FAFSA – More Families May Have to Show Tax Returns
In an effort to ensure that only qualified students receive financial aid, new federal regulations have been implemented that may require more students and their families to provide tax return information when applying for aid, according to an article published at http://www.amestrib.com.
The director of financial aid at Iowa State University, Roberta Johnson, recently cited that the federal government currently only requires the University to collect a select number of tax returns each year from students in addition to their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form.
Johnson mentions that the new regulatory process, scheduled to take affect July 1, 2012, will not come without difficulties. “The difficulty of this verification process is, due to privacy laws and the fact that there is no crosswalk between the Department of Education and the IRS,” Johnson said.
The new regulations that were adopted in October remove the limit of students required to submit income tax returns, currently capped at 30 percent. By removing the limit, more students may be required to provide their tax returns, requiring the university to provide increased oversight of applications.
To assist with the new regulation, a new program due to expand next year will allow students to complete their FAFSA online; while simultaneously granting permission to the IRS to import their tax return information directly to the Department of Education. Johnson believes that this new online program will make it easier for everyone who has to submit tax information with their financial aid requests.
Read the article in its entirety: More students may have to show tax returns for aid
