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FAFSA Online Application and Federal Tax Return Forms

New FAFSA online application changes for the 2010-2011 FAFSA application will allow you to access what you need by filing from a computer.

Data retrieval of your federal tax return forms from the IRS will be an option for most users beginning in the summer of 2010. This is how it will work:

If you indicate that you already filed your tax return for the previous year, you will be shown a screen saying, "View Your IRS Information".

You must enter your financial aid PIN number and then click the link to the IRS (or you can skip this option and enter your info, yourself).

You will be warned that you are leaving the FAFSA website, and a new window will open to the IRS site, where you will have to enter your tax id info-

name
SSN
date of birth
address
filing status

After you are authenticated, your tax information will be displayed. There will be a checkbox asking you if you want to transfer your information to FAFSA. Simply click on the "transfer now" button and a window will reopen to your FAFSA with information fields, pre-filled.

This option has some advantages- for instance it eliminates any of the guesswork about which numbers belong where, i.e. income or assets (like FAFSA deferred compensation).

A couple of things:

-If you decide not to transfer your info, you can still print it out before you log out of the IRS.

-Any information that is transferred to FAFSA and then changed will be noted.

The way it works is that information that is pre-filled will be labeled, "Transferred from the IRS”. If it is changed, it will not have that label.

Eligibility for Transfer of Federal Tax Return Forms

Not everyone will be able to do this, even if they use the FAFSA online application. You will need to:

be filing an original or renew FAFSA form- not FAFSA corrections.

have a FAFSA PIN

have a valid social security number (SSN)- not an "888" identifier (used by Pacific Islanders)

be able to show your marital status date for the tax year (not the day you are filling out the financial aid application).

be able to answer that you have filed for the previous year

If you do not meet these conditions, you will not be able to access the data sharing. There are also conditions that will let you access it, but you probably shouldn't. For instance:

If you filed an amended return- only the original data will be filled in.

If "married, filing separately" applicants use this feature, some of the data they need will not be filled in.

If you filed a Puerto Rican tax return, some of the needed data would be missing.

Anyone who uses this option will have comments added to their application indicating these things:

Student data was transferred by the IRS and submitted without changes.

Parent data was transferred by the IRS and submitted without changes.

Student data was transferred by the IRS and at least one item was changed before submission.

Parent data was transferred by the IRS and at least one item was changed before submission.

Student data was transferred by the IRS and at least one item was changed after submission

Parent data was transferred by the IRS and at least one item was changed after submission

Sound Off on the new IRS data-sharing option

Is it going to help you or hurt you? Will you use it? Do you think that it will make it more or less likely that your application will be picked for verification? Let us know!

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The Online FAFSA Application Will Not Need to be Verified
If we use the online FAFSA application that fills in our tax information, why would it need to be verified? All the IRS information they need will be ...

FAFSA Online Application IRS Share
The FAFSA online application IRS data sharing is a feature that will make my life easier, so I will use it. Verification would slow down the process ...

Online FAFSA Data Sharing Not rated yet
Online FAFSA data sharing with the IRS is just an invitation to trouble. It will be much more likely that anyone who does this will have their application ...

FAFSA Online Application for College and Taxes Not rated yet
If they wanted the FAFSA online application to really be easier, they would just take the amount you pay in taxes. There would be no need to transfer ...

The new application is designed to make verification easier, although the verification process will not be changed until there is a complete analysis of results from the new application.

So, will you choose the printable FAFSA application or the FAFSA online application?

If your FAFSA deadline is close, choose the online form.

If you can't answer basic questions like, "What does FAFSA stand for?" choose the online form.

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