How much in assets are you talking here? The FAFSA assesses parent assets at about 5.6% after the asset protection allowance is considered.
If you have $100,000, you would have $5600 in added EFC from assets…and if your EFC was $0, you would still get a small portion of the Pell Grant…about $500.
@joecoletta this poster is not talking about your spreadsheet. The use of your spread sheet was suggested to this poster. Of course, she could also work through the FAFSA by hand.
@genesh if your assets are in the $10,000 range, they won’t be counted anyway.
I have written IRS, FSA, and FSAIC expressing my concern for not being able to confirm the correctness of data reported by IRS given the fact that the data provided by IRS is (unreasonably) masked by Transferred by IRS.
In the spirit of full disclosure:
(1) I have been told that the financial aid offices at colleges actively preparing or revising students’ financial aid awards are not prohibited from disclosing the amounts hidden by the “Transferred by IRS” mask by any governmental regulations.
(2) The person who made this statement emphasized that "are not prohibit from disclosing " should not be confused with “are required to disclose”.
(3) He also stated that despite the absence of any regulatory prohibition, colleges are allowed to enact policies that prohibit disclosure of the masked data.
Since my children and I are not afforded a reasonable opportunity to confirm the correctness of data transferred by IRS, I have advised my children to not use the IRS DRT Tool when completing their FAFSA. JMO
When I did this over the last few years (so the question numbers might be different), once the simplified assets questions were answered, I did not have to add the 401k contributions back in. My IRS income (adjusted gross) was under $50k but with 401k and IRA contributions would have been much higher. All of that was ‘grayed out’ and I never put in.
A lot has changed since the 2015 FAFSA, but it worked then. Also, all applications had to be verified and we could do that using the DRT after originally filing. At that time, you could see the DRT figures imported, but now you can’t.
I agree, I completely question the fact that it says “transferred from the IRS”, it does not give me a chance to view the transferred data. I understand that they changed it so it will not be compromised. This is definitely one feature I do not like.
Thank you, hope that’s the case… I am paranoid now that I filled in something wrong by mistake and there will be penalties or consequences!!. Have no idea what it could be… It was all fine last year with DRT
The schools will tell you what they are verifying and what you need to send for documentation. It is what it is.
We were selected all four years for verification for our older kid…who didn’t receive a dime of need based aid. We just sent the school what they asked for year after year after year.
I did use DRT, that’s why I am confused. If they say we’re not eligible for federal aid, then should not have checked off “register for selective service”!
If you are a male over 18…you are required to register with the selective service. IIRC, my own son did so when he filed his FAFSA…he was given that option.
That is NOT the reason you were selected for verification.
At this point, just wait. You know…the school will determine if rhenneed supportive info…and what it is. The important thing is to keep an eye on your student portals, and provide that info ASAP.
What was your FAFSA EFC…because that determines your eligibility for federally funded need based aid.
Yes, you should have checked off “register for Selective Service,” if in fact you are a person who is required to do so. It has nothing to do with whether or not you are eligible for federal aid; it’s about complying with a legal requirement.
You are required to register for selective service by law. The requirement is not just to qualify for student loans. If the citizen does not go to college, or does not take student loans, the requirement is still there. FAFSA just makes registering easy as you can do it while you fill out the FAFSA, but if you prefer you can register online or at a federal office like SSA or the post office.
My son received a postcard shortly before his 18th birthday, reminding him to register for selective service.
I have done FAFSAs for 5 years. We always used DRT and had no problems.
The DRT brings over our education credit from the tax return, and I think it brought over untaxed IRA distribution as well. It then asks if this was a rollover.
I went over the FAFSA step by step with my son, he was surprised how fast we were done. This was a renewal so a lot of info was prefilled from last year.
Yes, it was nice to see the numbers after doing DRT, but I like it more secure.
I did the EFC formula by hand as well, and the EFC spreadsheet, our EFC was the same in all three cases.