Do disabled child's SSI benefits exempt parents from reporting income on FAFSA?

no unfortunately your child getting SSI doesnt exempt you from reporting your income. you still gotta do all that. are you in the contibuter section yet? thats where all the tax info goes

No, your child's disability status and SSI benefits don't exempt you from reporting parental income on the FAFSA. However, you'll want to carefully report his SSI benefits in the correct section. The student's SSI is not reported as income on the FAFSA, but it does need to be reported as untaxed income in the student section. The parent income/tax information comes later in the application under the contributor section. You'll need your 2022 tax return information for that part. Make sure you identify your son as receiving disability benefits when prompted, as this can affect his aid eligibility calculation in a positive way.

my daughter also gets SSI for her disability and we had to report our income. its annoying because her benefits shouldnt even count against her aid!! but thats how it works. keep going through all the sections and you'll get to the tax part eventually.

Just wanted to say I'm in the same boat with my disabled daughter and was super confused at first too! The FAFSA redesign moved everything around. Keep going through all the sections and you'll get to the parent/contributor part where all your tax stuff goes.

The 2025-2026 FAFSA has completely reorganized the application flow. You'll find the parent/contributor tax information later in the process. Here's what you need to know: 1. Your child's disability status does NOT exempt you from reporting parental income 2. The SSI benefits are reported as untaxed income for the student 3. Make sure to indicate your child has a disability when prompted 4. The parent tax information section comes after the student information section 5. You'll need your 2022 tax return figures ready The disability status can actually help with the SAI calculation, so make sure it's properly indicated.

NOBODY at fafsa ever explains this stuff clearly!! I spent THREE HOURS on hold trying to ask this exact question about my nephew's SSI benefits last month and never got through. The whole system is designed to be confusing on purpose I swear.

did anyone else notice they ask fewer questions about the disability now? like before they wanted all kinds of documentation but now they just ask if the student receives SSI

btw just so u know the SSI income your kid gets isnt taxable so dont report it in the income section or you'll mess up the caluclation

Update: I completed more sections and finally found where to enter our tax information in the contributor section! For anyone else with a student who receives SSI, I learned you do still need to report parent income and you report the SSI as untaxed income. Just wanted to update in case someone else has the same question.

Great job figuring it out! Just to add some helpful info for other parents in similar situations - when you report your son's SSI as untaxed income, make sure you're using the monthly amount multiplied by 12 for the annual figure. Also, if your son receives any state supplemental payments on top of federal SSI, those need to be reported separately. The disability designation in the FAFSA can actually work in your favor for aid calculations, so definitely don't skip that section when it comes up!

Just want to emphasize something that might help other parents - when you get to the contributor section and enter your tax info, don't panic if your Expected Family Contribution (now called SAI) seems high at first. The system processes disability considerations after all information is entered. I made the mistake of thinking we wouldn't qualify for any aid when I saw the initial numbers, but the final calculation was much more favorable once everything was properly processed. Also, keep all your documentation handy - schools sometimes request verification of the SSI benefits even though you've indicated disability status on the FAFSA.