1. Tax returns. Parents will come in and commonly say, “I heard you can just get my tax return off the Internet so I didn’t bring any tax returns.” What a parent is referring to is the use of the Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) on the FAFSA. It electronically imports tax information for either parents or students into the FAFSA. To do that an ICAN advisor will refer to the home address that is on the tax return to bring the information into the FAFSA. But we need the paper copy of the tax return. Why? Sometimes addresses are not entered in the tax return by the tax preparer in a standard method. Extra spaces, dashes, or non-standard abbreviations are used by tax preparers. Sometimes tax preparers put the wrong address on the tax return, and we have to use the wrong address for the DRT. Sometimes the DRT does not work, and we have to enter the information manually. If a parent has business or farm income, we need the tax return to enter the income from work in the FAFSA for Parent 1 or Parent 2. We need the tax returns!
2. W-2s. This is the wage and tax statement that a person receives from their employer for working a job to file a tax return. When both parents work a job, this is the surest way to split income from work for two parents. Also, if parents or students have made payments into tax deferred retirement savings like a 401K account, that information is required to be entered on the FAFSA , and the W-2 is the main source of that information. Also if a student had a job but didn’t file a tax return, the wages from that job needs to be entered on the FAFSA for the student and that comes from the W-2. Realize that the 2019-20 FAFSA has an income protection allowance of $6660. If a student worked a job and made $3000, that should be entered into the FAFSA, but it will not impact the FAFSA due to the income being less than the income protection allowance
3. Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID). Dependent students need to have a FSA ID as well as one parent of a dependent student. Remember a dependent student is a student that will be required to provide parent information on the FAFSA. The FSA ID is the login for the FAFSA and serves as an electronic signature. If these are forgotten, we can probably recover them with the email or the cell phone number that has been verified in the FSA ID. It is best to write them down and keep it in your ICAN folder that we give you at the appointment and on your phone if you wish. We use the student FSA ID to log into the FAFSA and the parent FSA ID to run the DRT for tax information for the parent or student. It is also used to sign the FAFSA electronically for both the student and the parent.
Look at the list on the ICAN website (www.icansucceed.org) obtained at the web link FAFSA Appointments - What to Bring. Make sure you bring what pertains to your situation along with the three things listed above, and your FAFSA appointment will go smoothly. We are very glad to serve you at ICAN!
Steve - ICAN Councils Bluffs Center
