They won’t show me any of their financial documents and are notorious for lying about everything. They said our AGI was 40,000… I somehow got hold of our tax returns, it was 70,000. They say our savings is $20,000 … but then said it was $80,000 yesterday. I can’t believe them and they won’t show me their bank statements.
What can I do? Really not trying to go to jail here.
Remind your parents that willful misrepresentation of their information on the FAFSA is FEDERAL FRAUD, subjecting both you and them to fines, and jail time. In addition, your admissions could be rescinded, you will no longer receive financial aid and you will have to repaid any aid that you fraudulently receive,
In addition, It does not matter what they put on the forms, you will not be rewarded any money until the school receives your parents financial information from the IRS. The school can also request multiple years of bank statements
Explain to your parents that their/your FAFSA will be linked to their filed taxes. If they think you’ll get more aid, they’re wrong. Sure, if you lie, the initial award may be bigger, but very soon after, the linking with the IRS will reveal the true AGI numbers and suddenly the aid will need to be returned.
And once caught lying, things very likely could get aggressive, demanding older bank/investment statements to see how much you really have in assets.
Your parents may wrongly think that they can put any number down that there’s nothing to check that against, wrong.
Also, remind them that they electronically sign FAFSA too. So if they think that if caught they can simply blame a naive kid, they’re wrong. FAFSA is signed by both student and parents.
did you look at the 2017 tax return? Because that is what will be used for 2019-2020. Has your parent income possibly gone down in 2018?
If your parents don’t link their taxes to the FAFSA using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, they will be asked to provide a tax transcript. If there is an inconsistency between what is on the tax transcript and your FAFSA, It will be corrected.
If your parents use $40,000 for income, and you are awarded need based aid based on that number…and it’s NOT accurate, you won’t be receiving that aid. And if you do receive aid…and it is discovered that you were not entitled to it, you WILL be required to pay it back. If you don’t pay it back, you will not be allowed to register for further classes, won’t be able to transfer elsewhere because you won’t be able to get your transcript…and you won’t receive a nickel of aid elsewhere until this bill is paid.
And as notes above…knowingly using incorrect information for financial aid gain is considered fraud. Fraud is a crime.
Just curious…how did you “somehow” get a hold of their 2017 tax return?
A different perspective…
You might not be understanding how it is all set up. For example if they have $20,000 in a regular account and $60,000 in an IRA, they have $80,000 in savings, but for FAFSA purposes they only have $20,000.
I’m not necessarily saying that is the case, but depending on how they have things set up 2 families with basically equal finances can have vastly different numbers on the FAFSA and get very different aid.
Some posters on CC are very hostile to anyone who tries to set up their finances that way, and I think your responses here will reflect that. I would makes sure your parents are aware that things are checked, especially the IRS numbers. If they understand that and stick with their numbers, there may be more to it than you know. There is not necessarily a need for parents to show their kids everything about their finances
Thanks for all the replies! I will talk this through with them given all this new information.
@thumper1 I was actually looking at the 2016 tax return. I think our 2017 tax return has a much higher AGI since my mom worked fulltime during that year and only worked part time years prior. I will find that one soon too. And, I gained access to it by stealing my mom’s key to her closet and searching through the file cabinet where we keep our documents lol. Had to do it when no one was around, but I couldn’t find anything related to bank statements because my parents have around four bank accounts and my dad holds onto those documents, not my mom.
@dadof4kids I know for a fact that my parents decided to not put much towards their retirement account since they had the option of not doing so and we make near minimum wage and not doing so helped towards bills. So, I’m fairly confident that the 80k (or whatever that number truly is) is in savings and checkings combined.
@sybbie719 I have another question. If the college receives information from the IRS before awarding aid, will they also receive information about foreign property and foreign bank accounts? We immigrated to America and still have money in our original country’s bank accounts as well as a home there. I don’t know if this is reported on the IRS tax forms, but none of the college’s net price calculators ask for it, so I’m not sure if FAFSA itself will ask. Thank you.
Are you and your parents U.S. citizens or permanent resident green card holders?
You are asking if it’s OK to be dishonest about family assets. It’s not. It doesn’t matter if they are located on the moon, you are required to report them.
The FAFSA and Profile forms DO ask about assets…ALL assets are required to be reported. If you don’t report them, you are being dishonest.
And again I say…if you get need based financial aid by knowingly providing incorrect information…which IS the case here…it is considered FRAUD. FRAUD is a crime here in this country…
And yes, there are ways for colleges to find out assets held off shore. You know…those financial aid folks have seen it all.
Be honest. Just be honest.
Seeking clarification: what do you mean by “that way”? There’s nothing wrong with a parent contributing to a qualified retirement account as much as he/she can or wants to, whether it’s a smart retirement strategy for that person or helps garner additional need-based aid dollars, and I’ve never seen that criticized here on CC.
@thumper1 I’m not sure what exactly I said that would indicate that I’m asking if committing fraud is acceptable. I always opposed this from the first post. And the foreign assets thing was a question because I don’t know if it’s required on the FAFSA or tax information seeing that I’m barely 16 and have yet to file any taxes. Just wanted to clear up the misconception that I’m on board with whatever shady things that can be manipulated in this process.
If you are barely 16…what year in high school are you?
Once more…ALL of your assets need to be reported on the FAFSA…all of them. It doesn’t matter what country they are in. All are required on the FAFSA.
If you sign your FAFSA saying the info is accurate, and you KNOW it’s not…YOU are part of the fraud business.
Please find a trusted adult who can help your parents understand how these forms need to be completed.
Are they U.S. citizens or green card holders? Are you?
@thumper1 Yes, we are all U.S. citizens and I am a high school senior at 16 because my original country started education earlier than does the U.S., allowing me to be a year or two ahead of everyone else my age.
Noted. I will ensure they answer truthfully and that nothing is hidden when we file. I am likely going to get my guidance counselor to schedule a meeting with them.
Thanks for your help.
@conflictedkang I understand filling out FAFSA is quite complicated and you are determined to be honest about it. It is great to have a community here extending advice. If tuition is a bit of concern for your family, you may want to look at the colleges that provide merit-based scholarships and the universities in Canada.
Who told you the FAFSA is “quite complicated”?
Really…if you have your tax return, online access to your asset balances…and the equity in any real estate you own that isn’t your primary residence, it’s basically filling in the blanks…as the directions state.
@thumper1 oh… that’s good to know. My friends told me it was not an easy thing. But some of them did it before the online version was available…haha…
Before the online version was available?? How old are your friends? That online version has been available for a LONG time.
If you run a quick Google search for
EFC formula 2020
you will get a link to the PDF of the EFC Formula Guide for academic year 2019-2020. You can print that out and use it to help your parents organize all of the information that will be needed. You all can also work through the formula together on paper to get a good notion of what federal aid you are likely to qualify for.
@happymomof1 Great! I got the PDF already. Super!
Your parents should research whether they have to report their foreign bank account to the IRS.