<p>I was filling out the CSS Profile and got to the 2008 income tax section. In 2008, my family’s reported income was actually a negative number (my father owns a small business, and it was a bad year). When I tried to enter the figure, I got an error message saying that other characters and symbols cannot be inserted. Do I just enter “0”?</p>
<p>You enter $0, I believe.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I think that’s right. But, they might wonder what you’ve been living on the last year? Do your parents have a lot in savings?</p>
<p>WAIT…you’re supposed to be inputting info from the 2009 year! What did your dad earn in 2009???</p>
<p>On the CSS Profile, there is a section entitled “Parents’ 2008 Income and Benefits”. It only has 4 questions. I know the 2009 section is much more comprehensive, and we have that part filled out with the correct 2009 information.</p>
<p>You use 0 if income from work ends up being negative. AGI is reported as a negative number, though, if it is AGI.</p>
<p>What have they lived on? It’s a business loss … not necessarily the same as not earning an money (not to downplay it if the business has truly cost the family out of pocket, but that is not always the case).</p>