self-employed income on the fafsa or css?

[Ann.without.an.e]

DH is not self-employed, but technically I am.  I am a sub-contractor.  I work part-time and only make about $10,000-$12,000/year.  I deduct expenses from that (mileage, office supplies, etc).  So what does that look like when it comes time for the fafsa or css?  Is it super complicated?  Will they consider my "income"  what I make before or after the expenses?

 

Thanks for thoughts :)

[MerryAtHope]

FAFSA has you use numbers from your Federal 1040--so for business income, it would be your profit after expenses are deducted (1040 line 12). They tell you all along what line number(s) to pull figures from (and if you have your taxes done, you can import those numbers directly). 

[Pegasus]

I do not know from personal experience but have repeatedly seen on threads from College Confidential that EFC calculators are not accurate for families with self-employment income.  The reason being is that they WILL add some of the expenses that you deducted back into income. I do not know exactly how they make that determination.

 

Your income is low enough that it may not make much difference.  However, I've seen some anecdotes where folks gross well over $100,000 in their self employment but deduct so many expenses that they claim a small fraction as net income.  This is what the schools are looking for.

[J-rap]

They'll pull information from your tax return, and I think even tell you the exact lines.  And yes, I'm pretty sure it's the income after deductions.  We have unusual circumstances in our household and our situation isn't reflected well on the FAFSA.  So, we also fill out a Special Circumstances form, which gives the school more information;  it also allows the school to ask you for more information, so they have a better idea of your situation.

[Ann.without.an.e]

Thanks ya'll :)

[DebbS]

I am self-employed so can speak from experience concerning self-employment and the FAFSA.  They will use the profits reported on line 12 of the 1040 which comes from your schedule C or C-EZ. Thus, it's income minus expenses.  The number that the FAFSA uses for their calculations is your adjusted gross income (Line 37 of the 1040) so you'll also get a reduction for  about 1/2 of your self-employment taxes - soc and medicare.