<p>Hello</p>
<p>I have a serious problem that might hurt a lot my chances of receiving financial aid. (I am an international student)</p>
<p>So my dad owns a small business, and that business is the only source of income that my family receives. My mom is unemployed and none of my 3 brothers work.
When it comes to filing tax forms, my parents just fill one tax form: the business'.
My parents do NOT file a personal tax form where it lists all our expenses or where it lists the net income it receives. Instead they just present a tax form for my dad's business where it shows the gross income that the business generated (which is about $100k or a little less, but the net income (what my family really gets) is around $40k) and the total amount of expenses (in those expenses are the business' expenses and my family's, which in total are about $90k). I don't know what am I supposed to do. I mean, I've talked with my parents and they can tell me how much they spent on the family and how much was the income they received, but there's nowhere on the tax form that shows that, which might led to colleges believe I'm lying and therefore cancel my request for financial aid.</p>
<p>What am I supposed to do? Please help!</p>
<p>You submit what you have, supply any additional documentation the college asks for . . . and hope for the best.</p>
<p>I would also suggest that you complete your FAFSA and Profile (if the school requires it) as early in the process as possible. That way if there are additional things (like parent income tax forms) that need to be completed for 2013, your parents will have time to complete them…and not hold up the processing of your financial aid.</p>
<p>Okay, I will file up the PROFILE this weekend. </p>
<p>Colgate (one of the colleges I will be applying) asks for all financial documentation AFTER you’ve payed the enrollment deposit. Is this beneficial or not? I mean, what if I still present the information and I have and they decide I’m not eligible for financial aid? I really don’t know how strict colleges are with this, but I certainly won’t be lying on my application! Will it help if both my parents sign a letter where they explain the situation of the tax forms?</p>
<p>I’m not sure what they would “explain”. </p>
<p>I’m not a tax expert, buy if they are required to file taxes for the,selves, I can tell you…the colleges will expect them to file taxes.</p>
<p>Either you are confused or something is amiss…there is no such thing as the tax form you describe. A Sole Proprietorship is reported on a schedule C which most definitely includes business expenses. You arrive at net business income and it is transferred to the 1040 just as W2 wages are. Then the tax return proceeds as normal, and the sch C is part of the personal tax return NOT an individually filed form. There is no such thing as an income tax form that just reports gross business income. Perhaps your father has a Partnership or Corporation? That would entail other more complex forms, but still the only tax form that would only report earnings would be for state sales tax purposes…sure hope your father is filing federal tax returns and paying self employment and income taxes…something is not right.</p>
<p>This student is an international. Guille, do your parents not file a personal tax form because they are not required to in your country, or were they required to and just did not? Colleges don’t care about family personal expenses with the possible exception of unusually large medical expenses. If you don’t understand what you need to do in your situation, after thoroughly reading the colleges finaid website for internationals, contact the schools.</p>
<p>Guile, as an international student, you will need to complete,the Profile for schools that require it, and any other forms required by the colleges for financial aid consideration. No FAFSA as that is not for international students. When you complete this, you will need to have very good records of your parents’ incomes from the business, as well as the value of the business and its earnings. </p>
<p>It is very possible that the tax filing system in your country is different from ours. Even so, the same information will still be required on the Profile, and you will likely be asked to provide documentation that supports your numbers.</p>
<p>If you plan to do the Profile now, just be sure that your parents are able to provide excellent estimates for the whole 2013 calendar year. That is what goes on the forms.</p>
<p>Okay, sorry, missed that part.</p>