<p>We filed the FAFSA in early January with estimated tax info / will file. The assets entered were current on that day. We have since filed our taxes and can update the tax info with the actual numbers. Do we also have to update the asset info for the day we update or do those numbers remain unchanged? This is our first year. Hope it's not a dumb question.</p>
<p>Not a dumb question, but no … assets should never be updated.</p>
<p>Did you file taxes electronically? It is highly preferred by schools that you wait a week or two & do a direct IRS transfer of tax info. In fact, beginning in 12-13 ED (Dept of Ed) will require those who did not do a direct transfer & who are selected for verification by ED to either do a direct transfer or provide an IRS tax transcript to the school.</p>
<p>Yes, we did file electronically just under two weeks ago so we’ll do the direct transfer of info. If we’ve already received the FA package from the school D has enrolled at, is it likely to change? We underestimated our AGI by ~$600, taxes to be paid ~$350 more. The FA consisted of Stafford ($5500), Parent Plus (exorbitant), and a small institutional grant ($3K). The latter is what I’d be concerned with since every little bit helps.</p>
<p>I’ve read many of your posts to other questions as well. The information is always useful. Thanks **so much **for your help!</p>
<p>Your EFC will change a bit, but how that affects your grant is hard to say. It very well may make no difference. Depending on your current EFC, I would think your new EFC will be maybe 800-1000 higher. Is the PLUS more than your EFC? If so, the grant may well stay the same. If not, it could change. I would suggest waiting to see the new EFC. Once you have it, you could call the school to find out if it’s going to affect the package.</p>
<p>800-1000 higher for underestimating AGI by $600 and taxes by $350? So net $250 underestimated income? I would have thought more along the lines of 55 to 120 ish EFC increase, depending on the income level.</p>
<p>Original EFC 46202, PLUS offered 46486.
The PLUS brought the package to the COA.<br>
I was just wondering if the fafsa changes were too small to affect the package. I know you’re not a mind reader (but you come pretty close). I’ll wait to see. And just so no one reading this has to stress over our potential debt, we don’t plan to borrow any of the PLUS amount. 
We know that’s a ridiculous amount.</p>
<p>midwstmom-
I’m sending you a pm.</p>
<p>Swimcatsmom, it depends on whether the estimated taxes the first time around were more than what they <em>should</em> have been. Overestimating taxes paid can really result in being off on EFC. I still haven’t figured out how to figure out the change when taxes paid are adjusted downward (I play a game when I make changes … can I guess the effect on EFC?), but it’s usually more than I figure it will be. So if the AGI was underestimated AND taxes paid were overestimated, the net effect can be greater than one might expect. Because I wasn’t quite sure if the original taxes paid were correct for the original AGI, I estimated high … knowing that OP would breathe a sigh of relief if the change came in lower! :)</p>
<p>You had a little room to play, midwstmom … $284. If the EFC change is less than that, I would think you are home free. If it’s more, it’s hard to say. My gut reaction is that the grant will stay the same, but that’s purely a guess.</p>
<p>You may be told that it is difficult to use the IRS date retrieval tool. It is not. I have done it with quite a few families. Using Explorer without pop-up blockers will minimize potential difficulties.</p>
<p>Sorry if I wasn’t clear. Our actual AGI went up and the actual taxes paid also went up, by the amounts listed above. So we underestimated both.
Thanks again kelsmom and swimcatsmom.</p>
<p>I believe you ONLY can update assets if there was a MISTAKE made…but you still do them as of the date of the initial filing. One year, we mistakenly put a savings balance account that was ours (parents) as an asset for the child. This was a mistake (it was a trustee account where we are the primary holders…not the kiddo). We had to change that when we amended our FAFSA. </p>
<p>But typically the only fields you change are ones reflected on your completed tax returns.</p>
<p>Right - you can correct assets if the amount was reported incorrectly. You just aren’t supposed to go in and change them to what they are on another date. </p>
<p>And it sounds like your EFC will only change a little, midwstmom.</p>
<p>How immediately is that retrieval thingy available once you file your taxes kelsmom? I have not done ours yet. Once I file taxes and go into FAFS to say we have filed will the retrieval too be immediately available?</p>
<p>(our FAFSAs are still not showing up on the school website 2+ months after filing - fret fret - last year we filed FAFSA March 17th, this year Jan 3rd but it seems pointless to have filed early- fret more fret more).</p>
<p>The info we have received from ED indicates a week or two lag from the time the IRS accepts your electronic filing to the time you can use the retrieval tool. If you log in to your FAFSA & click on Already Filed, the IRS link will pop up. If you try to link & it says the info is not available, try again … and again … in later days until it works.</p>
<p>If you call the school, they should be able to tell you if your FAFSA has been received. We just started pulling them in about 1-1/2 weeks ago. Now we can type your ID into the system & tell you if the FAFSA has been received, if it’s selected for verification, and if there are any problems (such as rejected status, or you sent it to the law school rather than main campus).</p>
<p>NOT pointless to file early — the filing date is what counts if the school does first-come-first served awarding. It also means you will have your file completed on time! :)</p>
<p>I am still trying to find the IRS link, it has been about three weeks since our taxes were filed. I don’t see the link anywhere. Is it big and obvious? Or am I overlooking it?</p>
<p>I answered on your other thread. Let me know if it works!</p>
<p>Does anyone know how long it takes for the FAFSA to update the info once you have used the IRS link?</p>
<p>The updates are available within a day or two after you submit them, but schools have their own schedules for uploading transactions. One school might do it every day, another might do it once a week. You should be able to log in now & see the changes on your FAFSA.</p>
<p>I did it on Sunday 3/13 and it is not updated on the FAFSA website.</p>
<p>I filed my taxes on January 31, but not electronically. I filed it the old fashion way. Even though my EC was 0,00, I need to change it on the FAFSA, what about the CSS profile? I am soo concerned about this, because its my first year and I have a feeling that I did not file it correctly. Don’t understand about these forms too much.</p>