<p>My dad said "everyone knows you do it in April".... But obviously deadlines for financial aid stuff is before this... so when's the earliest or a good time for parents to file their taxes? I have to tell my dad to do it then.</p>
<p>As soon as his papers are in order. Depends on how much detail his tax returns require. If he has a business, it takes longer to get all the paperwork together. One job, steady paycheck, no major deductions to worry about, he could file by Jan 31st. Every situation is different.</p>
<p>I agree and keep up on it if you need financial aid. We did ours early(by mid-Feb) but they only looked at the early estimate for months and we (like other posters) got a "surprise" in the mail during the summer about our aid. I had faxed and mailed the package, it was just bad clerical work, but I would still do it as early as possible especially if there are any changes at all.</p>
<p>I've been fillling out the FAFSA for my older D at the very beginning of January. Since I don't receive all my paperwork needed to file taxes until the end of Jan., obviously I can't file my taxes until after that.</p>
<p>So, when I fill out the FAFSA, I estimate. Then after my taxes are filed (usually mid-Feb.), I go back and correct. </p>
<p>Unless you have a major change in your tax info from the year before, you are good to go with your estimates - and then just correct once taxes are filed. The school will base their f.a. package on that. I've known people who don't file until April 15th and have never had a problem updating after that.</p>
<p>MAMom23, I agree, but what some colleges think of as a major change and another can vary. Ours was about 4,000 from a temporary extra job. It made a pretty good change in ours, but my girlfriend got a raise about that amount after her master degree, and it didn't change her package at all.</p>
<p>Simply show your father the schools required filing deadlines. You printed it out, didn't you?</p>
<p>The 2006 tax programs can be purchased online and downloaded, now. You can guesstimate the final wages by extrapolation.</p>
<p>You can fill out the FAFSA as a "will file... any time after January 1, 2007...meaning you will file your taxes...and use estimates. HOWEVER, you should complete your taxes as soon as possible after January 31 which is when you should have all the info necessary to complete them. The year you will be a freshman in college is NOT the year to file your taxes on April 15. Some schools give merit aid out (and yes, some require the FAFSA for even merit aid), and other school based aid on a first submitted/first considered/first awarded basis. If you wait until the 15th of April, acceptances and finalized finaid packages will have been awarded. You may get an estimated finaid award based on your "will file" FAFSA, but no school will finalize their award to you until you complete your taxes, and amend the FAFSA to reflect that you have filed your taxes.</p>