Can we skip FAFSA tax correction sections that don't apply to us?

You absolutely CAN skip sections that don't apply! We went through this last month. For ANY box that doesn't apply to your situation, you should enter zero. DON'T leave them blank - that's what triggers the error messages. It took us FOUR TRIES to figure this out because the instructions are so terrible! Just put zeros and you'll be fine.

The person above is partially correct, but I want to clarify something important. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, you should enter zero for sections that don't apply, not leave them blank. However, make sure you're answering the preliminary questions correctly too. For example, if it asks "Do you have business income?" and you select "No," it should skip those sections automatically. If it's still showing those sections, you might have answered a gateway question incorrectly. This is a common mistake that triggers unnecessary sections to appear.

im in same boat with my son. the whole section about farm assets kept showing up even tho we live in an apartment lol. had to start over THREE times. so frustrating

Financial aid counselor here. The FAFSA's income correction notices can be confusing. When you receive an action to correct tax information, you need to: 1. Answer all gateway questions accurately (these determine which sections appear) 2. Enter zero for any fields that don't apply (never leave blank) 3. Make sure your AGI from your tax return matches exactly what you enter 4. Check that you've selected the correct tax filing status If you're still having trouble, I recommend calling the Federal Student Aid Information Center directly. Many people have luck using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through quickly instead of waiting on hold for hours. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. Getting an actual person on the phone can save you weeks of frustration with these correction notices.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T LEAVE THINGS BLANK!!! I made that mistake and our application was delayed by 6 WEEKS because of it! The system is absolutely broken. They rejected our application THREE TIMES because we left the business income section blank instead of putting zeros. Who designed this system?!? It's like they WANT to make it impossible for families to get financial aid! My daughter almost missed her school's priority deadline because of this nonsense.

just wondering did you use the FAFSA preview tool before filling it out? it helped us see what docs we needed beforehand

go to studentaid.gov and look for FAFSA preview tool, shows you what youll need before you start the real application

Just wanted to follow up - were you able to fix your tax information corrections? A key thing to remember is that the new FAFSA uses federal tax information directly from the IRS through the Data Retrieval Tool. If you used that successfully, you shouldn't be getting tax correction notices unless there's a mismatch with other information you provided.

So glad you got it figured out! That's exactly the kind of issue that trips up so many families - those gateway questions are super important but not always clearly labeled. For anyone else reading this, I'd also recommend keeping screenshots of your completed FAFSA sections before submitting, just in case you need to reference what you entered later. The correction process becomes much easier when you can see exactly what might have changed between submissions. Congrats on getting through the maze!