FAFSA 2025-2026 only asking about assets not income? Is this normal?
I'm seriously confused about the new FAFSA form for my twins (both seniors). I completed my part no problem, then my husband got his contributor invitation. Here's the weird part - his section ONLY asked about current assets (savings, investments, etc.) but NOTHING about income! No questions about wages, salary, nothing! Did we miss something? I thought income was the biggest factor for FAFSA calculations. I haven't done my contributor portion yet because I had to create a new FSA ID (my old one wouldn't work) and now I'm stuck waiting 1-3 days for verification. But I'm worried our app will be incomplete if the income info isn't included somewhere. Does the new FAFSA really just pull tax info automatically from the IRS? Has anyone else completed all sections and can confirm? Just seems WAY too simple compared to previous years!
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Nia Wilson
Yes, this is correct! The FAFSA was completely redesigned for 2025-2026. The entire income section is now handled through the IRS Data Retrieval Tool which is built directly into the form. When your husband completed his section, he should have authorized the FAFSA to retrieve his tax information directly from the IRS. The system pulls all income data automatically, which is why you only saw questions about assets. Same thing will happen in your section. This is intentionally designed to simplify the process and reduce errors. No more manually entering all those tax numbers!
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Luca Ferrari
•That's a HUGE relief! Thank you!! I was panicking thinking we messed something up. So I'm guessing I'll just see asset questions too when my FSA ID finally gets verified? This is so different from when I filled it out for my oldest 4 years ago!
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Mateo Martinez
omg i had the EXACT same panic moment last week!! i was like there's no way this is right lol. but yep its the new "simplified" fafsa. only asks for assets and pulls tax stuff automatically. feels too easy tbh
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Aisha Hussain
Wait does anyone know if this means my parents' rental property income gets counted differently than before?? Their main income is from their jobs but they have a duplex they rent out and that always messed up our FAFSA calculations before...
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Nia Wilson
•Rental income still gets counted as part of your parents' overall income. The difference is that now the system pulls it directly from their tax return (Schedule E) rather than them having to enter it manually. The FAFSA calculation (now called the SAI - Student Aid Index) still factors in all income sources reported on tax returns.
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Ethan Clark
The new FAFSA system is a DISASTER. I had the exact same experience where it only asked for assets and supposedly "pulled" tax info. Guess what? Three weeks later we got notified our application was "incomplete" because the IRS data transfer failed! No explanation, no warning. Now we're scrambling to get everything fixed before deadlines. Don't trust the system when it says it's "automatically" getting your tax info. Call Federal Student Aid directly to verify your application status BEFORE all your scholarship deadlines pass. You do NOT want to be in our situation.
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Luca Ferrari
•Oh no! That's exactly what I'm worried about. Did they at least tell you what went wrong with the tax info transfer? Was there something specific that caused the error?
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Ethan Clark
•They had some vague explanation about "mismatched information" between our FSA ID accounts and IRS records. Apparently even small differences in how your name is formatted can cause the whole thing to fail! The most frustrating part was we had no idea until weeks later when we checked the status.
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StarStrider
If you're worried about whether the tax information actually transferred correctly, I recommend checking your SAI calculation once it's processed. If it shows $0 income (when you definitely have income), that's a red flag the transfer failed. Also, after struggling to reach anyone at Federal Student Aid for days (kept getting disconnected), I finally used Claimyr to get through to a live agent in about 10 minutes. They were able to verify all our tax info transferred correctly. Their site is claimyr.com and they have a video demo that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Saved me hours of stress wondering if our application was actually complete.
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Luca Ferrari
•Thank you so much for the tip! I've been worried about this exact issue. I'll definitely check our SAI calculation when it's ready, and if anything looks off, I'll try that service. The peace of mind would be worth it!
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Yuki Sato
Financial aid advisor here. Yes, the 2025-2026 FAFSA is working as designed. A few important points: 1) The IRS data transfer is mandatory now, not optional like before 2) Assets still need to be manually entered as they aren't on tax forms 3) You should receive an email confirmation once your application is fully processed 4) The new SAI (Student Aid Index, formerly EFC) calculation will appear on your confirmation page One tip: make sure your name, DOB, and SSN match EXACTLY between your FSA ID and tax records. Even small discrepancies can cause transfer failures.
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Aisha Hussain
•Is there a way to know if the IRS data transfer worked correctly BEFORE we submit the whole application? Or do we just have to wait and see if we get an error message later?
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Yuki Sato
•Unfortunately, there's no real-time verification. However, after submission, you can check your Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation within 3-5 days. If it shows your income as $0 or seems unusually low based on your financial situation, that's a strong indicator the data transfer failed. In that case, you should contact Federal Student Aid immediately to resolve it.
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Mateo Martinez
update: we submitted 3 weeks ago and JUST got our sai calculation today. WAYYYYY different than last years efc number!!! like almost 40% lower?? not complaining but weird
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Yuki Sato
•This is actually expected! The new SAI calculation formula is significantly different from the old EFC formula. Congress made changes specifically to increase aid eligibility for many families. The most substantial changes affect middle-income families and those with multiple children in college simultaneously. If your SAI is lower than your previous EFC, that's actually good news for your potential aid packages!
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Carmen Ruiz
I had a question related to this - my wife and I filed taxes separately last year. Do we BOTH need to authorize the IRS data retrieval separately? Or does the system somehow combine our tax returns? We're confused because my wife got a contributor invite but I didn't.
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Nia Wilson
•If you filed separately, you both need to complete the contributor section and authorize the IRS data retrieval separately. Each parent's tax information must be individually pulled. If only one of you received a contributor invitation, the student may have only listed one parent on the initial application. You'll need to contact Federal Student Aid to have yourself added as a contributor.
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Luca Ferrari
Thank you everyone for the helpful information! My FSA ID just got verified and I completed my section today. Just like you all said - only asset questions and a consent for IRS data retrieval. No income questions at all! I'm a bit nervous after reading about potential transfer failures though. I'll definitely be checking our SAI calculation as soon as it's available. This new system seems more convenient when it works but potentially more problematic when it doesn't. Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly!
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StellarSurfer
Welcome to the new FAFSA experience! As someone who just went through this process with my daughter, I can confirm what others have said - it really is just assets and IRS authorization now. The system worked perfectly for us, but I'd definitely recommend what StarStrider mentioned about checking your SAI calculation once it's ready. One thing I learned: if you do run into issues with the IRS data transfer, don't panic. The schools' financial aid offices are very familiar with these hiccups and can help resolve them quickly. Most have extended their priority deadlines this year specifically because of the new system's quirks. Good luck with your twins' applications!
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Natasha Volkov
•Thank you so much for the reassurance about the schools being understanding! That's really helpful to know. I was starting to stress about potential delays affecting our financial aid packages, but it sounds like the colleges are prepared for these issues. It's such a relief to hear from someone who successfully completed the whole process. Appreciate you sharing your experience!
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Aaliyah Reed
As a financial aid newbie (this is my first kid going to college), I found this thread incredibly helpful! I was having the exact same confusion when I started my FAFSA yesterday. Like others mentioned, I kept looking for the income section and couldn't find it anywhere - just assets and the IRS authorization. It's reassuring to hear this is normal, but also a bit scary reading about the potential transfer failures. I think I'll definitely be obsessively checking our SAI calculation when it comes through. Has anyone figured out roughly how long it takes from submission to getting the SAI results? Just trying to manage my anxiety levels here! 😅 Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - this community is a lifesaver for confused parents like me!
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Jamal Carter
•Welcome to the FAFSA adventure! 😊 From what I've seen in this thread and my own experience, the SAI calculation typically takes about 3-5 days after submission, though some people mentioned it took up to 3 weeks during busy periods. One tip that might help with the anxiety - once you submit, you should get an email confirmation pretty quickly. That at least lets you know the system received everything. Then you can start checking your studentaid.gov dashboard every few days for the SAI results. The asset-only questions definitely threw me off too at first! It's such a dramatic change from the old system. But seeing how many families here have gone through it successfully is really reassuring. You've got this!
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