Tax Transcript Question

Paying for College
1

<p>Because we reported a low income (as illustrated by our FAFSA numbers), the university (U Miami, if it matters) is asking us to send a tax transcript to them. Basically we have to order the tax transcript from the IRS and it gets mailed to us, and we then mail it to the financial aid office.</p>

<p>My question is if we can use our copy of the return (the one my parents have from when they did their taxes, obviously they keep a copy on record) or if we HAVE to do the transcript thing. I just don't want to delay and wait another close to two weeks for UM to have everything. Anybody have any idea?</p>

2

<p>Call them and ask. Some schools will not take it, I know USF will not.</p>

3

<p>My guess is they want the tax transcript as otherwise they would have indicated to send copies of tax returns.</p>

4

<p>UMiami requires the transcript and will not accept the 1040s…going through the same thing!</p>

5

<p>Thanks DinDune! What I did is send in a scanned version of the completed low income form and let them know that I’ll mail a physical copy that includes the tax transcript when we get it from the IRS. This way they at least have something to potentially hold them over for the time being.</p>

6

<p>The transcript is necessary because it’s verified by the IRS…if you can use the data retrieval tool through FAFSA, that usually satisfies the verification requirement.</p>

7

<p>

In this case, though, it’s not for federal verification, it’s just an extra step the institution itself is taking to further look into our financial situation. The process I’m having to complete is actually due to, as the university puts it, “your family reported an extremely low income.”</p>