I.R.S. Data Retrieval Process

Officials in the Office of Federal Student Aid and the Internal Revenue Service have worked together to develop a process to simplify the steps that families must take each year to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid ("FAFSA")

The IRS Data Retrieval Tool is available for online FAFSA submittals and is accessible through the FAFSA web site www.fafsa.gov. The retrieval tool allows FAFSA applicants and parents with the ability to transfer their income information from the IRS to the FAFSA. See below.

For the 2013-2014 award year ALL FAFSA on the Web (FOTW) applicants and parents of dependent applicants who indicate they have filed or will file a 2012 federal tax return will be directed to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to report and/or update their income information on the FAFSA.

BENEFITS OF USING THE TOOL:

• Applicants can complete their FAFSA more easily and accurately!
• The tool will increase the accuracy in the awarding for student financial aid funds!
• Applicants selected for verification can use the tool to update their income information and avoid unnecessary processing delays!

IMPORTANT CHANGES TO THE 2013-2014 FAFSA PROCESS:

• ALL applicants and parents who indicate they have filed a federal tax return will be directed to use the IRS Tool.
• Applicants and parents who indicate they will file a federal tax return will receive email communication(s) directing them to use the IRS Tool to update their income information once they have filed their 2012 federal income tax return.
• Applicants selected for the verification process will be required to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (or) they may choose to request a tax transcript from the IRS which can later be submitted to the Financial Aid Office.

WHEN WILL DATA BE AVAILABLE FROM THE IRS?

Electronic Tax Filers - Data will be available within 2 weeks of filing

Paper Tax Filers - Data will be available within 6-8 weeks of filing

If you plan to submit your FAFSA before you and/or your parents complete and submit your 2012 Federal Tax Return, then be sure to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to update your FAFSA record once the returns have been submitted and the income data is available to be retrieved.

• Married couples who file separate tax returns.
• Applicants whose marital status has changed as of January 1st, 20132.
• Applicants who are neither eligible nor required to file a 2012 Federal Tax Return.

SPECIAL ITEM OF NOTE – Applicants who choose not to use the tool OR change the IRS income information

• Applicants who choose not to use the FAFSA-IRS Data Retrieval Tool (OR) applicants who use the tool but subsequently change the income information will be informed they must explain to their institutions why information they provided is more accurate than the information available through the IRS.
• Contact the Financial Aid Office to discuss your circumstances. The Financial Aid administrator may ask you to submit copies of your W-2 form, last paycheck stub, a letter from your employer, tax transcript, or other.

Screen shots of the data retrieval process:

Families must actively choose to utilize the data retrieval tool. If they choose to do so, they will be transferred to the Internal Revenue Service web site.

Applicants will need to authenticate their identity before any person information is displayed.

Tax data will be presented and the applicant will have the option to “Transfer” the tax information to the FAFSA. Applicants can also choose NOT to transfer the data to the FAFSA.

Transferred data will have a notation - “Transferred from the IRS"

Remember,

• After your tax information has been transferred, you must return to the FAFSA website.  Please go to the end of the FAFSA and follow the steps to submit the FAFSA correction, making sure you click the “Submit My FAFSA Now” button.
• Electronically filed tax return information will be available online from the IRS site in 1-2 weeks after the return has been filed,
• Data from paper tax returns will be available in 6-8 weeks.

FAFSA Corrections

We know that many parents of our incoming undergraduate students will not have their federal tax returns completed by the priority application deadline of March 1, 2013. These families can use "estimated income" information on the initial FAFSA. These families will be able to use this process once their tax returns are completed.

Using emails and other communications, starting around April 1, 2013, Federal Student Aid will remind applicants that once they have filed their income tax return they should use the FAFSA corrections process to update their FAFSA using the FAFSA-IRS Data Retrieval process. Subsequent messages will be sent every 45 days until mid-September then every 60 days until the end of the processing cycle.

• Click on the link in the middle of the page "Make FAFSA Corrections"