Data Retrieval Tool

[jainen]

http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/help/irshlp9.htm

IRS will now transfer tax information directly to FAFSA. If financial aid, why not welfare aid? Mortgage companies? Credit cards? Employer? District attorney?

[JohnH]

Just a matter of time - it's coming.

They've already turned tax preparers into pretty good data entry clerks - may as well take the next step.

[Elrod]

That's what will be next....Barber, Supermarket, Drug Store.

Crooks get free information..........Why not everyone.

[Catherine]

Another reason to go to a consumption-based tax system instead of an income-based tax system.

[BulldogTom]

OK, I don't like to click on posted links (just an unreasonable phobia). So what is this tool? Is it going to make my FAFSA filing easier?

Tom

Hollister, CA

[jainen]

>>what is this tool?<<

According to the Department of Education:

The IRS Data Retrieval Tool allows students and parents to access the IRS tax return information needed to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Students and parents may transfer the data directly into their FAFSA.

If you are eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, we highly recommend using the tool for several reasons:

1. It’s the easiest way to provide your tax data.
   
2. It’s the best way of ensuring that your FAFSA has accurate tax information.
   
3. You won’t need to provide a copy of your or your parents’ tax returns to your college.
   

If you do not use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to provide tax information and your college requests a copy of your tax return or your parents’ tax return, you may be required to obtain an official tax transcript from the IRS.

[kcjenkins]

OK, I don't like to click on posted links (just an unreasonable phobia). So what is this tool? Is it going to make my FAFSA filing easier?

Tom

Hollister, CA

Yes, Tom, this is one you will like a lot. Absolutely.

[Jack from Ohio]

This tax season, the system was anything but helpful. The same delay that plagued refunds plagued the transcript system.

Transcript for a return was available the same day that the refund was processed. Some time 3-8 weeks after filing. (even e-file) I NEVER use the transcript insertion tool for FAFSA for this very reason. Most clients need the FAFSA in the system the same day the tax return is completed. It is impossible to use the insertion tool at that point.

Colleges are "verifying" a much larger percentage of FAFSA submissions. When my kids were in college, a copy of my return with some verification of numbers was acceptable. Now, due to the large amount of fraud, colleges will only accept the IRS transcript for verification. I had several clients in this situation, and the IRS told them "...our system has been delaying refunds, and the transcripts will be available at the same time the refund is processed."

This year, the IRS is implementing MORE steps to catch fraudulent and Identity Theft returns. This will slow the refund and transcript systems even further. Don't get your hopes up!!

[BulldogTom]

It is just a pain. My kids cannot get any type of Government grants or scholarships (because of income level and lack of special group status), but they do qualify for private merit scholarships administered by the schools (because they have high GPA's - yes, daddy is braggin' in his kids). But the schools still want the FAFSA completed or they won't let you apply. It is big brother at its worst.

Tom

Hollister, CA

[kcjenkins]

It's just fine to brag on them, Tom. And in my experience college bureaucracies are very much like government ones. Much more focused on their forms than on the goal of the form.

[jainen]

>>they have high GPA's<<

Back in our days, that meant, like, 3.5, 3.8. If that's all a kid could show now the colleges would just send a form letter. They want to see at least 4.5 (from advance placement and other fancy schedules), plus tons of extra-curricular activity and community service. So congratulations are indeed in order, because your teenagers didn't find their motivation just from within themselves, Dad. And you are right about the private money--that's why for qualified students it is sometimes cheaper to go to a prestige private school than the state university!

[BulldogTom]

My oldest is in college and he has a 3.6 taking subjects like calculus, physics, engineering thermodynamics, and classes like that for engineering students. He tutors calculus at the college and was just hired by one of his professors to grade algebra 2 homework.

Youngest son is a Junior in high school. Has a 4.12 GPA and is taking 5 AP classes this year. Knows he needs to get a 4.5 to get a sniff from MIT, CalTech, or Embry-Riddle. I worry that all the pressure to get good grades will get to him. We shall see how he does this year on the AP exams.

Tom

Hollister, CA

[kcjenkins]

Now that's the sort of kids we need a lot more of!

My oldest grandchild, a sophomore in college this year, told me he's thinking of changing his major to accounting !!!!! :o

[Gail in Virginia]

You should brag on your children, Tom. They sound like they give you plenty to brag about! And KC, I don't know whether to congratulate you and your grandchild or not. The way our profession is changing, I am not sure that I would recommend it to anyone. But I am sure you had a lot to do with their choice. You are definitely someone to look up to and wish to emulate!

[BulldogTom]

KC,

thanks for the kind words. But the truth is there are millions of kids out there doing what your grandson and my kids are doing. They just don't get any publicity about it. It is always the "troubled youth" that everyone focuses on. I was at a conference one time where Mark Cahill was the speaker, and he had a great message for kids who don't have a troubled background - "your story is better than the guy who screws up and then fixes it. You are miles ahead and don't need to make up for lost time. Your story is a story of good choices leading to success."

Tom

Hollister, CA

[jainen]

>>your story is better than the guy who screws up and then fixes it<<

For a different perspective on this very old story, take another look at Luke 15:11.

[BulldogTom]

Don't have my bible with me, but I am guessing that is the prodigal son? The shepard will leave his 99 lambs to go find the one that is missing?

Tom

Hollister, CA

[Catherine]

Yes, parable of the lost son/prodigal son. I like Father Robert Farrar Capon's analysis of the parables; his book, "Kingdom, Grace, Judgement: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus" is just terrific. The e-version has some errors (spaces, hyphens; nothing major) that don't occur in the paper version.

I am so glad that I went to MIT when I did; there is no way I could have gotten in today. My high school didn't even offer a basic physics class (a requirement) and I had to take a summer course to get that one in. No advanced courses, no calculus courses, no AP courses... there would have been no way to make the bare minimum requirements.

[Randall]

But remember what the father said to the good son:

'Thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine' (Luke 15:31)

[BulldogTom]

Sorry to go all Bible on you, but there are many morals to be learned from that parable. Most people concentrate on the fact that your Father in Heaven will always take you back when you repent. The final one is a warning to those who do the right thing. You should be as joyful as your Father in Heaven is when one who was lost is saved. This was the lesson to the good son.

Tom

Hollister, CA