a gift, not any more than babysitting for your cousin is if your aunt gives you $20. It is earned income.

Lots of people have income that isn’t documented - shoveling snow, cutting grass, babysitting, teaching a piano lesson. Because it is under $400 you do not have to file an IRS return.

If you are still working for this restaurant, keep records of what they pay you.

5

@twoinanddone

This is an international student residing in Poland…so an IRS tax return doesn’t even come into play.

At this point $200 is a small amount, and you country probably doesn’t require any tax filing either, right?

But really…don’t do that when you come here. It’s called getting paid under the table…and really that’s not such a good idea most of the time.

6

@twoinanddone

It’s not clear to me whether this student lives In or out of the U.S.

If he lives in

7

Let it go. No big deal. No one is going to question $200 .

8

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/international-students/2107683-should-i-even-apply-and-if-so-to-what-schools-i-have-no-idea-what-im-doing-please-help.html#latest

Maybe @doopah will clarify…but it seems he is an international student who lives in another country.

Still agree…$200 isn’t going to be a make or break amount.

9

Regardless, it was correctly reported as income and should not be changed.

10

I live in Poland, I’ve never even been to the US. The amount I made is below both the American and Polish tax treshold so I don’t have any tax documents. I had to fill out a tax non-filer form, on which it says to include supporting documentation for all income sources (W-2’s, 1099’s or statements from an employer).
Now I obviously can’t get the first two since they’re exclusively American, so I figured I’d need the statement from my boss.