<p>Well i was about to submit the CSS Profile, but my parents are iffy about some questions. I already filed a FAFSA. Anyways, the questions that my parents are iffy about is in the section where they ask about the cost of other real estates that you own and the market value and how much it cost to buy. </p>
<p>Like many of us, my parents have been undereporting on their taxes. So basically they have some houses that they bought for about $600,000 with the rest mortaged from the bank. </p>
<p>So basically the question is, will the government do a tax audit check on anyone based on the info on their CSS profile? All the real states are listed in my parent's tax returns already, the only thing being that we're afriad the gov. will ask how we got the money to buy those houses. </p>
<p>IN essence, how much will not filing the CSS affect me? Won't the colleges give aid based on the FAFSA??</p>
<p>Gosh. I know that the FAFSA folks (as I call "them") kinda like check everything and your potential Universities check everything too. Sometimes the FAFSA folks even do this thing where you have to verify everything and fill out extra forms and stuff. I think that is called verification or something? </p>
<p>The CSS Profile is something I personally have no experience with at all. But, I would reckon that they would be similar to the FAFSA folks when it comes to rules and all.</p>
<p>Therefore, you should tell your folks to please be honest. I know (not from personal experience, mind you) that the FAFSA says that if you fib, you can go to the big house and/or have a 20k fine. Shucks, who wants that!?</p>
<p>that's what i was confused about. My older brother is in college, and he filed the FAFSA and he had to send me a copy of our tax returns and everything. (the fafsa was done using completely correct info). there was no trouble at all. no government tax audit or anything. what is confusing is that the CSS questions ( the questions my parents are iffy about) is not found anywhere in our tax returns, so how should we answer them?</p>
<p>Also, i thought the CSS is an entity College Board. so where does the Gov. come into play?</p>
<p>the school will request signed copies of your parents signed tax forms along with copies of your W-2s to compare to the information that you put on the FAFSA and the CSS profile. The financial aid office has the authority to and can report any discrepancies to the IRS. In addition the financial aid office can amend the information on your FAFSA.</p>
<p>.As mildred stated, misrepresentation can be grounds for your dismissal from school along with fines and repayments of any financial aid monies.</p>
<p>the collegeboard is just a clearing house and gathers the information for the colleges that use their services.</p>
<p>I looked up the CSS out of curiosity, because in my neck of the woods only four schools use it and one of those is a medical school! Gosh darn :( </p>
<p>They have a thing called a IDOC and a fair amount of Universities participate in that. It is something where you have to turn in your tax forms and the like. </p>
<p>This thought comes to my mind; why would someone in their right mind, who knows they've cheated on their taxes in the past, and who knows the FAFSA folks check up on these things, apply for Financial Aid?</p>
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What the parents do is not exactly the fault of the child
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<p>True, but the OP describes the 'rents as having $600,000 of money not reported to the IRS invested in "some houses." It seems that filling out FAFSA and applying for aid is fraudulent in this case, and the OP knows of the fraud. Her parents deceit should not qualify her for aid.</p>
<p>I have not received any communication from the College Board regarding IDOC although we filed a CSS and D applied to several schools which use IDOC such as Yale. What next?</p>
<p>Answered to my question from the college board website [for 2007-2008 applicants IDOC contact will be made in Feb. 2007. The Jan. 24th deadline is for 2006-2007 financial aid applicants]:</p>
<p>Q: My college told me that I would receive information on IDOC from the College Board, but I have not received anything. When I go to IDOC Online to check my status it says that I was not notified by the College Board to use IDOC. Am I supposed to send IDOC materials to someone?</p>
<p>A: No. Please note that IDOC notification does not begin until the first week of February. If your school has told you that you will receive an IDOC notification and you have not yet received one as of the second week of February, it may be that your college has not yet provided the College Board with your information. You will be notified when your college instructs the College Board to do so. If you are required to submit a 2006-2007 CSS PROFILE Application and you have not, please do so as soon as possible. Not submitting your PROFILE Application can delay your IDOC notification. Contact your college if you have questions about when you need to send your tax forms to the College Board.</p>
<p>If you ever get into situation where the IRS chooses to do a full audit on you, any and all documents can be summoned, and the PROFILE would be no exception. PROFILE goes to the schools and is what they use to determine what they are going to give you. FAFSA is federal. Most colleges use a uniform method to assess real estate, and they do cross check PROFILE info from what is on FAFSA and tax returns and will often question discrepancies.</p>
<p>Not all schools that require the Profile use IDOC. In fact, many do not. However, I will say that we were selected for verification for THREE years (somehow we did not get selected this year...I do not know why). We had to send in EVERYTHING...all tax forms, w-2's, 1099's, and all the supporting documentation for two years (the year of the FAFSA and the previous year).</p>
<p>Thumper - you had to send documentation for the previous year also? Was this with FAFSA or profile? Our income was higher in the previous year because we pulled some money out of retirement funds to pay off some debts. If they select us for verification (not unlikely as they select about 30%) are they going to penalise us for that?</p>
<p>The issue is that it's never, ever a good idea to fudge on formal financial documents of any kind - not mortgage applications, educational documents, tac returns, etc. - I don't care what H & R Block's survey or anyone else's survey says "most people" do - the potential to get caught is enormous, and the potential consequences are NOT worth it. </p>
<p>The link to this document issued by FinCEN to congress just last week outlines in some of the graphs just how fluid the information exchange is between executive departments (HUD, IRS, Justice, etc.) and financial institutions. (Forget about the primary subject matter - that isn't the point, just look at the linked relationships between the various federal departments.)</p>
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<p>So basically they have some houses that they bought for about $600,000 with the rest mortaged from the bank.>></p>
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<p>Are you saying that your family has properties that are valued in excess of $600,000? If that is the case, and your schools use the Profile, your parents will have to list the values of these properties as assets in addition to listing the home in which you reside. Profile schools assume that any real estate equity can be tapped for college expenses. Another issue you may have is that if your family had 2/3 of a million dollars to spend on real estate, the assumption will be that some of that could have been reserved for college expenses. The finaid folks are not in the business of subsidizing someone's business transactions...and in effect, by somehow omitting those properties, you would be asking them to do this. That's just plain fraud.</p>
<p>I am a little perturbed by the cavalier way in which these young people state that many of us or most of us cheat on our taxes. (there was a similiar comment on another thread). I don't think most people I know cheat. I know we don't. Mostly from honesty plus a little healthy fear thrown in.</p>
<p>Also kind of amuses me to imagine the horror of the parents when/if they find out OP posted this info on a public board.</p>