FAFSA Rejection Loop: IRS Tax Data Mismatch and Schools Can't See My Application

The IRS is actually the right place to call in this situation. What's happening is your FAFSA tax information doesn't match what the IRS has on file - this is a common verification issue. When you call the IRS, request a 'Tax Return Transcript' for the tax year required on your FAFSA (2023 for the 2025-2026 FAFSA). Once you get this transcript, you need to compare it with what you entered on your FAFSA. Look specifically at AGI (Adjusted Gross Income), federal taxes paid, and any untaxed income. The numbers need to match EXACTLY.

OMG SAME THING happened to me!!!! was rejected 3 times bc of tax info. turns out I was putting in the number from the wrong line on my tax form. check line 24 on 1040 form for AGI and line 33 for taxes paid. that fixed it for me

This is actually a common issue with the 2025-2026 FAFSA. There are two ways to resolve it: 1) Use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) when completing the FAFSA. This automatically pulls your tax information directly from the IRS and is the most accurate method. 2) If DRT isn't working for you, request a Tax Return Transcript from the IRS (you can do this online at irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript or by calling 800-908-9946). Then manually compare every single number you entered with what's on the transcript. The most common discrepancies occur with: - Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) - Federal income tax paid - Untaxed portions of IRA distributions - Untaxed portions of pensions Even a $1 difference will cause a rejection. The school can't see your application because it hasn't cleared the initial verification yet.

just wait til u get to the verification part lol... THATS when the real nightmare begins trust me. took me 3 months last year to get thru verification even WITH all the right documents

I work in a financial aid office, and I want to add that schools literally CANNOT see your FAFSA until it passes all the initial Department of Education validations. This includes the IRS data matching. The school isn't lying or giving you the runaround - we genuinely can't see applications that are stuck in this stage. One thing I haven't seen mentioned: check if you or your parents filed an amended tax return (Form 1040X). If so, the DRT won't work correctly, and you'll need to manually enter info from your FINAL amended return. Also, if you're entering parent tax info, make sure you're looking at THEIR tax forms, not yours. Finally, check if you have any foreign income or if your parents filed foreign taxes - this causes all sorts of headaches with the FAFSA verification.

I know exactly how you feel! I was stuck in the same situation last month and wanted to tear my hair out. After hours on hold with FAFSA, I discovered Claimyr (claimyr.com) which got me connected to an actual FSA agent in minutes instead of hours. The agent walked me through exactly which tax lines were causing the problem and how to fix them. Saved me weeks of back-and-forth. There's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ

The whole system is DESIGNED to be frustrating. They make it complicated on purpose so fewer people get financial aid. I had the EXACT same problem and spent WEEKS trying to fix it. When I finally got through to a human at FSA, they told me the rejection was because my parents' tax return showed $42,897 in income but I had entered $42,879 on the FAFSA. AN $18 DIFFERENCE!!! And for that, they rejected my entire application four times without telling me the specific reason!!! The whole system is broken and they don't care about students at all.

Update us when you get the tax transcript and compare the numbers. It's almost always a small discrepancy that's causing the issue. Don't worry too much about the school's priority deadline - most schools will still consider your FAFSA if you can show you were actively trying to resolve technical issues. Document all your calls and attempts to fix this!

one more thing... make sure ur using ur 2023 tax info not 2022!!! my brother made that mistake

I'm going through something similar right now! My FAFSA got rejected twice for tax data mismatch and it's so stressful. Reading through all these responses is really helpful - I had no idea about the Tax Return Transcript option or that even small dollar differences could cause rejections. @Sofia Rodriguez definitely try the online transcript request that @Miguel Herrera mentioned, it sounds like the fastest way to get to the bottom of this. I'm going to do the same thing for my application. It's frustrating that the system doesn't just tell you exactly what number is wrong instead of making us guess!

This is such a common and frustrating issue! I went through the exact same thing last year - multiple rejections with no clear explanation of what was wrong. What ended up fixing it for me was getting the IRS Tax Return Transcript online and doing a line-by-line comparison with my FAFSA entries. Turned out I had accidentally entered my federal taxes withheld (from my W-2) instead of my actual federal income tax paid (from my 1040). The difference was only about $200, but that was enough to trigger the rejection loop. Also, don't panic about the priority deadline - most schools understand these technical issues happen and will work with you if you can show you've been actively trying to resolve it. Document everything and keep all your correspondence. The transcript request online really is fast if you can verify your identity - I got mine in about 20 minutes. You've got this!

I'm dealing with this exact same nightmare right now! Got rejected three times and I'm losing my mind. Thank you @Miguel Herrera for the detailed explanation about the Tax Return Transcript - the FAFSA phone agents definitely don't explain this stuff clearly. And @StarGazer101 that $18 difference story is absolutely insane but somehow not surprising at all. I'm going to try the online transcript request tonight and do the line-by-line comparison that @Liam Cortez suggested. This whole thread has been more helpful than hours of phone calls with FAFSA! Will definitely update once I figure out what tiny discrepancy is causing my rejections.

I'm new to this community but dealing with the exact same issue! My FAFSA has been rejected twice now for tax data mismatch and I had no idea what was going on until I found this thread. Thank you everyone for explaining the Tax Return Transcript process - the FAFSA representatives I spoke with were completely unhelpful and just kept telling me to "check my numbers" without any guidance on how to actually do that. @Miguel Herrera your breakdown of the common discrepancy areas is incredibly helpful, and @Liam Cortez thanks for the tip about taxes withheld vs taxes paid - I bet that's my issue too since I was looking at my W-2. Going to request my transcript online tonight and finally get to the bottom of this. It's such a relief to know I'm not the only one stuck in this frustrating loop!

I'm new to this community and experiencing the exact same frustrating situation! My FAFSA has been rejected four times now for tax data mismatch, and like many of you, the phone representatives have been completely unhelpful - just telling me to "verify my information" without any actual guidance. Reading through this thread has been incredibly enlightening! @Miguel Herrera thank you for explaining the Tax Return Transcript process and the specific areas where discrepancies commonly occur. I had no idea about the difference between taxes withheld vs taxes paid that @Liam Cortez mentioned - I bet that's exactly my problem since I was pulling numbers from my W-2 instead of my 1040. @Connor Murphy your explanation about schools literally not being able to see applications stuck in verification really helps me understand why my financial aid office seemed so confused when I called them. I'm going to request my tax transcript online tonight and do that line-by-line comparison everyone's recommending. It's such a relief to know this is a common issue and not just me being incompetent with forms! Will definitely update once I figure out what tiny error is causing all this trouble.

I'm new to this community but dealing with the exact same frustrating issue! My FAFSA has been rejected three times for tax data mismatch and I was getting nowhere with phone support until I found this thread. @Miguel Herrera your explanation about the Tax Return Transcript and the IRS Data Retrieval Tool is incredibly helpful - the FAFSA agents I spoke with never mentioned any of this! And @Liam Cortez thank you for the specific tip about taxes withheld vs taxes paid, I think that might be exactly what's wrong with mine since I was looking at my W-2 instead of my actual 1040. @Connor Murphy it's also really helpful to understand that schools literally can't see our applications when they're stuck in this verification stage - that explains why my financial aid office seemed so confused when I called. I'm going to request my tax transcript online tonight and do that line-by-line comparison everyone's recommending. This community has provided more useful information in one thread than weeks of phone calls with FAFSA! Will definitely update once I figure out what tiny discrepancy is causing my rejections.

I'm new to this community and experiencing the exact same issue! My FAFSA has been rejected twice now for tax data mismatch and I was completely lost until finding this thread. The phone support has been absolutely useless - just kept telling me to "verify my information" without any actual guidance on how to do that. @Miguel Herrera your detailed explanation about the Tax Return Transcript and the specific areas where discrepancies commonly occur is incredibly helpful! I had no idea about the IRS Data Retrieval Tool or that even tiny dollar differences could cause rejections. @Liam Cortez thank you for the tip about taxes withheld vs taxes paid - I bet that's exactly my problem since I was pulling numbers from my W-2 instead of my 1040 form. @Connor Murphy it also really helps to understand that schools literally can't see applications stuck in verification - that explains why my financial aid office seemed so confused when I called them. I'm going to request my tax transcript online tonight and do that line-by-line comparison everyone's recommending. This thread has provided more useful information than weeks of frustrating phone calls! Will definitely update once I figure out what tiny error is causing my rejections.