FAFSA Income & Assets

Reporting Income & Assets on the FAFSA

What income information does the FAFSA ask for?

The FAFSA asks applicants to report federal Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) plus various forms of untaxed income listed in questions 45 & 94 as follows:

Question 45 – STUDENT UNTAXED INCOME:

• Payments to tax-deferred pension and retirement accounts – including those shown on W-2 box 12 – codes D,E,F,G,H and S.
• IRA, SEP, SIMPLE, Keogh and other accounts shown on lines 28 and 32 of IRS form 1040, and line 17 form 1040A.
• Child support received for any of your children.
• Tax-exempt interest income on line 8(b) of form 1040 or 1040A.
• Untaxed portions of IRA distributions line 15a minus 15b – IRS form 1040 and line 11a minus 11b form 1040A.  DON’T INCLUDE ROLLOVERS
• Untaxed portions of Pension distributions line 16a minus 16b – IRS form 1040 and line 12a minus 12b form 1040A. DON’T INCLUDE ROLLOVERS
• Housing, food and other allowances paid to members of the military, clergy and others. Don’t include the value of on-base military housing or the value of a basis military allowance for housing.
• Veterans non-education benefits, such as Disability, Death, Pension, or Dependency & Indemnity Compensation (DIC) and/or VA education work-study.
• Other untaxed income not reported above such as workers compensation, disability benefits, etc.  Include the untaxed portion of HSA’s shwon on line 25 of IRS form 1040.
• Money received OR Paid on your behalf for your legal bills.
• DO NOT INCLUDE:
  • Foster Care Benefits
  • Student Financial Aid
  • Earned Income Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit
  • Welfare Payements, Untaxed Social Security benefits or SSI
  • Combat Pay or military housing allowance
  • Cafeteria Plan benefits
  • Foreign income exclusion

Question 94 – PARENT(S) UNTAXED INCOME:

• Payments to tax-deferred pension and retirement accounts – including those shown on W-2 box 12 – codes D,E,F,G,H and S.
• IRA, SEP, SIMPLE, Keogh and other accounts shown on lines 28 and 32 of IRS form 1040, and line 17 form 1040A.
• Child support received for any of your children.
• Tax-exempt interest income on line 8(b) of form 1040 or 1040A.
• Untaxed portions of IRA distributions line 15a minus 15b – IRS form 1040 and line 11a minus 11b form 1040A.  DON’T INCLUDE ROLLOVERS
• Untaxed portions of Pension distributions line 16a minus 16b – IRS form 1040 and line 12a minus 12b form 1040A. DON’T INCLUDE ROLLOVERS
• Housing, food and other allowances paid to members of the military, clergy and others. Don’t include the value of on-base military housing or the value of a basis military allowance for housing.
• Veterans non-education benefits, such as Disability, Death, Pension, or Dependency & Indemnity Compensation (DIC) and/or VA education work-study.
• Other untaxed income not reported above such as workers compensation, disability benefits, etc.  Include the untaxed portion of HSA’s shown on line 25 of IRS form 1040.
• DO NOT INCLUDE:
  • Foster Care Benefits
  • Student Financial Aid
  • Earned Income Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit
  • Welfare Payements, Untaxed Social Security benefits or SSI
  • Combat Pay or military housing allowance
  • Cafeteria Plan benefits
  • Foreign income exclusion

Which tax year applies when completing the FAFSA?

You will use the “prior, prior” year as the base year for completing the FAFSA.   So, when completing the 2020-21 FAFSA you will report information from your 2018 tax return.

The change to “prior, prior” year should allow almost every family to fill out the FAFSA based on a completed federal tax return. This also means that most families will be able to link to the IRS database and download required tax information when completing the FAFSA.

What asset information is reported on the FAFSA?
The FAFSA requires parents and students to report the net worth of assets, including:

Unlike with the income questions – which ask you to report based on a prior tax year – you are required to report the value of each asset on the day that you complete the FAFSA.