<p>My dad works out of home with his own small business, so our taxes are very complicated and long. Here’s the issue, Georgia Tech needs it done by March 1st, but my dad says he can’t get it done by then. (Our taxes are generally postponed/delayed). What can I do? He says he can maybe get it done if he just takes off work for this week, but that’s going to be one “hell” of a week, as his work is very important and sometimes urgent.</p>
<p>Any Ideas?</p>
<p>Can’t you get an accountant to do it?</p>
<p>If financial aid is important to you, than I would recommend that your dad do what is necessary to complete his taxes before the March 1st deadline.</p>
<p>We, too, are self-employed, and yes, it took a good week or two for us to get everything ready for our accountant. But, we persevered and got it done because we didn’t want to miss any financial aid deadlines.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>My relative is self elmployed with his own business and his taxes are complicated- about 20 pages of it. He does it himself and it was almost ready by Jan 1- your dad could have done it slowly too. Now it is up to you and your family- how much fin aid is important to you?</p>
<p>You’re not the only student who has asked about this type of situation. I’m really puzzled by this - do these parents not understand that financial aid offers are dependent on FAFSA and Profile reporting? Do they truly understand that if they don’t get their taxes done and the paperwork processed, then there is little likelihood of financial aid? Do they understand that by delaying their taxes they are risking paying full tuition? Or do they think that will be their child’s problem?</p>
<p>You must comply with the financial aid deadline IF you hope to receive any financial aid! No way around it.
My husband is self-employed which complicates our tax situation.
BUT we just start early each year and hash through it…we NEED the financial aid and will do whatever to be considered for it.
We filed taxes a week ago, FAFSA a few days later and PROFILE is being finalized today. Easy? NO…but required by our son’s schools.
Maybe your schools will accept estimates? Call the FA office and ASK!</p>
<p>The financial aid deadlines are clearly posted on all of the college websites. These deadlines are posted WELL in advance of the dates. Families should be very aware that for first time finaid applicants, it is essential to get all taxes completed ASAP after Jan 31. In addition, the FAFSA should be filed using estimates ASAP after January 1, and then amended when the taxes are completed at the end of Jan, beginning of Feb. There are no surprises here…this has been the case year after year. The first year you apply for finaid, you cannot wait until April 15 to do your taxes if you really want your finaid application to be considered. Colleges expect that the finaid application deadlines will be adhered to. They seldom make exceptions to these deadlines. Somewhere on this forum there is an “advice” thread…things to do in the college application process. THIS should be added…look at finaid application deadlines and be prepared to adhere to them if you need or want finaid consideration. Truthfully…these deadlines were posted during last summer…plenty of time to plan ahead. I agree with the above poster…call and ask if they will use estimates. Most schools will only give a tentative finaid award using estimate…and some schools also require signed tax returns by a specified date. We also had one school where all signed tax returns for had to be submitted to the IDOC before February 15. Translation…we really had to work hard to get our taxes done!!! The good news is that for finaid renewals, the deadlines are much later!!!</p>
<p>cALL THE FINAID OFFIDE…MANY TIMES THEY WANT IT INITIALLY FILED BY THAT DATE, BUT STILL GIVE YOU TIME TO MAKE CORRECTIONS, SO YOU COULD FILE WITH LAST YEAR’S INFO AND THEN CORRECT IT ASAP, GIVING YOUR DAD A BIT OF EXTRA TIME…THEN PLAN AHEAD FOR FUTURE YEARS</p>
<p>Estimate-- use last year’s tax numbers and adjust to reflect changes for this year.</p>
<p>Then after the taxes are done, go in and correct.</p>
<p>You should be able to bang out the FAFSA by estimating in about an hour to meet the deadline. Be conservative in your estimates, better to underestimate income than overestimate. Easier to have them take away some of an aid package than to increase aid later.</p>
<p>Is estimating safe/legal? I’m afraid of auditing, tax-fraud issues, etc.</p>
<p>Xshare</p>
<p>When do you think your dad can complete his taxes?</p>
<p>If he can’t get his taxes done by March 1, will he get them done by April 15th?</p>
<p>Estimating on the FAFSA is acceptable.</p>
<p>Estimating on the FAFSA is absolutely acceptable. BUT the finaid award you receive will be tentative and contingent on your final FAFSA with your taxes filed. If you do not get your taxes completed soon enough…you may find that when you do…there won’t be much money left for you.</p>
<p>When you complete your FAFSA, a question asks whether you:</p>
<ol>
<li>HAVE filed your taxes, or</li>
<li>WILL file your taxes.</li>
</ol>
<p>The schools recognize that if you checked “Will file”, that you’ve put down estimates. They will flag your EFC as an estimate, and your financial aid package is also an estimate, pending you revising the FAFSA with the numbers that match your tax returns, and checking “HAVE filed” when you do the correction. Then they will firm things up.</p>
<p>I fully agree with sblake. BUT I do believe that the sooner you amend your FAFSA with accurate numbers, the better. Most schools send their final finaid awards out at the beginning of April. If you don’t file taxes and amend/correct your FAFSA until April 15, I do not believe your finaid situation will be a promising one.</p>
<p>We file estimated taxes quarterly and file complete in July/August. Does that mean we cannot qualify for financial aid?</p>
<p>Thank God for EZ tax forms!</p>
<p>I estimated everything on the FAFSA. When I send the 2005 returns to my schools, the Financial Aid department will adjust as necessary (I made sure to slightly underestimate everything–I’m <em>sure</em> they will adjust downwards, not so sure about upwards!)</p>