<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I’m working on filling out my FAFSA for the 2013-2014 school year. I am currently in college and received money through FAFSA for the 2012-2013 school year.</p>
<p>The FAFSA asks me under a section labeled ‘Additional Financial Information’ for “Grant and Scholarship Aid reported to the IRS”.</p>
<p>I did not make enough money to need to file taxes for 2012 and I do not intend to file. What exactly do I put here? Do I put all the grant money I got for the 2012-2013 school year? </p>
<p>I also did not actually get any of my grant money dispersed to me. It was all taken by the school and put towards my tuition and housing costs (I live on campus this year).</p>
<p>The total amount of grants I got for 2012 was as follows (not including Spring 2013 grants):
Federal Pell Grant: 2775
Minnesota State Grant: 1236
Federal SEOG Grant: 400</p>
<p>My Spring 2013 grants (also a part of the 2012-2013 school year) were:
Federal Pell Grant: 2775
Minnesota State Grant: 1236
Federal SEOG Grant: 400</p>
<p>I also got work study and loans.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>What you put there is the amount of taxable scholarships/grants for the spring and fall 2012 semesters. It goes by tax year, not school year. If your total grants/scholarships received in 2012 were less than your total tuition + mandatory fees + required books and supplies in 2012 then none of your scholarships/grants are taxable and you put 0 for that question. Note that room and board don’t count. It doesn’t matter whether the scholarships/grants were disbursed to you or directly applied to your bill.</p>
<p>Okay, in 2012 I got a total of $4411 in grants and my mandatory costs in tuition and other fees was $3766.04.</p>
<p>I also spent a total of $571.95 on textbooks (it was my first time buying and I didn’t know at the time that you shouldn’t buy brand new).</p>
<p>If we add the textbook cost to the tuition/fees cost, it comes to $4337.95.</p>
<p>Subtracting that from the total grant amount brings us to $73.05. Is this the amount I put for that section?</p>
<p>Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>The next question is do you have enough other income from jobs/interest etc. in 2012 that you have to file a tax return? If not then you put 0 for that question. Generally if your parents claim you as a dependent, you don’t have to file a return if your income including the $73 was less than $5950. The rule is more complicated if you have more than $300 of unearned income. Does any of this come close to applying to you?</p>
<p>No, I do not have to file a tax return. Including my work-study job and my summer job at a fast food restaurant, I made $3,630 dollars (pre-tax). And yes, I’m being claimed as a dependent.</p>
<p>So I should put $0 for the question about taxable grant money?</p>
<p>Yes, put 0. The purpose of the question is that adjusted gross income(AGI) from the tax form is the primary driver of the student and parent EFC contribution. If you had to file and part of your AGI was due to taxable scholarships/grants, the FAFSA formula would subtract the $73 from your AGI. Since you don’t have to file, there is no AGI so nothing to subtract from.</p>
<p>Were any taxes withheld from your pay? If so you should file to get them refunded. In that case since your income was less than the fafsa student income allowance you could still put 0 for that question as it has no effect on your aid.</p>
<p>Okay, I’ll put $0. Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>Yes, taxes were withheld from my pay. I didn’t know I could get them back; maybe I will file, in that case.</p>
<p>I would file, every dollar helps. You should be able to use the 1040EZ which is very simple. I would then report the $73 but it won’t affect your refund. The instructions for line 1 tell you how to report it.</p>
<p>Was state tax withheld? Check into that too.</p>