<p>I'm about to start my second semester of sophomore year and am filling out my FAFSA for next year and have some questions about how i should fill out certain sections. </p>
<p>Specifically this one "Grant and scholarship aid reported to the IRS
Student grant and scholarship aid reported to the IRS in your adjusted gross income. Includes AmeriCorps benefits (awards, living allowances, and interest accrual payments), as well as grant and scholarship portions of fellowships and assistantships"</p>
<p>Here is my situation
I received a 1098-T for 2011 and it has a "Detail of Amounts Billed" Section. It says I was billed ~$5200 for Fall Semester 2011. ~$4400 being tuition and ~$800 in fees. It also included the Spring Semester of 2012 bill which was ~5200 again ~$4400 tuition and ~&800 in fees. I will receive my 1098-T for 2012 in the next couple days so i can update my info then if needed.</p>
<p>Spring 2012: I did NOT get a refund this semester as I was living on campus and had to pay for room and board
Tuition: $4400<br>
Fees: $800<br>
Total: $5200
Grants: $5050
Federal Loans: $2700</p>
<p>Summer 2012: Worked a job made around $1500 still waiting on my W-2 form to come in. My parents claim me as a dependent. I will be filing a tax return.</p>
<p>Fall 2012: I DID receive a refund this year as i was living in an apartment
Tuition: $4600
Fees: $716
Total: $5300
Grants: $5100
Federal Loans: $3200</p>
<p>Here is my current understanding I've searched on this forum alot of this answer and want to be sure I am do this correctly. My current understanding is that in Spring and Fall 2012 My Tuition and fees as reported on the 1098-T exceeded the amount i was given through Grants/Scholarships so therefore I do not have any grants and scholarships that are reported to the IRS. Even though i received a refund in fall 2012 since my tuition and fees are still greater than my grants I still have no grants/scholarships that were reported to the IRS. And Loans are not taxable since I am borrowing money to return, correct? So therefore in the student demographic section I would put for my AGI 1500 from that summer job and I would completely ignore the question about grants/scholarships reported to the IRS correct?</p>
<p>Random question: on the 1098-T the fees they chose to put in the "Details of Amounts Billed" were not all the fees i was charged. They did not include things like Bus Fee and Health fee, im assuming these are not included by the government as fees that can be counted as non taxable if grant money goes towards paying for them.</p>
<p>Anyways, thats the just of it. I can update any information and clear up anything that is hard to understand. Thanks for reading and I appreciate any help i can get.</p>
<p>Given those numbers your understanding is correct. Taxable scholarships/grants = total scholarships/grants - tuition - mandatory fees - required books and supplies. If it’s negative number nothing is taxable. How much was refunded and the loan amount are irrelevant.</p>
<p>If the bus fee and health fee are required as a condition of enrollment, they should count too. Are you saying those amounts are in addition to the $716 fee amount?</p>
<p>With the summer earnings amount, the only reason to file a tax return would be to get back any amounts withheld.</p>
<p>And yes, that fafsa question only wants taxable scholarships/grants.</p>
<p>In regards to the bus fee and health fee. They are in addition to the $716. Bus Fee is $54, health fee is $181, but on my 1098-T it did not include those for some reason.</p>
<p>About the summer job how would I know if I had any amounts withheld? Aren’t taxes automatically taken out of my check? I, yet, to have clearly understand how doing your taxes works. A tax return is for the government to give me back money that did not need to be taxed correct?</p>
<p>Also if i already submitted the FAFSA as stating that I will file can i later correct it to will not file and be okay?</p>
<p>Whether taxes were withheld from your summer job depends on how you filled out the W-4 form before you started work. Look at your pay stubs and see if any was withheld. Sometimes pay stubs are only available online. With a low income or part-time job, sometimes there just isn’t enough gross for taxes to be withheld.</p>
<p>I can’t explain the bus fee and health fee but in any case they don’t matter for your situation.</p>
<p>Taxes are pay as you go, so they are withheld each pay period. You file a tax return to get back any amounts that were over-withheld or to determine if you owe additional amounts, say if you have a lot of interest income where there was no withholding.</p>
<p>Also check on your state income tax requirements and withholding.</p>
<p>Yes, you can change fafsa to will not file. Sometimes people think they have to file for the fafsa estimates but once they get their W-2s etc. find they don’t have to.</p>
<p>It often makes sense for the student to report $4,000 of the grants/scholarships used to pay tuition as taxable income so that the parents can take the $2,500 American Opportunity Tax Credit.</p>
<p>If this is done, the $4,000 which was included in AGI does not count against the student for FAFSA purposes.</p>
<p>Question: Can the amounts included as being spent for AOC on the parent’s return include amounts paid from student loans taken out in the student’s name?</p>
<p>Im pretty sure you can include loans taken out in the AOC calculation. I know that if the child is your dependant you can include any monies either you or your child paid for tuition and fees.</p>
<p>Oh, I misunderstood. I was thinking that you were asking if loans were considered as part of the financial aid … like schol/grants. 3younguns may be correct. I’m not sure, though - that wasn’t an issue for us.</p>
<p>Yes, expenses paid with loans (parent or student) can be used for the AOC. Expenses paid by the student (using loan or other resources) are considered to have been paid by the parent for the AOC if the parent is claiming the student as a dependent on his tax return.</p>