<p>A couple of colleges have requested that I submit my parents' federal tax returns for financial aid. Do I just need to send the front page or the entire tax return?</p>
<p>Send the whole return, including all schedules.</p>
<p>There are “schedules” -(A, B, C, D, E, EIC, F, J, L, M, R, and SE) and then there are bazillions of “forms”. It seems like the forms are for more unusual or complex things, and they are used to calculate numbers which then get entered onto a schedule or onto the 1040 itself. </p>
<p>thumper, do you think <em>everything</em> should be sent, or just the schedules?</p>
<p>The IDOC checklist is very specific as to what it wants (just schedules, and maybe not even all of them, IIRC) - I just sent what they asked for. Can’t remember if they wanted the Form 8863, which calculates the AOC and the Lifetime Learning Credit. If a school doesn’t use IDOC, look closely at their instructions as to what they want you to send (or give them a call).</p>