FSA Conference Updates

Communication with Students Current SAR comments: Dependent Student (170) Your FAFSA has been selected for a review process called verification. Your school has the authority to request copies of certain financial documents from you and your parent(s). Independent Student (171) Your FAFSA has been selected for a review process called verification. Your school has the authority to request copies of certain financial documents from you (and your spouse).

Identity Theft for 2014-15 A victim of IRS identity theft who is not able to obtain a 2013 IRS Tax Return Transcript or use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) must contact the IRS at 1-800-908-4490 Upon authentication of the tax filer’s identity, the IRS will provide, by U.S. Postal Service, a printout of the tax filer’s 2013 IRS income tax return information which can be used to complete verification

2014-15 Verification Retained all items subject to verification in 2013-14 Added one new item-- Other untaxed income and benefits

2014-15 Verification Verification Tracking Groups Eliminated Group V2 – SNAP Added Group V6 – Household Resources When reported income does not appear sufficient to support family size All untaxed income FAFSA items must be verified

2014-15 Verification Documentation of untaxed income and benefits Untaxed income information reported in Question 45 for the student and spouse and Question 94 for the dependent student’s parents If the verified income does not appear to provide sufficient financial support, the student or parents must explain how the family was supported during the 2013 calendar year

IRS Tax Transcript Options http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript irs.gov homepage, click "Get Transcript for My Tax Records" under "Tools"

Implementation of the Supreme Court’s Defense of Marriage Act Decision 2014-2015 FAFSA – All responses must be consistent with legal marital status

FAFSA CHANGES – PARENTAL DATA Beginning with the 2014-2015 FAFSA, dependent students’ FAFSA must include income and other information about both of the student’s legal parents (biological or adoptive) if the parents are living together, regardless of the parents’ marital status or gender.

FAFSA CHANGES – PARENTAL DATA Collecting parental information from both legal parents will result in fair treatment of all families by eliminating longstanding inequities that were based on the legal relationship of the parents (married or not married) rather than on the parents’ relationship with their child.

FAFSA CHANGES-Parental DATA Issue Information about both legal parents is currently included on a dependent student’s FAFSA only if the parents are married to each other, creating an inequity. Solution A new parent marital status option of “Unmarried, but both parents living together” will allow for the collection of data from both legal parents when the parents are not married to each other. Mother and Father labels will change to Parent 1 and Parent 2. Help text will be significantly enhanced to provide guidance for parents who file separate tax returns.

FAFSA CHANGES-Parental DATA Issue The Supreme Court’s recent decision in United States v. Windsor changed the federal definition of marriage. Solution Text that defines marriage will be updated. Mother and Father labels will change to Parent 1 and Parent 2.

FAFSA CHANGES-PARENTAL DATA

FAFSA CHANGES PARENTAL DATA

Applicants Younger than 13 Issue Provide a COPPA-compliant process to allow students younger than 13 to apply for Title IV. Solution Implement a special-handling paper process that: Will bypass the Date of Birth edit Will not allow the student to provide an e-mail address Student will receive a paper SAR and the school will receive an ISIR The Renewal Process will not be available for these applicants

Applicants Younger than 13 Correction Process If corrections are required, the student/parent can submit them via the paper SAR correction process The FAA can make corrections, except they cannot provide an e-mail address

Questions Questions ?