2009 2010 verification worksheet federal student aid program

May an institution disburse unsubsidized Title IV student aid, i. Except for applicants who are in Verification Tracking Group V4 or V5, an institution may, on a case by case documented basis, disburse unsubsidized Title IV aid to those applicants who are selected for Verification Tracking Group V1 if the institution has determined that there will be a delay in the completion of verification.

When determining the amount of the unsubsidized aid to be disbursed, the institution must ensure that the subsidized aid the applicant is estimated to receive is considered. After verification is completed, the institution must ensure that both the subsidized assistance and the unsubsidized assistance are adjusted, if necessary.

Can an institution determine which of its staff are authorized to review the identity of an applicant selected for verification groups V4 or V5? May an institution require an applicant who was selected for verification by the Department to verify other FAFSA information in addition to those items identified by the Department for the award year?

When an applicant is not selected for verification by the Department on the applicant's initial transaction, is it possible for that applicant to be selected for verification by the Department on a subsequent transaction? May an institution require an applicant selected for verification by the Department to submit a tax transcript and only accept a signed copy of the income tax return if the applicant is unable to obtain the tax transcript?

An institution may request a copy of a tax return transcript in lieu of a signed copy of an income tax return but not require it. However, if an institution has concerns about the validity of the income tax return submitted, it may require a tax return transcript or any other documentation specified in the annual Federal Register notice. The institution must document the reason why the income tax return was not acceptable. Sections May an institution select applicants for verification other than those selected by the Department?

Must an institution require an applicant it selects for verification to verify all of the FAFSA information identified by the Department for the award year? Must the institution comply with the "acceptable documentation" requirements for the FAFSA information it selects for verification?

Are tax filers who filed or will file a tax return required to verify income earned from work? Tax filers who filed or will file a tax return are not required to verify income earned from work. Must an institution require an applicant selected for verification to verify receipt of SNAP benefits food stamps if the applicant or someone in the applicant's household, or if applicable, the applicant's parent's household, also reported receipt of one of the other means-tested federal benefits that would make the applicant eligible for one of the alternate EFC calculations?

How are distributions from pensions and other annuities treated? However, those publications discuss allowing some or all of these distributions to be excluded from taxable income under certain conditions.

If none of the exclusionary conditions apply, the tax filer is instructed to report the full amount of the distribution on IRS Form line 15b for an IRA distribution and line 16b for pensions and annuities. If, however, the tax filer is eligible to exclude some or all of the distributions, the IRS instructs the tax filer to enter the full amount of the distribution on IRS Form line 15a or 16a, as appropriate.

The tax filer is then instructed to subtract from the amount in 15a or 16a any portion of the distribution that, under IRS rules, is exempt from being considered as taxable income. The difference is then reported on lines 15b or 16b, as appropriate, and becomes part of the taxable income and thus, part of the tax filer's adjusted gross income AGI.

If there are qualified rollovers, the IRS guidance tells the tax filer to enter the word "Rollover" on the tax return next to line 15b or 16b. The summary above is not provided as official IRS guidance.

Tax filers should consult the IRS or their tax advisors for definitive guidance on the rules governing the treatment of IRAs and pensions and annuities for tax purposes.

FAFSA Requirements: Generally, amounts of any distributions that were excluded from taxable income under the IRS rules—the difference between line 15a and line 15b or between line 16a and 16b—are considered untaxed income for the purpose of calculating an applicant's expected family contribution EFC , and therefore, should be reported on the FAFSA as responses to the IRA and pension questions.

However, the calculation of an EFC allows for the exclusion of any amount of the distribution that is a rollover.

To support such a change, the institution must maintain documentation see below that the amount not included in the FAFSA was an amount that was the result of a rollover.

Acceptable documentation could be a signed statement from the tax filer. Acceptable documentation could also be a notation by the tax filer on the IRS Tax Return Transcript that includes the word "Rollover" beside the applicable item s on the transcript, similar to the instructions provided for the IRS Form or A.

If the institution accepts as documentation of the rollover a notation on the IRS Tax Return Transcript, it must ensure that the notation is signed and dated by the tax filer. If the IRA or pension distributions were the only tax information that was changed for tax filers who used the IRS DRT, an institution should accept from the tax filer a signed statement confirming that the IRA or pension distributions included a rollover.

A tax transcript would only be necessary if other IRS tax information was changed. Archived VI-Q6. Are institutions required to verify the payment of Child Support that was reported on a verification worksheet or other documentation at the institution, but not reported on the applicant's FAFSA?

What is the language in the "Statement of Educational Purpose" that institutions must use for students placed in Verification Tracking Groups V4 or V5? The only difference in the EFC calculation for SNT-eligible applicants is the elimination of assets, and assets are not required to be verified. The guidance above continues to apply for the — and subsequent award years, except applicants are no longer assigned to Verification Tracking Group V6 and SNAP is no longer a verifiable item.

An IRS Request Flag with a value of 07 indicates that the applicant or parent filed an amended tax return. Usually when the applicant's marital status changes, there is no updating of the applicant's dependency status or, for applicants selected for verification, household size or number in college. The FAA updates these applicants' marital status on a case-by-case basis and must document the reason for the decision. Likewise, for an applicant who was independent only because he or she was married when the FAFSA was first completed, if the FAA changes the applicant's marital status to unmarried, making the applicant dependent, the FAFSA must be updated with parental information.

In almost all cases, a change in a student's marital status will change his or her EFC, and there can be only one EFC for a student for an award year except when he or she becomes a graduate student during the award year. Therefore, the new EFC must be used to calculate the student's eligibility for all Federal student aid for the award year, which may require recalculating aid that was awarded or disbursed based on the earlier EFC.

Adjustments to aid that has already been disbursed is not required if the student is no longer enrolled at the institution for the award year, unless the student subsequently reenrolls during the award year. For example, a dependent student who was awarded aid at School A leaves to get married and then enrolls at School B.

The student then requests to be treated as married, and School B agrees and submits the override to CPS. While School B must use the new EFC for any aid it will award, School A does not need to recalculate the awards it made and disbursed, unless the student returns during the award year.

This is not a case of an institution having to perform verification before making professional judgment changes to the FAFSA. The Department's objective is to ensure that Title IV aid eligibility determinations are made based on the most accurate information possible. In these limited cases, an institution may accept documentation that include the change s made by the IRS, in addition to one of the items mentioned above.

May an institution decide what documentation is acceptable for its institutionally selected applicants? Is the information provided on a verification worksheet or other documentation at the institution sufficient to verify household size, number in college, or income earned from work for nontax filers; since the applicant signs the verification worksheet or other documentation submitted to the institution acknowledging that the information is correct?

A verification worksheet or other documentation at the institution may serve as the signed statement to verify household size, number in college, or income earned from work for nontax filers, as long as the worksheet or other documentation has a certification statement similar to what is included on the Department's suggested verification text.

An institution is not required to use the suggested verification text developed by the Department. It may use its own worksheet or require other documentation. For verification of nontax filer wages, are institutions required to collect both the W-2 s from all employers and the signed statement certifying that the individual has not filed and is not required to file an income tax return, listing all income and sources?

For verifying child support paid, please clarify whether the institution is required to obtain the signature of the person who paid the child support? An institution may accept as verification documentation any IRS tax transcript that includes all of the income and tax information required to be verified: adjusted gross income AGI , U.

Therefore, because the Record of Account Transcript and the Return Transcript for Taxpayer RTFTP includes all of the above noted information, either document may be used to meet the verification requirements. May an institution meet the signature requirements for verification documentation submitted by an applicant, parent or spouse through an electronic process? For verification documentation purposes, an institution may collect an electronic signature for an applicant, parent or spouse if the process for obtaining the electronic signature includes assurances that the person providing the electronic signature is the person whose signature is being collected.

Often, this is accomplished through a PIN or password process where the PIN or password has been assigned only after authentication of the identity of the person to whom the PIN or password is assigned. Is there an instance when an IRS Request Flag code of "02" would not carry forward to a subsequent transaction? Must the tax return information be submitted to the institution after the income tax return has been filed?

An institution may not delay completing verification for an applicant when a tax filing extension has been granted by the IRS. This provision provides extension filers with a timely alternative to complete the verification process to avoid delaying the applicant's receipt of aid because of the IRS granted extension. For an individual who was called up for active duty or for qualifying National Guard duty during a war or other military operation or national emergency, in lieu of IRS Form , an institution must accept a signed statement from the individual certifying that he or she has not filed an income tax return or a request for a filing extension because of that service.

Beginning with the award year, a signature is no longer required on the statement. While submission of the documentation mentioned above meets the verification requirements and allows Title IV aid to be disbursed, an institution may require an individual granted an IRS tax filing extension to submit, after the tax return is filed, tax return information using the IRS DRT, or by submitting an IRS Tax Return Transcript within the deadline it established that is consistent with the deadline to submit verification documents published in the annual deadline dates Federal Register notice.

However, beginning with the award year, individuals who have only been granted an automatic six-month extension by the IRS must verify income and tax information either by using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool or by submitting to the institution an IRS Tax Return Transcript. However, an institution may not apply this provision to individuals granted a filing extension beyond the institution's established deadline because the individual was called up for active duty or for qualifying National Guard duty during a war or other military operation or national emergency.

Can an institution rely on documentation of a student's high school completion status or documentation that a student has the equivalency of a high school diploma that it collected for purposes other than completing verification to verify a student's high school completion status? Must an institution complete verification for students placed in verification groups V4 or V5 who are only eligible for unsubsidized student financial assistance?

This will help ensure that only eligible students receive aid and will improve the integrity of the Title IV, HEA programs. Are high school diplomas from other countries acceptable documentation to verify a student's high school completion status? What must institutions collect when a student established Title IV eligibility under one of the ability-to-benefit ATB alternatives but is selected under verification groups V4 or V5 to verify the student's high school completion status?

Does the institution need to require the student to submit an IRS Tax Return Transcript to verify all of the IRS-related verification items, or can it use the original unchanged values and only verify the changed value?

Is further verification needed to resolve differences between what was included on the ISIR and what the student provided as part of the verification process? No, unless the institution has reason to believe that the information provided on a verification document is inaccurate. When an institution obtains acceptable documentation for a verification item, that documentation will either confirm that the information on the ISIR is correct or be used to make changes to the ISIR.

The institution need not attempt to determine the reason for the difference. The tax filer may be the first to identify the identity theft or the IRS may be the first to suspect that there has been Tax Administration Identity Theft. Examples of a Non-Tax Administration Identity Theft are identity thefts that are a result of a privacy breach at a bank, credit card company, retail or web business, or because of lost or stolen identity documents.

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