How To Answer Parent Income Tax Information Questions For FAFSA®

37. Parent Tax Filing Status

Your FAFSA uses your tax filing status to determine what information is required to complete the FAFSA. For example, if you're married, you'll need to provide your spouse's information. 

How To Answer These Questions

• Select "Yes" if you filed a 2024 IRS Form 1040 or 1040-NR.
• Select "Yes" if you filed a joint return with your current spouse.

There are other secondary questions, select the appropriate answer if any apply:

• The parent filed or will file a tax return with Puerto Rico or another U.S. Territory
• The parent file or will file a foreign tax return
• The parent earned income in a foreign country
• The parent, even though they earned income in the U.S., did not and will not file a U.S. tax return because their income was below the tax filing threashold
• The parent did not and will not file a U.S. tax return for reasons other than low income
• The parent did not and will not file any tax return because they did not earn any income or were not required to file a tax return

Can I Skip These Questions?

Yes, as long as you provided consent for the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to import your data. 

38. Parent's Tax Return Information

This is the key information that the FAFSA uses to calculate your Student Aid Index (SAI) which can qualify you for financial aid.

Again, if you use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, you DON'T have to enter this data manually! It will be automatically submitted. But, you should know what they are looking at!

How To Answer These Questions

• Tax Filing Status: Enter the tax filing status from your tax return
• Income Earned From Work: How much you earned from work (W-2 or 1099 income)
• Tax Exempt Interest Income: Comes from bonds usually
• Untaxed Portions of IRA Distributions: Did you withdraw from an IRA (this could be a Roth IRA used to pay for college)
• IRA Rollover: If you rolled over the IRA, you can enter that amount here.
• Untaxed Portions of Pensions: If you withdrew from a pension plan.
• Pension Rollover into an IRA or Other Qualified Plan: If you rolled a pension plan over into another qualified retirement account (like a 401k or IRA). 
• Adjusted Gross Income: This is your adjusted gross income from your tax return.
• Income Tax Paid: This is how much income tax you paid.
• Did the parent receive the Earned Income Tax Credit: Only if you received this for yourself.
• IRA Deductions and Self-Employed Retirement Plan Contributions: Enter how much you contributed to an IRA or other plan.
• Education Credits: Enter the value of any education tax credits you received.
• Did the parent file Schedule A, B, D, E, F, or H? Check your tax return, did you file any of these forms?
• Net Profit or Loss From Schedule C: This is business and side hustle income.
• Amount of Taxable Scholarships and Grants Reported: This is for taxable scholarships, usually for room and board.
• Foreign Earned Income Exclusion: If you had foreign income, it now counts on the FAFSA.

Can I Skip These Questions?

Yes, as long as you provided consent for the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to import your data. 

21. Annual Child Support Received

Child support does count as an asset for FAFSA purposes.

How To Answer These Questions

Report the child support you received in the last calendar year. 

If you were married, remarried, or unmarried but living together, you must enter the combined child support both spouses receieved. 

Can I Skip These Questions?

No, they are required. If you received none, enter 0.