Financial Aid Verification - Getting and Understanding Tax Transcripts

If you applying for financial aid you might need to provide financial aid verification documents to the institution that you are planning to attend, including a tax return transcript. Remember that 2016 is the tax year utilized for filing the 2018-19 FAFSA, and 2017 is the tax year used for 2019-20 FAFSA.

There are several ways to order tax transcripts, which are outlined here, https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-return-transcript-types-and-ways-to-order-them, but the quickest route is to set up an online account to review your tax return transcript. To register for this online service, go to the following webpage, https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript, and review the information just below Get Transcript Online:

What You Need
To register and use this service, you need:
  • your SSN, date of birth, filing status and mailing address from latest tax return,
  • access to your email account,
  • your personal account number from a credit card, mortgage, home equity loan, home equity line of credit or car loan, and
  • a mobile phone with your name on the account.
What You Get
  • All transcript types are available online
  • View, print or download your transcript
  • Username and password to return later
From this webpage, https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript, select Get Transcript Online, and follow the directions to create your account. After you set up your account, make sure to remember your username and password because you’ll need them to log in.

You should also have your cell phone with you, because you will get a text with a secure code that enables you to log in to your account. For Higher Education/Student Aid, you will want to select/view Return Transcript. Then, select the year that you would like to review.

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