Would owning my own LLC qualify me as independent?

Paying for College
1

<p>As the title describes, if I owned an LLC, would I be considered an independent student with respect to financial aid?</p>

2

<p>No. For FAFSA purposes, you are independent only if the answer to one of the following questions is true:</p>

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<p>[Will</a> I need my parents’ information?](<a href=“http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/help/fftoc02k.htm]Will”>http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/help/fftoc02k.htm)</p>

3

<p>Yes, but I would not be considered a dependent on my parent’s taxes. They would lose the tax benefit of having me as a dependent. Could somebody with greater experience tell me what they think?</p>

4

<p>Federal income tax status and student aid are two separate things. Students could be independent of their parents and not claimed on the parents income taxes, but for the purposes of college financial aid they are considered dependent unless they meet one of the criteria listed in the earlier post.</p>

5

<p>Dependency for taxes and dependency for financial aid are separate determinations.</p>

6

<p>The posters are totally correct. You will be a dependent student for FAFSA purposes. You can keep asking the question but that is the only answer.</p>

7

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<p>Ouch!</p>

<p>Here’s what matters: nobody could give you an answer that’s more correct.</p>

8

<p>Just because you own an LLC does not necessarily mean your parents can’t claim you if you meet all the qualifications. Any more than having a job would.</p>

9

<p>Creating an LLC is apropos of nothing.</p>

10

<p>Not liking an answer doesn’t make it incorrect.</p>

<p>You can be independent for tax purposes but dependent for financial aid, and you can also be independent for financial aid but dependent for tax purposes. They do not go hand in hand.</p>

11

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<p>Talk about biting the hand that feeds you . . . :(</p>

12

<p>You may want someone to “tickle your ears” and tell you that you would be independent, but that wouldn’t be true.</p>

13

<p>You could own Microsoft…and it wouldn’t matter. You would be a dependent for financial aid purposes…unless you are married, have a child you support, are an orphan, are a veteran, we’re a ward of the state, are over 24. </p>

<p>Having your own LLC has absolutely no bearing on your status for financial aid purposes. Neither does the tax dependency on your parents and your returns.</p>

14

<p>Most people posting on the financial aid forum have a lot of knowledge of the FAFSA rules. Post # 2 is exactly correct. Those are the FAFSA questions for determining dependency. As you will see if you read them, being a dependent or not a dependent for taxes is completely irrelevant, owning an LLC is not relevant, being self supporting is not relevant.</p>

15

<p>Does this thread mean you have decided to return to college? Your last threads were inquiring whether you should drop out of school to pursue your business.</p>

16

<p>Post #2 quotes the specific questions asked on the FAFSA to determine whether you are dependent or notm and provides a link to the official website where you can read it yourself. What more do you want? If it was a simple as setting up an LLC (whether it makes money or not), don’t you think students would be doing it left and right? The rules exist because it is the responsibility of your family to support you. The only way you get out of it is if your family doesn’t exist, or there is an established history of your family not supporting you. They’re not entitled to cut you loose at 18, and expect the rest of us to support you through college.</p>

<p>I’m not sure you even bothered to read the reply in #2</p>