FAFSA 2025-2026: Which tax return year needed for kids graduating spring 2025?

You should use your 2023 tax return for a student graduating in spring 2025 and enrolling for the 2025-2026 academic year. The FAFSA always uses what's called the "prior-prior year" tax information, so it's always two years before the academic year starts, regardless of when you actually fill out the form. So for the 2025-2026 academic year FAFSA: - Use 2023 tax return information - This applies even if you fill it out in October 2024, December 2024, or March 2025 - The "two years prior" rule is consistent across all applications

my brother said the same thing last year and got denied cuz he used the wrong tax return lol. definitely use 2023 for 2025-26 school year

I just went through this whole process with my oldest son and I promise you it's the 2023 tax return you need. They switched to this system a few years back specifically so families wouldn't have to wait until they filed their most recent taxes. It's ALWAYS the taxes from two years before the academic year starts, no matter when you submit the application. It's actually called "prior-prior year" in FAFSA-speak. So: - 2025-2026 academic year = 2023 tax return - 2026-2027 academic year = 2024 tax return And so on...

The federal student aid website confirms it's your 2023 tax information for the 2025-2026 academic year. It's called the prior-prior year rule and it's been standardized to make it easier for families to complete the FAFSA earlier. The reason for this policy is so you can use completed tax information rather than estimated info. If your income has changed significantly since 2023, you'd complete the FAFSA with the 2023 information first, then contact each college's financial aid office about a professional judgment review (sometimes called a special circumstances review or income adjustment). By the way, if you're having trouble reaching anyone at Federal Student Aid to confirm this or with other FAFSA questions, check out Claimyr.com - they can get you connected to a live agent without the typical 2+ hour wait. They have a quick video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. I used it last month when my son's FAFSA got flagged for verification and we needed to speak to someone ASAP.

In my experience, the instructions are always confusing!!! I filled out my son's FAFSA last year and used the wrong year's tax info. We had to correct it later and it delayed his financial aid package by over a month. DEFINITELY use 2023 tax info for 2025-26, and make SURE you have your 2023 return easily accessible when you sit down to do the application.

I think everyone is correct about using 2023 taxes for your 2025 high school graduate. But I just want to point out that the FAFSA for 2025-2026 should open October 1, 2024. You don't need to wait until December to submit it. In fact, some schools have priority deadlines as early as November for certain scholarships, so I'd recommend filling it out as soon as it opens!

One more important thing: when you use your 2023 tax information, make sure you're directly transferring the data using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool in the FAFSA application. It automatically imports your tax information and reduces the chance of errors. Some types of aid are first-come, first-served, so accuracy from the start is important.