College grants/scholarship and filing taxes -need help ASAP

amother

Sun, Sep 08 2013, 9:59 am

Hi everyone, this is my story. I am half way done with college. I work very -very hard, I receive Deans scholarship. Thanks to FAFSA and TAP grants I only had to pay $300 + books for college so far. Unfortunately, my husband isn't supportive, if not antagonistic towards my college "shtik".
To receive the scholarships I need to show my taxes. We usually file taxes "joined" although only my husband always worked. My husband still didn't file taxes for the past year, and its more complicated than just bringing info to the tax preparer. He needs to have information entered into quickbooks for good six month worth of work, which he even doesn't know how to do.
Now, I just saw my TAP award and its my lower then usual, meaning that the college tuition will not be covered this year. When applying for the grant I entered "estimated"amount - based on previous tax return. THE QUESTION IS:[b] is it possible that the amount will change if/when the actual IRS report will be available? Also, is it possible and beneficial for me to file "married, file separately" if I don't have personal income?[/b]

mille

Sun, Sep 08 2013, 3:16 pm

I can't really answer your specific question (but the financial aid office in your college should be able to -- utilize the services the college provides to you, you're paying for them!). That said, I don't think being married and filing separately will help. First, if you have no income, you probably wouldn't file to begin with. Second, because you are married, they still need your husband's taxes. When I applied for FAFSA for this year, they wanted all of my husband's info in addition to mine.

If your husband hasn't filed his taxes, which are well past due at this point, I wouldn't expect to receive any financial aid. Tax info is required for FAFSA.

Also, I'm guessing your semester either started or is about to start. Keep in mind that most colleges have a policy on when payment must be made for the semester and they WILL drop your classes if you don't pay. It doesn't matter if you are having difficulty with financial aid and are anticipating getting your financial aid back -- you still owe them the money to attend classes. If you get financial aid at a later date, you'll be reimbursed. I mention this because it would be very unfortunate if you were dropped from your classes, so talk to the financial aid office and bursar and make sure you are paid up (or get on a sallie mae payment plan).

Good luck!