Blueridge Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 I just read that families who file itemized tax returns cannot even file until after February 14th. We've been waiting to file our FAFSA until we did our taxes, so that it would be accurate. Now what? Wait, or file the FAFSA with potentially inaccurate information? :tongue_smilie: http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2011-01-20-irs-tax-filing-delay_N.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Just my 2cents, but I don't think it's going to make or break anything to hold off a month to file your FAFSA. We can't do ours until DH's former employer gets their sorry backsides around to sending out his W-2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace is Sufficient Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 However, you don't need to file your tax return before you can fill out FAFSA, you just need to have the return filled out. So I'm waiting :toetap05: for a W2 and then I'll fill out the relevant part of the 1040 and then be able to do our FAFSA. I think it should be in the next few days/week. Debbie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janice H Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Along the lines of what Debbie said above. While you won't be able to check whether certain boxes on the W-2 have a particular entry, much of what you'll need to rough out the tax return and fill out the FAFSA will be on the year-to-date info. on a typical pay stub. However, come to think of it, maybe that isn't on the pay stub given by smaller companies who don't outsource to ADP or a similar company. Interest received for the year is on the December or January financial institution statement. Be sure to check with your schools; two of ours have Feb 1rst as priority for financial aid, and one wants the FAFSA and CSS, even for merit. The CSS profile people (College Board) warn of busy servers likely at the end of month. Instead of waiting for 1099s, I just added up the stubs of checks I received. Also in the bank register I note how much of a deposit is business income. Please pardon me if this all too obvious. Also, if you did your own taxes last year, many of the forms remained largely the same. This should jump start 2010's filing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Is there a paper copy of this form you can look at somewhere? I won't have to fill it out for a couple more years, but we can't do our taxes that early. Our appointment with our accountant is Feb 11th this year and it will be tough for me to get organized because we still don't have all of our forms yet and they don't even have to send some of them until the middle of Feb and then there are some things that will go straight to her that have to do with the business. So typically, it isn't done until April and not because we procrastinate. I do the whole sample form as much as I can, but the complicated parts with all the forms she does. We're not looking for aid, but I heard you have to do it for merit aid. So, it might help if I could look at the questions and see what kind of information we'll need to perform. Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in MA Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 I just read that families who file itemized tax returns cannot even file until after February 14th. We've been waiting to file our FAFSA until we did our taxes, so that it would be accurate. Now what? Wait, or file the FAFSA with potentially inaccurate information? :tongue_smilie: When to file the FAFSA depends upon a couple of things. First -- make sure you meet whatever deadlines your child's college(s) have. Second, if you know you will have need and your student will attend a school that packages aid in the order of receipt of the FAFSA, then file the FAFSA ASAP with a "will file" status on your tax return. I've read posts on college confidential where actual finacial aid officers have posted (at larger state schools) saying that they hand out limited things like work study & perkins loans in the order that the FAFSA is filed. If they run out of funds for those programs when they get to your student, he/she won't be offered these types of aid. Once the FAFSA is filed with a "will file" status, it's pretty easy to go back to it and update it. All the updates are done on-line, and the changes are automatically sent to the colleges you specify. The profile is a trickier form because there are no on-line update. If your numbers change significantly, you'll need to update a paper copy and send it to all the schools. If you can get good estimates for your taxes without actually filing, this should not be a problem. HTH, Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janice H Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Is there a paper copy of this form you can look at somewhere? http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/fotw1112/pdf/PdfFafsa11-12.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueridge Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 Thanks everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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