FAFSA deadline approaching - self-employed tax info delay with accountant

I've been self-employed for 15 years and do my FAFSA every year for my twins. You don't need to wait for your accountant! The 2025-2026 FAFSA uses your 2023 tax year information, so you should already have those numbers if you filed taxes last year. Look at your Schedule C from last year's return - that has all your business income and expenses. If you don't have a copy, you can request your tax transcript directly from the IRS website.

ur NOT using current yr numbers!! FAFSA is always using 2 yrs ago taxes - so for 2025-2026 FAFSA ur using 2023 tax info not 2024!! ur accountant might be confusing u

Self-employed FAFSA filer here - your accountant is causing unnecessary delay. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, you need your 2023 tax information which should have been filed by April 2024. The SAI formula specifically uses adjusted gross income and information from your Schedule C. Here's what you need specifically: 1. Your AGI from Form 1040 2. Business income from Schedule C (both businesses) 3. Any business losses would be reported as negative income 4. You'll also need information about business assets if they exceed certain thresholds Don't miss your priority deadlines waiting for an accountant to prepare something you already have access to. You can get all this directly from the IRS through their transcript service.

wait are u SURE it uses 2023?? i thought the new simplified FAFSA changed all that and now uses different tax years?? i remember reading something about that somewhere

I'm self-employed too and I HATE how the FAFSA handles business income. Last year they counted all my gross business income without properly accounting for expenses and my SAI was ridiculously high. My kid got practically no aid even though we barely make ends meet after business expenses. The system is RIGGED against small business owners!!! Make sure you understand how they're calculating your business income or you'll get SCREWED like we did.

I had a similar situation last year with my accountant delaying our FAFSA filing. After weeks of not being able to get through to him OR the Federal Student Aid helpline (kept getting disconnected after 45+ minute waits), I found this service called Claimyr that got me through to an actual FSA agent in about 10 minutes. They helped me understand exactly what business documents I needed and confirmed I could use my prior year tax info without waiting for my accountant's worksheet. Saved me so much stress! Their site is claimyr.com and they have a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ

when i did my fafsa they just asked for my adjusted gross income from my taxes, not all the schedule c stuff separately? maybe its different for different people idk

I wanted to update everyone - we got our 2023 tax transcript directly from the IRS website and were able to complete our daughter's FAFSA yesterday! We didn't need to wait for our accountant at all. The process was much easier than I expected once we had the right information. Thank you all for your help and advice!