FAFSA error: Twin submitted application but tax permission denied despite giving consent

The same thing happened with my kids last year! The system sometimes gets confused with twins or siblings applying close together. Go back and check that both FSA IDs are properly linked to YOUR FSA ID as the parent. Sometimes it doesn't save properly for both kids.

THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME!! The stupid FAFSA system is absolutely TERRIBLE with multiple dependents!!! When I filed for my triplets, I had to call FAFSA 5 SEPARATE TIMES because the system kept rejecting the tax permission even though I gave it for all three kids!!! The interface is garbage and the error messages are meaningless. You're probably going to have to call them directly and sit on hold for 2 hours to fix it.

This is a common technical issue with the 2025-2026 FAFSA. For multiple dependents from the same household, the tax data retrieval tool sometimes flags the second application as unauthorized even when permission was granted. You have three options: 1. Log out completely, clear browser cache and cookies, then log back in to the parent FSA ID and reauthorize the tax information specifically for the second twin. 2. Wait 24-48 hours. Sometimes the system updates overnight and resolves this error automatically. 3. If neither of those work, you'll need to call Federal Student Aid directly to have them manually override the permission flag in their system. For twins specifically, make sure each application uses the correct SSN - sometimes that gets mixed up and causes this exact error.

I had a similar issue with my kids who are just 1 year apart. what fixed it for me was going back into the parent FSA ID portal (not the student one) and specifically re-authorizing the IRS data retrieval for the second kid. for some reason it doesn't always save properly for multiple dependents. also make sure you're doing it from a desktop not mobile, the mobile site is buggy with the tax permission stuff.

After dealing with this exact problem for my twins last month, I discovered there's a service called Claimyr that can help you get through to a FAFSA agent much faster. I was on hold for over 3 hours before I found it! You can check them out at claimyr.com - they have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Basically, they wait on hold for you and call you back when an agent is ready. Saved me so much time, and the FAFSA agent was able to fix the tax permission issue in about 5 minutes once I actually got through to a human.

My daughter and her cousin were filling out FAFSA forms on the same day (both using me as contributor since I'm guardian for both) and we got a similar error. For us, it turned out that when we filled out the second form, we accidentally unchecked the IRS data retrieval permission box that was having issues. Check and see if maybe it got unchecked somehow when you were doing the second twin's application. Just sharing our experience in case it's helpful for your situation.

Update on this issue: The Department of Education acknowledged a specific bug affecting multiple dependent applications in the 2025-2026 FAFSA. They recommend these steps specifically for twin applications: 1. Complete the applications at least 24 hours apart 2. Use different browsers for each application 3. Ensure both students AND the parent have separate email addresses linked to their FSA IDs 4. After submitting both applications, the parent should log into studentaid.gov separately and verify the tax permissions for each student If you still experience the error after trying these steps, a direct call to FSA is unfortunately necessary. The issue is on their end.

Did you get this fixed? I'm about to submit FAFSA forms for my twins next week and want to avoid the same problem!