This is the second poster today who has noted that the questions to determine simplified needs test were skipped over…but answers were noted as NO when they should,have been yes.
Is there something wrong with the FAFSA…or is this the way it’s working this year.
Here is the other thread.
I am quite concerned about that now, after reading the other thread… I never got a helpful answer either when I call the fafsa helpline. Is there any way to figure out what’s going on ???
If your AGI is under $49,999 and one of the above conditions applies to you, then simplified needs formula is used.
Then your assets wouldn’t count towards EFC.
The asset protection allowance is much lower in the 2019/20 EFC formula compared to the year before I’ve found.
Last year ours was around $20,000 and its only $13,000 this year.
The age of the older parent as of 12/31/2019 is used and if that is 56 and the parents are married the APA would be $14,700.
It’s table 5, page 18 I think of the PDF
https://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/1920EFCFormulaGuide.pdf
Correction, it’s page 19.
Thanks! Problem is that neither of the 3 questions about the above conditions were asked, and they automatically filled in as a no on summary. Then how would they know to use simplified needs formula. That is what really worries me now. Is there a glitch??
I have not heard of any issues related to assets info, but they don’t always come up right away.
In OP’s case, the AGI is <$50k and an IRS DRT was done. “What type of income tax return was filed?” is now autofilled by the DRT process. So if OP filed a 1040A/EZ (or perhaps it even determines if OP was “eligible to file the 1040A/EZ”?), that fact would have automatically been taken into consideration … meaning no asset questions would be asked. Asset questions are asked after the DRT process is completed.
I think that’s the problem. If DRT shows a 1040 was filed, it skips the questions. The actual requirement is that a 1040A COULD have been filed. One year I used a tax program that always picked the 1040 even if a 1040A could have been used. For me that year, the FAFSA asked if a 1040a could have been filed and I checked yes.
Maybe do the FAFSA without the DRT?
I really prefer to use the IRT DRT, less hassle, otherwise I need to get a tax transcript. When you really think about this, there is a big glitch - it should give you the option to answer a question: " Could you have filed 1040A", even if it transfers info that a 1040 was filed. My assets will get counted when technically they should not… higher EFC as a result. I think this is something to be concerned about if there are more cases like mine…, apparently a different thread mentions the same issue, with questions being skipped and filled with nos. Very disturbing!!
Is the 1040 versus 1040A the only issue?
Could you qualify with the other qualifier? A family of 5 should fall within reduced school lunch income limit?
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-05-08/pdf/2018-09679.pdf
The problem is those other qualifier questions DON’T show up and get pre-filled with no’s on the summary
There definitely are other questions that make the type of tax return filed moot. But I think people are missing the point. What I believe is happening is that the logic in the programming is determining whether you could have filed a 1040A/EZ, not that it is going on what was actually filed. That is why asset questions were skipped once the DRT was completed for the poster who filed a 1040 but could have filed a simpler return. Remember, assets are only skipped if AGI is less than 50k. I have run across many people during verification who incorrectly said they could have filed a 1040A/EZ when they could not … if you take any deductions not on the simpler forms, even the state income tax deduction, you could not have filed a simpler form.
Did the FAFSA then skip the asset questions too? If you aren’t entering the assets, the assets aren’t being considered.
Again, forget the 1040-1040A question. How come the other qualifiers don’t show up and are auto filled.
What kelsmom is saying is it might not matter. Were the asset questions asked? If not, something triggered the simplified assets question (it may have been that the info on the 1040 was enough to see that there was the option of filing the 1040A like a standard deduction was taken and there are no self employment schedules).
If the asset questions weren’t asked, assets aren’t being considered.
Exactly. The skip logic kicks in as soon as conditions are met for SNT, in which assets are ignored. The other questions become irrelevant & are not asked. It doesn’t matter what the answers to those questions are, so they are not necessary.
Well, the assets questions were in fact asked and not skipped over. I know I qualify for the SNT, so why were the qualifiers skipped and were pre-filled and assets were not?
Does your state maybe require the asset questions?
Did you submit it? Did you get an EFC?
Did not submit yet, only completed and printed out a summary. Ok suppose the state does require asset questions. I have not submitted it because the information which is PRE-FILLED (qualifiers) is incorrect,. There is no way for them to know that I qualify for SNT unless they go through each number on FAFSA!!! Just at a loss at what to do!!!
You have to decide if you want to use the DRT or not. I wouldn’t do it if I felt the information was wrong. It’s really not that big a deal to get the tax transcript.
In the ‘olden days’ (when FAFSA couldn’t be filled out before Jan 1 and most people didn’t have taxes filed before they filed FAFSA), you could submit and then use the DRT later, when taxes were ready. I did that our first year and didn’t have to get a tax transcript as I did the DRT in February.
I don’t know if you can still do that, file now with hand entered income and then use the DRT when it is time to verify.
I am confused. OP, did you or did you not use the DRT?