RollerSkatingMama Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Has anyone else gone through the process of requesting this because their child was selected for FAFSA verification and needed to provide this with the rest of the requested documents? If so, how long did it take to get it after requesting it? Everyday I'm praying it will arrive in the mail but so far, no such luck! DS applied to and was accepted to 5 universities. Three of them requested verification materials in November/December, we promptly submitted the materials, they were processed with no problems, and we got the financial aid award letters. Each school just needed the worksheet for their specific university filled out and copies of W-2s. We didn't have to get anything from the IRS for these because we (the parents) had used the online data retriever for our tax return and DS didn't need to file in 2016. A little over two weeks ago, we got the verification request from one of the other schools (the one ds will most likely attend due to cost) and, besides the standard materials stated above, they requested an IRS Verification of Non-Filing Letter stating that yes, it is true that ds didn't file a 2016 tax return. It appears that this is a new requirement this year at other schools because when I looked at the verification worksheet for the fifth university ds is considering (and the one school where they don't request verification unless the student actually enrolls), they also request this letter and state it is a new requirement for 2018-2019. Anyways, the instructions from the IRS stated that it takes 5 -10 days to receive the letter. 10 days has now passed this past Friday and I'm sitting here wondering when it will come so we can get an award letter from this school (and they also consider need for scholarships, and applications were due a month ago, so I'm sure decisions are being made- -- sure hope this doesn't affect scholarship decisions). After faxing it in, there's really no way of knowing if it was actually received and I can't find a phone number for this specific IRS office to call and check or anything. Anyone else requested one of these lately? I'm concerned that all the uncertainty with the federal gov't. and talk of shutdowns, etc. will affect the timeline as well. This is our oldest and I've been trying so hard to make sure we do everything correctly, on time, submitting documents as soon as possible, etc. but this one has me concerned. I sure wish we had known we were going to need this so I could have requested it a long time ago, but I had no clue since the other three universities never asked for it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Both my dss were selected for verification and so far they've just had to sign an extra form (provided by the colleges) that they did not need to file taxes. I didn't know a statement from the IRS may be required. Ugh. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 You aren't the only one with this problem. Verifications are up this year. Hopefully the colleges are understanding that people are doing their best to get the required documentation. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch at Home Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 We had to submit a verification last year. I think that it took about three weeks. I believe that I email the school notifying the school that we had submitted for the verification and would forward it upon receipt. We had no problem with this process. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 I haven't, but it's good to know about this; thanks for posting. Did you count only business days (no weekends or holidays)? Hopefully it comes soon! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerSkatingMama Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share Posted January 29, 2018 Yes, it's been 10 business days. We faxed the request in early in the morning on the 12th. I know it's just been barely 10 days, so I'm not too concerned yet. (I think I was focusing more on the "5" of that "5-10 business days" :laugh: which I probably shouldn't do, especially considering the state of the government right now). Arch at Home, that's good to know it took you three weeks to receive it. Hoping it comes this week! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 THANK YOU for this thread! My DD will need to file the FAFSA on October 1st this year. Normally, I do not file a U.S. Federal Income tax return for her, but because of this thread, this year, I will do that. It will take a little time, but I can do it FREE with FreeTaxUSA and it should eliminate what this thread is discussing. I hope all of you get the data you need from the I.R.S., ASAP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Lanny, I could be wrong because I haven't had to do it yet, but I think the FAFSA this fall (2018) will use last-last year taxes, i.e., 2016. So, I don't think 2017's taxes will help with this particular issue. Just FYI. Here's an article that had the info I remembered. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Lanny, I could be wrong because I haven't had to do it yet, but I think the FAFSA this fall (2018) will use last-last year taxes, i.e., 2016. So, I don't think 2017's taxes will help with this particular issue. Just FYI. Here's an article that had the info I remembered. I am looking at the FAFSA Tutorial that begins on this URL: https://www.edvisors.com/fafsa/forms/tutorial/ DD will graduate in 2019 so we will need to fill it out for the Upcoming 2019-2020 Academic year. My impression is that FAFSA will become available on October 1, 2018. So, I think I am correct, that we will provide the information from the Federal Tax returns for 2017, but I will continue reading... Thanks for the heads up and I will double-check! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 You are right, Lanny. (My oldest dd is the same grade - a junior this year - as your dd.) I read the chart with "when student is attending college" and thought, "when student is applying for college" instead. The huge range for filing of the FAFSA also threw me off (October 1, 2017–June 30, 2019) as it included the entire year my DD will also be applying for college (2018-2019). So, starting my post with, "I could be wrong" is obviously, "I am wrong..." :lol: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 Thank you for this thread! It caught my attention and since we will need to submit the FAFSA form next October, I decided that I would e-file a 2017 Federal return for DD, because we are overseas and it would probably take months, if we needed to get that IRS letter. So, I completed a 2017 Federal return for DD today and then at the end, when I tried to efile, it said that it couldn't be efiled, because she doesn't need to file a return. :-) I will have her Print 2 copies out and Snail Mail it to the I.R.S. and hopefully that will prevent her from being considered a non-filer... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerSkatingMama Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 I should have updated this awhile back. Anyways, like I mentioned in my original post, only one of five schools requested the IRS Verification of Non-Filing Letter, so I don't think it's a very common thing for a dependent student. It seems like most of the colleges only request this from independent students. In the end, it took 4 full weeks to receive the letter from the IRS. However, ds never ended up needing to submit it because after waiting 2 weeks for the letter, I called the financial aid office of the school and expressed my concern that the processing of his financial aid award was being held up because of this letter and that I had no idea when it would arrive. The response I got was that I didn't need to be concerned because the school no longer required this letter but just hadn't changed their website and verification worksheet. We were able to submit his verification documents without it. So once the letter arrived, it wasn't even needed. So, for those of you who have high school juniors and are concerned about needing this, I don't think you need to be too worried about it. I personally would not file a tax return for ds if he didn't need to just to make sure that he wasn't a non-filer. In future years, I would probably just go ahead and request the verification of non-filing letter as soon as it's allowed (I think in August or September but not positive) to have on hand just in case it's requested. It's easier to request the letter than it is to file a tax return. And now I know that it really will arrive, but it takes longer than 5-10 business days. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 RollerSkatingMama I am glad that you did not need the letter from the I.R.S. It took 4 weeks for you to receive the letter. The reason I filed an Informational return for DD for 2017 is because we live overseas. If we would need to get that letter from the I.R.S., it would probably take 4 to 6 months for us to receive it. I was able to eFile the return for DD, 2 days ago, by changing one Field, so we have proof that the return was Accepted by the I.R.S. and that eliminates one potential issue. :-) I was also able to eFile my return. 2 different online tax processing services. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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