Students or parents completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) can access IRS tax return information using the 2013-2014 IRS Data Retrieval Tool beginning in early February. The tool enables applicants to transfer their tax return information directly into a FAFSA application. FAFSA applicants who filed tax returns with certain filing statuses, filed an amended tax return, or filed a Puerto Rican or foreign tax return, are not eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool and will need to enter their tax return information manually. Tax return information may take up to three weeks to become available if the tax returns were filed electronically (up to eight weeks for tax returns that are mailed). Applicants may need to enter their data manually or return to the FAFSA form at a later time when their data is available for transfer from the IRS.
Ineligible applicants and those who choose not to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to retrieve tax return information may need to provide the college with a copy of an IRS Tax Return Transcript. To order an IRS Tax Return Transcript, call 1-800-908-9946, go to Order a Return or Account Transcript at www.IRS.gov or use the IRS2Go mobile application. The 2013-2014 IRS Data Retrieval Tool, for obtaining tax return information, will be available on the FAFSA website at http://www.FAFSA.gov beginning early February 2013.
For additional tax news, see our Tax Alerts.
Portions of this article were previously published at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/help/irshlp9.htm
