Can I start FAFSA now?

Paying for College
1

<p>Can I start filling out FAFSA form now or I have to wait until after Jan 1st 2014 to do so? I’m a HS senior this year and will be going to college in Fall of 2014.</p>

2

<p>You have to wait until Jan. 1 for the 2014-15 school year fafsa. You can get your PINs now though if you haven’t already.</p>

3

<p>You can fill out the FAFSA that is available for practice–it’s for the school year beginning in fall 2013–I would not send it out, but just download and fill out the hard copy as you really don’t want to confuse things. It gets crazy in the next few months in the world of college applications. </p>

<p>The actual form you fill out will not be available until 1/1/2014. Most people are not 100% about the numbers until the get their year end figures and fill out their tax returns since numbers like actual income tax paid are relevant and the FAFSA is cross checked with the 2013 1040 forms for verification. You don’t want a hold up because the numbers do not match.</p>

4

<p>Just be careful if you use the current 2013-2014 form for practice. Sometimes the form changes just enough from one year to the next that the item numbers are not the same.</p>

5

<p>The actual form you fill out will not be available until 1/1/2014. Most people are not 100% about the numbers until the get their year end figures and fill out their tax returns since numbers like actual income tax paid are relevant and the FAFSA is cross checked with the 2013 1040 forms for verification. You don’t want a hold up because the numbers do not match.^^^^^^</p>

<p>Even if you get year end pay stub it will have YTD numbers etc even that may not be exact as there is lot more goes on when employer sends you w-2. </p>

<p>Do you wait to submit FAFSA till end of Jan when most employers send you W-2s and financial institutions send you financial info or you go ahead submit FAFSA as soon as after Jan 1 with whatever info you have and then correct it later on, as long as final ino matches with your tax return.</p>

6

<p>Does the same thing apply to CSS? Meaning you file CSS as early as possible after 1st Jan with estimated income etc and then you can go back and fill in exact information after you have filed taxes.</p>

7

<p>

No, see the post #3 point #2 on this thread <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1070806-css-fafsa-questions-taxes.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1070806-css-fafsa-questions-taxes.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;