FAFSA's auto-import tax data not working? Still asking for income details despite 2024 update

The FAFSA Simplification Act did make some changes to the tax data import, but it didn't eliminate all financial questions. What's happening now is that the IRS data retrieval tool automatically imports your federal tax return information (AGI, taxes paid, etc.), but you still need to manually enter information about certain assets like cash/savings/checking balances, investments, and business/farm net worth. These assets aren't reported on tax returns, so they can't be automatically imported. Also, if your parents have untaxed income that doesn't appear on their tax return, you'll need to report that manually too.

ya the new system is still asking for a bunch of stuff I don't get why they call it simplified lol took me like 2 hrs to fill everything out

I was confused about this too! The FAFSA does automatically pull some tax data now, but they definitely still ask for other financial information. Make sure you've actually consented to the IRS data retrieval though - there should be a specific section where you authorize them to pull your tax information. If you skip that part, you'll have to enter everything manually like the old days!

The FAFSA Simplification Act made several changes, but many people misunderstood what would be "simplified." Here's what actually changed: 1. They now use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to automatically import tax return information 2. The formula changed from EFC (Expected Family Contribution) to SAI (Student Aid Index) 3. They reduced the total number of questions from 108 to about 36 4. They eliminated some questions about drug convictions and Selective Service But you still need to manually provide information about: - Cash, savings, and checking account balances - Investments (excluding home equity and retirement accounts) - Business/farm net worth (if applicable) - Untaxed income not reported on tax returns These assets aren't reported to the IRS, so there's no way for them to automatically pull this information.

I bet the colleges just told everyone it would be "easier" so more people would apply lol. Nothing about financial aid is ever actually easy, I spent 3 days trying to finish mine and kept getting errors on the website. Had to call FSA four times and got disconnected everytime 😡

when i did mine they asked fr our tax info but my parents still had to answer lik 20 questions abt assets n stuff. i think the simplifaction is mostly just that theres way less questions overall than before

One important thing to understand: the FAFSA still calculates your SAI (Student Aid Index) based on both income AND assets. The simplification is mainly about reducing the total number of questions and automatically importing the tax data they can get from the IRS. But since the formula still considers assets, they need to ask those questions separately. If you're confused about which assets to report, here's a quick reference: - DO report: cash, checking/savings accounts, non-retirement investments, 529 plans owned by parents - DON'T report: your primary home, retirement accounts (401k, IRA), life insurance policies Hope this helps!

I'm dealing with the same confusion! I thought the "simplified" FAFSA meant we'd just sign a form and they'd figure everything out automatically. But after reading these responses, it sounds like the main improvement is that they reduced the total questions from 108 to 36 and auto-import tax data - which is still a big help even if we have to manually enter asset info. Has anyone noticed if the actual time to complete it is significantly less than previous years, or does gathering all the asset information still make it take just as long?

I'm a newcomer to this whole process and honestly feeling pretty overwhelmed! My parents keep asking me when I'm going to start my FAFSA and I've been putting it off because I thought it would be this huge complicated thing. But reading through all these comments actually makes me feel more prepared. It sounds like even though it's not as "simplified" as the marketing made it seem, it's still way better than the old system. Can someone confirm - do I need to have my parents' most recent tax return completely finished before I can start, or can I use estimates and update it later?

As someone who just went through this process last month, I can confirm that the "simplified" FAFSA is definitely better than the old version, but the marketing around it was pretty misleading. The automatic tax import is a huge time-saver - I didn't have to manually type in dozens of numbers from my parents' 1040. However, we still spent about an hour gathering asset information (checking account balances, investment values, etc.) because that stuff obviously isn't on tax returns. One tip that helped us: before you start, gather all your financial documents first - recent bank statements, investment account statements, and your parents' tax return. Having everything ready made the process much smoother. And don't stress too much about getting exact numbers for assets - as of the day you file is fine, you don't need to calculate average balances or anything complicated like that. The reduction from 108 to 36 questions is real though - my older brother's FAFSA from a few years ago was definitely more of a marathon!