Susan C. Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 I'm needing to estimate income for FAFSA that is due tomorrow for dd's college. I am on the site now, and it wants every entry as if our taxes are finished, but they are not. Last year's information is not there. What do you all do when in this spot? I usually have them finished, but not this year... Adding: For those looking later, I ended up using last year's return and the "will file" option. I am agreeing with down thread that early FAFSA deadlines and getting taxes finished beforehand can be quite a challenge, especially if you are self employed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 I was just on there updating FAFSA for DD21 and DS19. I was able to match up the decriptions on the FAFSA to the right lines on our tax form from last year because we file the regular 1040. Did you file a different form last year? Which part is giving you trouble matching up? Oops... I see you got it. Good Work! Each year, I just use the previous year's numbers and file the FAFSA so it get in by the deadline. Then, when we file our taxes, I go back and do an update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 They asked how much college expenses, well, don't know yet (so put last year's). How much taxes... (self employed), last year's. Because, although I tried, heaven and earth made sure I couldn't get the taxes finished this weekend. Turbo Tax didn't work on my OS any longer, so I'm trying TaxAct, which is very different and I'm on a learning curve. Forms I thought had come hadn't... I really liked the set up I had before and it wasn't the weekend to pull the rug out from under me. Turbo Tax on your computer lets you see the forms in progress, so I used those to estimate FAFSA. Unless TT online lets you do that, that is over... With FAFSA finished, I have time to figure it all out. BLEH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Yes, that seems to be a mismatch b/c rather than asking what your estimated income will be, it asks for the income figure! I'm a bit in the same boat. I estimated as best I could and once my taxes are finished, I'll update with the accurate figures. I'm still waiting on one of my core statements so that I can even turn all of my stuff over to my accountant. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 I am having to do this FAFSA thing for the second time now. After the first time, I swore never again and let it go (didn't use it). Now, ds needs it for the new free two years CC our state is trying. I'm telling you this is absolutely ridiculous. I just made up c45p to fill in the lines. I immediately received notification that they needed proof... Well, they can wait until I have some clue. Because, I have no clue. No idea how they expect me to know these numbers. It will be very close to the tax deadline before we have that information. I feel like they want us to just make it all up at this point, because...there is no way to have this information at this point. Big sigh, and, I need to go to all of our banks and get all of our financial information...ridiculous. Honestly, what does it matter? We. do. not. qualify. for. money. from. FAFSA. But, I am untrustworthy and must fill in every little blank. I feel like they are just hovering in the corner to spring on me for "lying" when/if I accidentally leave out some $ that I honestly do not know about or under/overestimate. I mean, what number should I use for real estate investments? What the tax form says it is worth, or what it is worth? They are quite different numbers and to be quite honest, I cannot remember what the tax form says things are worth. (I know our house information, and they have it listed for at least twice what it would sell for.) And, I did do a "will file". They still take it as the Gospel when you hit submit and start sending you more forms to fill out anyway. "Will File" people!!! Just hold on and wait. (Oh, it is govt. they don't comprehend.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 It's not difficult. Just do your taxes first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 It's not difficult. Just do your taxes first. But sometimes the FAFSA is due (by the college or university) before all the tax documents are in. We had to have dd's FAFSA submitted by Feb 15. Some of our 1099s weren't even mailed by then. For anyone reading in a similar situation, choose the "will file" option wrt federal taxes on the FAFSA website. That will indicate you are filing an estimate; you just have to return and update the numbers once taxes are done (we've done it as late as April 1 because of paperwork issues). I use the previous year's numbers to estimate, even when I know the numbers will be far off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 It's not difficult. Just do your taxes first. Usually, this is not possible. DD21's FAFSA deadline was February 1st! We never even get enough of the documents to file taxes until near the end of February. This year, the last document came on Feb 23rd and no the info isn't available online. Using the "Will File" option is the easiest I can never pull my previous tax info in from the IRS (though in theory that must work for SOMEONE out there!) so I pull out last years printed tax forms and fill in the numbers. We also do not qualify for any money (DD's scholarship is merit based), but since the numbers come from the previous year's tax documents, it really only takes about five minutes per form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 I'm a little late to post this maybe, but we had to estimate a few weeks before we did our taxes. I read the description of what they were asking for & looked at our prior year's return. The line numbers were different, but the description was the same (or very similar). Other than those, I just estimated assets & the other things. I figured that an estimate is 'an estimate' and if we were off a little (or more) it was okay until I did a final submission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 We have always had to do "will file" as we never have taxes done that early, much less FAFSA. I think colleges know this, they just want to get started with a rough idea of your financial circumstances as they have to make scholarship etc. offers before May 1st so kids have time to make a financially informed college decision. If everyone waited until taxes were done in April to do the FAFSA the colleges would not have time to figure out financial aid! Since the colleges will eventually get a complete FAFSA and can ask for verification, it is best to try and come as close as humanly possible to accurate numbers on the FAFSA, and amend it bit by bit as you get taxes done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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