FAFSA asking for daughter's 1040 info but she only has W-2s - what to enter?
My daughter is completing her FAFSA application (first time applying!) and we've hit a roadblock with the student financial portion. When it asks about her 1040 information, she's completely confused because she doesn't remember filing a tax return. She worked part-time at a local coffee shop in 2023 and made around $9,000, so she has W-2s, but neither of us recall her actually filing a 1040 form. What is she supposed to enter in this section if she possibly didn't file? Will FAFSA reject her application if she leaves it blank? I feel like we're missing something obvious here, but tax stuff isn't my strong suit. Any advice would be really appreciated!
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Zara Rashid
If your daughter earned $9,000 in 2023, she was likely under the filing threshold for a tax return. For single dependents under 65, you generally need to file if you earned more than $12,950 (for 2023). However, the FAFSA will still want to know if she filed or not. Your daughter should select "Will not file" in the tax filing status section if she didn't file. FAFSA will then ask about her W-2 income instead of requesting 1040 information. She'll need to enter the earnings from her W-2 forms. Make sure she has those handy when completing this section!
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Sean Doyle
•Thank you, that makes sense! So she should just select "Will not file" and then it'll ask for her W-2 info instead? That's a relief. I was worried we messed up by not having her file taxes.
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Luca Romano
my kid had the same issue last year!!! he worked at target but didnt make enough to file taxes. we just put "will not file" and it was totally fine, just had to put in his w2 stuff. dont stress about it
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Nia Jackson
OK but be careful!!! My son did this last year and selected "will not file" but then his SAI came back really high because they thought he was hiding income or something. When we called the financial aid office they told us he should have filed even though he was under the threshold just to prove his income. We ended up having to do income verification and it was a WHOLE THING that delayed his aid package by 2 months!!! So frustrating!!!!
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Zara Rashid
•That's unusual. Filing a tax return when you're under the threshold is actually not required or even recommended by the IRS. The FAFSA system is designed to handle students who don't file because they're under the threshold. As long as all W-2 income is reported accurately on the FAFSA, there shouldn't be issues with SAI calculations.
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Nia Jackson
•Well tell that to my son's financial aid office!!! Maybe it was just our school being weird but they made it a huge deal. All I'm saying is if there's time she might want to file anyway just to avoid potential headaches!!!
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Mateo Hernandez
Financial aid advisor here - I can clarify this situation. Your daughter is not required to file a federal tax return if she earned less than $12,950 in 2023 (assuming she's a dependent). On the FAFSA, she should select "Will not file" for her tax filing status. The FAFSA will then ask for her W-2 information and wages. Important: Even though she didn't file, the FAFSA will still want to know her earned income. She should enter the total from Box 1 on her W-2(s). The system will use this to calculate her Student Aid Index (SAI). Don't worry - this is an extremely common situation for students with part-time jobs. The FAFSA is designed to accommodate students who don't meet the tax filing threshold.
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Sean Doyle
•This is really helpful, thank you! So we should just have her W-2 information ready when filling out this section? Is there anything else we should know about this part of the application?
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Mateo Hernandez
•Yes, have all her W-2s ready. A few other things to keep in mind: 1. She'll need to report the total amount from Box 1 of all W-2s (wages, tips, other compensation). 2. If she had any income not reported on a W-2 (like cash tips or self-employment), that needs to be reported too. 3. The FAFSA might ask about her current assets (checking/savings accounts). Have those balances ready. 4. Remember that as a dependent student, your financial information (the parents') will generally have a much larger impact on her aid eligibility than her $9,000 in earnings.
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CosmicCruiser
my daughter went through this exact thing!! she had to call the FSA helpline and wait for like 2 hours just to get someone to explain it was normal to select "will not file" with her income level. complete waste of time when they could just make the instructions clearer on the website!!!
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Aisha Khan
•If you ever need to contact FSA again, I'd recommend trying Claimyr (claimyr.com). I was stuck on hold forever trying to reach someone about my son's verification issues, but Claimyr got me through to an agent in about 15 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. Saved me from spending my entire afternoon on hold!
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Ethan Taylor
Just want to add that if your daughter did have federal income tax withheld from her paychecks (check box 2 on the W-2), she might actually want to file a tax return anyway to get that money back as a refund. Even though she's not required to file, she could get a few hundred dollars back potentially. My son was in the same situation and got like $340 back.
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Sean Doyle
•That's a great point! I'll check her W-2s tonight to see if she had any federal tax withheld. Even if it's not required for FAFSA, getting money back is always nice!
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Luca Romano
also dont forget the FAFSA deadline is coming up soon so make sure u finish it!!!! my friend missed it last year and got wayyy less money
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Sean Doyle
Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! My daughter was able to complete the FAFSA by selecting "Will not file" and then entering her W-2 information. The application went through with no issues. We also checked her W-2 and she did have some federal tax withheld, so we're going to help her file a return to get that money back - thanks for that tip! It's such a relief to have this sorted out.
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Chloe Zhang
So glad you got it figured out! This is exactly why I love this community - everyone jumps in to help with these confusing FAFSA situations. Your daughter's experience is going to help so many other families who run into the same issue. And yes, definitely file that return to get her withholding back - that's basically free money sitting there waiting for her! Best of luck with the rest of the financial aid process.
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