<p>My EFC is 01664 * which has been around the same as the last few years. The problem is that there is no contribution.</p>
<p>I work during the summer and do everything 100% by myself, I only live at home for a few weeks a year, just to be nice to my mom.</p>
<p>The problem is that she doesn't give me the EFC and will not let me file as a independent, because she must have this Child tax credit thing. She even this year made 3K more and made the efc go up and as a result I lost $600 of my Tap Award for NY state.</p>
<p>I just dont know what to do in this situation.</p>
<p>are you over the age of 24? if so i would go ahead and file as an independent student...and find a place of your own to live in--permanently. if she insists on this child tax credit thing and you are over the age of 24, she is cheating the federal government and taxpayers (who could better use the money for something else). you can file the fafsa at the school library, job site, internet cafe, etc... but don't let mom handle your personal finances. after all, i assume you are old enough to take care of yourself.</p>
<p>the heck with it....just stay away from her...assuming you are in your twenties, when the IRS catches up with her she will have to repay every cent of that child tax credit she was getting fraudulently.</p>
<p>in other words this could be fraud since i assume you are over the age of 23.</p>
<p>EFC includes a contribution from the student as well as the parent. Are you sure that the 1664 represents your mother's expected share? If you have been working and have managed to save a little of your earnings, that just might be the amount that you are expected to contribute. Try entering the numbers in the financial aid calculator at <a href="http://www.finaid.org%5B/url%5D">www.finaid.org</a> -- that will give you a break down of your EFC which separates the parental contribution from the student contribution.</p>
<p>your status as an independent for tax filings and for college financial aid are 2 different things and may have different outcomes. </p>
<p>Being declared independent for financial aid purposes is very difficult and most schools will include your parents income and assets in your EFC calculations.</p>
<p>Being considered independent for tax purposes is much easier ... back when I was in college I believe the rule was as long as you provided for 50% or more of your expenses than you could claim yourself as an independent for tax purposes. When I reached this level I went to my parents and told them I wanted to file as an independent and that we as a family would pay less taxes if I did (which was true) ... initially they didn't want me to do it because their tax burden would go up (which was also true). I told them (nicely) that I was going to file as an independent and had the documentation to prove I was paying about 75% of my expenses and that it was their choice to continue to claim me as a dependent but if we got audited I didn't understand how they could defend claiming me as a dependent. To be honest I have no idea if my parents continued to claim me or not ... I know I filed my taxes legally, kept the required docuentation, and informed my parents of what they should do (I also know I took the course of action that led to us paying the least taxes overall).</p>