How to answer parent income tax questions on the FAFSA®
Here’s how to correctly answer 2025-26 FAFSA® parent tax questions, provide consent for IRS electronic information transfer, and add your signature.
Providing consent to transfer federal tax information from the IRS
Why do they need this info?
- For your student to be eligible for federal aid, you have to consent to allow the FAFSA® to import your tax return information directly from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for your application. Providing consent also lets you skip the remaining income tax questions on the FAFSA®, making it faster to complete.
Can I skip these questions?
- Not if you want your student to get federal FAFSA® money! You must answer AND provide consent, or your student will be ineligible for federal financial aid.
- Even if you type in your tax return information yourself (which you can do if you decline to provide consent), your student still won’t qualify for federal aid.
How to answer these questions
- For the online application, select “Approve” to consent to transfer federal tax information from the IRS.
- For the paper version, on question 41 check the circle next to “Approval to transfer federal tax information from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)”.
- Provide your signature and the date.
41 Parent Consent and Signature
Refer to the consent terms on page 4. By filling in the answer circle below and signing this form, the parent agrees to the terms set forth on page 4. If the parent does not provide consent by filling in the circle and providing their signature, we cannot process this FAFSA form.
- Consent to transfer federal tax information from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- Parent signature
- Date signed
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Parent tax filing status
Why do they need this info?
- The FAFSA® looks at parent tax returns and other financial info when figuring out the student’s financial aid eligibility.
Can I skip these questions?
- Yes, as long as you provide consent to transfer federal tax information from the IRS.
- Your FAFSA® won’t be processed and your student won’t qualify for federal financial aid unless you provide this consent.
- On the paper form, you can skip all of question 38 as long as you provide electronic transfer consent in question 41.
- The FAFSA® will import your tax return info into your application once you’ve provided consent.
How to answer these questions
- Select yes if you filed a 2023 IRS Form 1040 or 1040-NR or plan to. Also select yes if you filed or will file a tax return with Puerto Rico or another U.S. territory.
- Select yes if you earned income in a foreign country or were employed by an international organization like the United Nations, World Bank, or International Monetary Fund.
- Select no if these situations don’t apply to you.
37 Parent Tax Filing Status
Did or will the parent file a 2023 IRS Form 1040 or 1040-NR?
Yes
No
If the answer is “No,” indicate which one of the following situations applies to the parent for 2023: If one of the options in the second column below is selected and the parent is unmarried, questions 38-40 can be skipped.
- The parent filed or will file a tax return with Puerto Rico or another U.S. territory.
- The parent filed or will file a foreign tax return.
- Either the parent earned income in a foreign country but still did not and will not file a foreign tax return or they were an employee of an international organization that did not require them to file a tax return. Such international organizations include, for example, the United Nations, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund.
- The parent, even though they earned income in the U.S., did not and will not file a U.S. tax return because their income was below the tax filing threshold.
- The parent did not and will not file any tax return because they did not earn any income.
- The parent did not and will not file a U.S. tax return for reasons other than low income.
Did or will the parent file a 2023 joint tax return with their spouse?
Yes
No
Parent 2023 tax return info
Why do they need this info?
- If your student is dependent, the FAFSA® needs your tax return info to figure out your student’s financial need. Your student is considered dependent if all of the following statements are true:
- The student was born after the year 2001.
- The student’s current marital status is Single (never married), Divorced, Separated or Widowed. (question 3 on the FAFSA® paper version)
- The student’s college grade level will be first-year, second-year, or other undergraduate. (question 4 on the FAFSA® paper version)
- They answered “None of these apply” to the Student Personal Circumstances question. (question 5 on the FAFSA® paper version).
- They answered no to the Student Other Circumstances and Student Unusual Circumstances questions (questions 6 and 7 on the FAFSA® paper version).
- Married couples filing separately will need to provide tax info for the student’s other parent in the next section.
Can I skip these questions?
- Yes, as long as you provide consent to import federal tax information from the IRS in the previous section.
- Your FAFSA® won’t be processed and your student won’t qualify for federal financial aid unless you provide this consent.
- On the paper form, you can skip all of question 38 as long as you provide electronic transfer consent in question 41.
- The FAFSA® will import your tax return info into your application if you’ve provided consent.
How to answer these questions
- Check “Consent to transfer federal tax information from the Internal Revenue Service” (question 41, Parent Consent and Signature on the paper version).
- For the section Amount of College Grants, Scholarships, or Americorps Benefits Reported to the IRS (optional), enter 0—unless the amount of scholarships and grants is greater than the cost of tuition and fees. In this case, only enter the amount greater than tuition and fees.
38 Parent 2023 Tax Return Information
Convert all currency to U.S. dollars. If the answer is zero or the question does not apply, enter 0.
If the answer is negative, completely fill the circle ( – ) after the answer box.
- Filing status
Single
Head of household
Married filing jointly
Married filing separately
Qualifying surviving spouse
- Income earned from work
IRS Form 1040—line 1 (or IRS Form 1040-NR—line 1a) +
Schedule 1—lines 3 + 6
- Tax exempt interest income
IRS Form 1040: line 2a
- Untaxed portions of IRA distributions
IRS Form 1040: line 4a minus 4b
- IRA rollover into a qualified plan
IRS Form 5498
- Untaxed portions of pensions
IRS Form 1040: line 5a minus 5b
- Pension rollover into a qualified plan
IRS Form 5498
- Adjusted gross income
IRS Form 1040: line 11
- Income tax paid
IRS Form 1040: line 25d
- Did the parent receive the earned income tax credit (EITC)? IRS Form 1040: line 27a
Yes
No
Don’t know
- IRA deductions and payments to self-employed
SEP, SIMPLE, and qualified plans
IRS Form 1040 Schedule 1: total of lines 16 + 20
- Education credits
(American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning credits)
IRS Form 1040 Schedule 3: line 3
- Did the parent file a Schedule A, B, D, E, F, or H with their 2023 IRS Form 1040?
Yes
No
Don’t know
- Net profit or loss from IRS Form 1040 Schedule C
IRS Form 1040 Schedule C: line 31
- Amount of college grants, scholarships, or AmeriCorps benefits reported as income to the IRS (Optional)
The parent paid taxes on these grants, scholarships, or benefits. These usually apply to those renewing their FAFSA form, not to first-time applicants.
- Foreign earned income exclusion
IRS Form 1040 Schedule 1: line 8d
Annual child support received
Why do they need this info?
- FAFSA® factors in the amount of child support you received when calculating your student’s eligibility for aid.
- Child support isn’t reported with your tax returns, so you need to enter it here.
Can I skip this question?
No, but you can answer zero (0) if you didn’t receive child support.
How to answer this question
- Enter any child support you received in the calendar year 2023.
- Enter zero (0) if you didn’t receive any.
39 Annual Child Support Received
Enter total amount the parent received in child support for the last complete calendar year. If the answer to question 32 was “Married,” “Remarried,” or “Unmarried and both legal parents living together,” enter the combined amount the parent and their spouse received.
Parent assets
Why do they need this info?
The FAFSA® requires details about your (and your spouse’s, if you’re married) financial assets to help calculate your student’s financial need.
Can I skip this question?
No
How to answer these questions
- Enter the current total of any cash you have, and the combined total of all your (and your spouse’s) checking and savings accounts.
- Enter the total value of your (and your spouse’s) investments, subtracting any debts.
- Enter the current value of your (and your spouse’s) businesses and/or farms (whatever their size) and subtract any debts owed on them.
- Don’t include any retirement investments, including 401k or 403b, accounts, pensions, IRAs, etc.
- If the value of any of your assets is negative, enter a “0”.
What else should I know?
Net worth means the current value, as of today, of investments, businesses, and/or investment farms, minus debts related to those same investments, businesses, and/or investment farms. When calculating net worth, use 0 for investments or properties with a negative value.
Investments include real estate (do not include the home in which you live), rental property (which may include a unit within a family home that has its own entrance, kitchen, and bath rented to someone other than a family member), trust funds, UGMA and UTMA accounts, money market funds, mutual funds, certificates of deposit, stocks, stock options, bonds, other securities, installment and land sale contracts (including mortgages held), commodities, etc.
Investments also include qualified educational benefits or education savings accounts (e.g., Coverdell savings accounts, 529 college savings plans, and the refund value of 529 prepaid tuition plans). For a student who does not report parental information, the accounts owned by the student (and/or the student’s spouse) are reported as student investments in question 22. For a student who must report parental information, the accounts are reported as parental investments in question 40, including all accounts owned by the student and all accounts owned by the parents for any member of the household.
Investments do not include the home you live in, the value of life insurance, ABLE accounts, retirement plans (401[k] plans, pension funds, annuities, non-education IRAs, Keogh plans, etc.) or cash, savings and checking accounts reported in the previous question.
Investments also do not include UGMA and UTMA accounts for which you are the custodian, but not the owner.
Investment value means the current balance or market value of these investments as of today. Investment debt means only those debts that are related to the investments.
Business and/or investment farm value includes the market value of land, buildings, machinery, equipment, inventory, etc. Business and/or investment farm debt means only those debts for which the business or investment farm was used as collateral.
40 Parent Assets
If the answer to question 32 was “Married” or “Remarried,” or “Unmarried and both legal parents living together,” enter the combined amounts held by the parent and their spouse.
Current total of cash, savings, and checking accounts
$
Don't include student financial aid.
Current net worth of investments, including real estate
$
Don’t include the home the student lives in.
Net worth is the value of the investments minus any debts owed against them.
Current net worth of businesses and investment farms
$
Enter the net worth of the parent’s businesses or for-profit agricultural operations. Net worth is the value of the businesses or farms minus any debts owed against them.
2025-26 FAFSA® questions
Choose the FAFSA® questions you would like help with.
Student financial information
FAFSA® student income tax information
