This is such a helpful thread! I'm in a similar situation and was also confused about the tax year requirements. One thing I'd add is that if you're planning to apply for state financial aid in addition to federal aid, make sure to check your state's deadlines too - some states have earlier deadlines than the federal FAFSA. Also, for anyone dealing with divorced parents, I found it really helpful to have a conversation with both parents early about who will be the "custodial parent" for FAFSA purposes, especially if custody is truly 50/50. It saved us a lot of stress later when we had to gather all the documents. Good luck with your applications!

Just wanted to jump in as someone who went through this exact situation last year! You're absolutely right - use 2023 tax returns for your 2025-2026 FAFSA. One thing that really helped me was creating a checklist of all the documents I needed from both parents before I even started the application. Since you mentioned your parents are divorced and coordinating is difficult, I'd suggest asking both parents to gather their documents now (2023 tax returns, W-2s, bank statements, etc.) even if you're only reporting one parent's info on FAFSA. Sometimes financial aid offices ask for additional documentation during verification, and having everything ready saved me weeks of back-and-forth. Also, if your mom's new husband is being difficult about sharing his financial info, remind him that it's legally required for FAFSA - there's no way around it if they want you to receive federal financial aid. The whole process is stressful enough without family drama! You've got this!

As someone who just went through this exact same situation with my son's FAFSA last month, I can definitely relate to the confusion! I had about $1,800 in outstanding checks and spent way too much time worrying about whether to wait for them to clear. After calling the financial aid office at his college, they confirmed what others have said here - you absolutely must report the balance that actually shows in your account on the day you submit, regardless of pending transactions. I ended up reporting the higher amount and honestly, looking at our final aid package, I doubt it made any meaningful difference. The 5.64% parent asset assessment rate that the counselor mentioned really is key - even my extra $1,800 only added about $101 to our SAI at most. Not worth the stress I put myself through! My advice is to just submit with whatever balance is showing and focus your energy on meeting deadlines rather than trying to time everything perfectly around bill payments.

As a newcomer to this whole FAFSA process, I have to say this discussion has been incredibly enlightening! I'm in a very similar boat with my daughter's application - we have about $2,200 showing in our checking account, but around $1,400 in bills that I know will auto-pay over the next few days. I was actually planning to wait until after those payments cleared to submit, thinking it would help our aid eligibility. But after reading through everyone's experiences and especially learning about that 5.64% parent asset assessment rate, I realize I was making this way more complicated than it needs to be. Even if I reported $1,400 less, we're only talking about maybe $79 difference in our SAI calculation - hardly worth risking any priority deadlines over! I think the most valuable takeaway for me is that accuracy and timeliness matter way more than trying to game the system. Going to submit this week with whatever balance shows and stop stressing about the timing. Thanks everyone for sharing your real experiences - so much more helpful than trying to interpret the official guidelines alone!

This whole thread is such a perfect example of why FAFSA season is so stressful for families! I'm a college counselor and I literally keep a FAQ sheet about this exact topic because it comes up SO often. One thing I always tell families is to think of tax dependency and FAFSA dependency as completely different universes that just happen to use the same word. Tax dependency = IRS rules about who can claim whom for tax benefits. FAFSA dependency = Department of Education rules about whose income counts for financial aid. They're administered by different agencies with different goals and different criteria. Your son will almost certainly be considered a dependent student for FAFSA purposes (unless he meets one of those very specific independence criteria like being 24+, married, veteran, etc.), which means your income gets included regardless of your tax filing strategy. The silver lining is that you now have the flexibility to make the tax decision purely based on what's best for your family's tax situation without worrying about messing up his financial aid!

As someone who just went through this exact situation with my daughter last year, I want to add one more perspective that might help! We also chose not to claim her as a tax dependent for strategic reasons, and I was initially terrified we'd made a huge mistake for her financial aid. What I learned is that while the FAFSA dependency rules are completely separate from tax dependency (as everyone has explained perfectly), it's actually quite common for families to make different choices for tax vs. FAFSA purposes. The financial aid officers we worked with said they see this scenario regularly and it's totally normal. One practical tip: when you're completing the FAFSA, there's a section where you report whether your son was claimed as a tax dependent. Just answer that question accurately based on your actual tax filing, and don't worry about any perceived "mismatch." The system is designed to handle these different scenarios. You're definitely making the right choice to include your income information on his FAFSA regardless of your tax filing decision. Good luck with the application process!

I'm new to this community and just discovered this thread while dealing with the exact same frustrating issue! I've been stuck on the "information doesn't match" error for days and was starting to panic about my application deadline. After reading through all these incredibly helpful solutions, I'm now convinced my mom probably has an old FSA ID from when she helped my cousin with college applications about 6 years ago - something we completely forgot about until I found this thread! It's amazing how this one overlooked detail can cause so much stress when you think you're entering everything correctly. I'm definitely going to have her try the account recovery process first thing tomorrow using any old email addresses she might have used back then. This community is absolutely incredible for providing real, actionable solutions that actually work instead of the generic "contact support" advice you get everywhere else. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences and solutions - you've transformed what felt like an impossible situation into something totally manageable!

I'm new to this community and just wanted to add my experience to this incredibly helpful thread! I'm currently dealing with this exact same error and was getting so frustrated until I found all these solutions. My dad helped my older brother with his FAFSA about 4 years ago, so after reading through everyone's experiences, I'm now pretty confident he has an old FSA ID that we completely forgot about. It's crazy how this one overlooked detail can cause so much stress when you think you're doing everything right! I'm going to have him try the account recovery process tonight using any email addresses he might have used back then. This community is amazing for providing real solutions that actually work - thank you to everyone who shared their experiences and made this nightmare feel solvable!

Since your income changed significantly from 2023, make sure you understand how the SAI (Student Aid Index, formerly EFC) will be calculated. FAFSA will use your 2023 income, but if your 2024 or 2025 income is substantially lower, document everything carefully. You'll need to wait until after you receive aid offers to appeal, but having documentation ready will help tremendously with the professional judgment reviews.

Just wanted to add another tip - when you do submit the FAFSA in December, make sure to list your daughter's schools in order of preference! The first few schools on the list get priority if there are limited federal funds like work-study or Perkins loans. Also, some state aid programs are first-come-first-served, so submitting early really does matter. Good luck with everything - the financial aid process is overwhelming but you're asking all the right questions!