This year, students applying for college financial aid are able to use the IRS’ Data Retrieval Tool to fill in income.

This web tool automatically fills in tax return information, including adjusted gross income, that is needed for the FAFSA forms. This feature was suspended last spring due to a hacking incident. That vulnerability has been fixed and additional privacy and security enhancements were added. The tool is now active for the 2018-19 FAFSA form.

 Keep in mind, one of the added security measures makes it so you will no longer be able to see your tax information when using this feature. The field will instead read, “Transferred from the IRS.” Don’t worry though; the school will still be able to see your tax information, and you will able to see your Expected Family Contribution on the fafsa.gov confirmation page and on your Student Aid Report.

 

Valrie Chambers, Ph.D., is chair of the Accounting Department and associate professor of taxation and accounting. Betty Thorne, Ph.D., is a professor of statistics and the Christian R. Lindback Chair of Business Administration. They write Financial Fridays to bolster students’ financial wellness, including preventing financial mistakes, safeguarding their assets and identity, and thinking critically about financial decisions. For questions, contact Valrie Chambers at [email protected].