<p>In May of this year I got a job at Staples and still currently working.</p>
<p>I was wondering if I have to file taxes?
If so - would it hurt my financial aid?
I won't be working when I go to NYU next year so should I even provide this information? I made around 5k so far. But all went into helping my mom so It wont even help pay my college tuition.</p>
<p>For early decision we sent the 2007 income tax (when I didn't have a job)</p>
<p>So yea can anyone help me?=] Please and thank you.</p>
<p>Also. will I go to jail if i decide not to file taxes? lol</p>
<p>Whether you have to file taxes will depend on exactly what you earned. For 2007 a dependent had to file taxes if they earned @ $5300 or more - it will likely be the same or a little higher for 2008. if you earned over the amount that requires you to file then, yes, you must do so. Not doing do can lead to problems in the future. Believe me you do *not * want problems with the IRS. (I speak from personal experience - my daughter had a problem with the IRS where *they *had made a mistake and she got monthly threatening letters for 6 months and was being charged interest and penalties on money she did not even owe. It took months to sort out. it was not pleasant and that was when they were in the wrong).</p>
<p>If you are not required to file you probably should anyway. if your employer has been deducting taxes you have probably overpaid taxes. By filing a tax return you can get a refund of the taxes you have paid.</p>
<p>Whether you have to file taxes or not you must report the income on FAFSA. You will get a form called a W2 toward the end of January and are required to report the information from that on FAFSA if you do not do a tax return (if you do a tax return you use the info from that instead). Remember FAFSA is a federal form. Taxes are federal, your W2 is federal. If you do not report the income it will probably raise a red flag. </p>
<p>For FAFSA there is an amount of income protection for students. It is @ $3750 for 2009-2010 plus a little extra for FICA and any state taxes, so say @ $4,000. 50% of income over the protected allowance will go toward the EFC. If your income was $5000 then $4000 is protected and 50% of the remainder ($1000 x 50% = $500) will go to your EFC. So it might affect your aid a little, but not a vast amount.</p>