V1/V5 Verification Form Instructions

A WORD FROM STUDENT FINANCIAL SERVICES: Your application was selected for review in a process called “Verification.” In this process, we will be comparing information from your application with the appropriate Federal Tax Return, and/or with W2s or other financial documents. The U.S. Dept. of Education requires us to collect this information before awarding federal aid. If there are differences between your application information and your financial documents, corrections may need to be made to your FAFSA. Complete this form and submit it to the Office of Student Financial Services as soon as possible to ensure prompt processing. Warning: If you purposely give false or misleading information on this sheet, you may be fined, and/or be sentenced to jail by the federal government.

SECTION 1: HOUSEHOLD INFORMATION

Were you required to provide parent information on the FAFSA?

NO. Then you are classified as Independent. Include the following people in the box:

yourself, your spouse if married, and
your children, if you will provide more than half of their support from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023 and
other people, if they now live with you, and you provide more than half of their support and will continue to provide more than half of their support from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.

YES. Then you are classified as Dependent. Include the following people in the box:

yourself and your custodial parent(s), and
your custodial parent(s)’ other children, if (a) your parent(s) will provide more than half of their support from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023, or (b) the children would be required to provide parental information if completing a FAFSA for 2022-23, and
other people if they now live with your parent(s), and your parent(s) provide more than half of their support and will continue to provide more than half of their support from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.

NOT SURE? To determine who is considered a custodial parent for purposes of this form, see below:

If your parents are living together and/or married to each other, include them both in the household listing.
If your parent is widowed or single, list this parent. If your widowed parent is remarried as of the day you completed the FAFSA, also include the person whom your parent married, i.e. your stepparent.
If your parents have divorced or separated, only include in the household listing the parent with whom you live the most.
If you did not live with one parent more than the other, only include the parent who provides more financial support to you. If this parent has remarried as of the day you completed the FAFSA, also include the person whom your parent married, i.e. your stepparent.

SECTION 2 - TAX INFORMATION

Your application requires IRS tax data. We recommend that you use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT) on the FAFSA to link directly to the IRS database. To address security concerns, the tax return information you transfer from the IRS will no longer be displayed on the Federal Student Aid site or the IRS DRT web page. Instead you will see “Transferred from the IRS” in the appropriate fields on the Federal Student Aid site. If you and/or your custodial parent(s) or spouse filed a tax return but were not presented with the option to link directly to the IRS database, you must provide a signed copy of the 2020 income tax return (Form 1040) for you and your custodial parent(s) or spouse. You may also try to download a free Tax Return Transcript online or call 1-800-908-9946 and request a copy to be mailed. You may also need to submit copies of all W-2s and/or 1099 forms for 2020.

Foreign, US territory, or commonwealth residents: Please submit a copy of your 2020 tax transcript. If no taxes were filed, we can accept a Wage & Tax Statement or its equivalent from each employer indicating total income earned and taxes paid during January – December 2020.