Listing Scholarship $ Awarded on FAFSA

Paying for College
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I have asked a lot of questions regarding the inclusion of scholarships on tax forms, and I am clear now (thanks everyone!) that I only need to list any scholarship dollars on my (or my parents) incomes taxes if the money was used to pay non-qualified educational expenses. As it turns out, all of my scholarships went to tuition costs, so I do not need to report them to the IRS. :)</p>

<p>However, as I started to fill out my FAFSA, I noticed that there is also a question on the FAFSA that asks you to specify scholarship amounts. I don’t remember the exact wording of the question, but it asks if you have any scholarships that were reported to the IRS. Now, I know that I am not reporting any to the IRS on my taxes, but … the 1099-T form that I got for my school says they submit the data to the IRS. On the 1099-T, it provides a dollar amount for scholarship money. Again, this money all went to qualified expense/tuition. </p>

<p>So, my question is … do I have to list the scholarship amount listed on my 1099-T on the FAFSA even if the amount is not being reported on my or my parents taxes? Or, does the FAFSA also only care about scholarships that were used for non-qualified educational costs too? </p>

<p>Thanks for your help!</p>

2

<p>If you do not have any that must be reported s income on FAFSA then do not put any on FAFSA. The purpose of the question is to not penalize you for any taxable scholarships that are included in your AGI (from a tax return). The scholarships are deducted from your AGI by the EFC formula so as to not to be used in calculating your EFC. As you did not have any to report in your income (AGI), they do not have to deduct them from your income, so you do not report them.</p>

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<p>Thank you for clarifying this for me!</p>