Self-employment, FAFSA, and CSS

[Gratia271]

Can anyone share insight on how schools examine self-employment income?  The little bit I have found out from research is that schools basically vary widely on what they do with the adjusted gross income that gets reported from Schedule C, since self-employed people take business deductions etc... in arriving at that figure as opposed to employee earnings that are more easily computed based on the W-2 reported by employers.  We are trying to approximate EFC, and I am just not clear on what schools may "add back" from business deductions before they decide what AGI is in their way of thinking.

 

 

[G5052]

The majority of my paid gigs fall under self-employment. At DS's school, they go strictly by the FAFSA. I import our IRS data, which includes business deductions, and that's that.

 

What is hard for me on the FAFSA are the other accounts.

 

DH is also retiring in December, so our income will drop, but I'm not 100% sure yet by how much. That will be for future years though.

[Gratia271]

Thanks!  As I reviewed FAFSA over the summer, it looked fairly straightforward.  The CSS profile looks a little more nebulous, and the little bit of information I have found elsewhere suggests that schools often elect to add back business deductions in arriving at AGI. I guess we will just find out what schools do when the time comes.