Beginning January 28th (today!), the Federal Student Aid Office is pleased to announce that they will begin allowing electronic FAFSA filers to pull down specific tax return data directly from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the 2009-2010 academic year (remember this is only for families filing for the current academic year and not the upcoming one…).

The process is supposed to help streamline the FAFSA application process and make it easier for students to gain access to federal aid dollars. The Department of Education will be monitoring the IRS Data Retrieval Functionality during this test pilot and will make necessary adjustments prior to full implementation in the summer of 2010 for the 2010-2011 academic year.

If you are thinking about giving the new functionality a whirl, the following guidelines should be helpful to see if you qualify:

Who Is Eligible To Use the IRS Data Retrieval Process?

The IRS Data Retrieval process can be used by dependent and independent 2009-2010 FAFSA on the Web student applicants, and the parents of dependent applicants, who meet all of the following criteria:

• Must be filing an initial or renewal 2009-2010 FAFSA (IRS Data Retrieval will not be available for corrections entry for 2009-2010)
• Must have a PIN (this is required to access tax information on the IRS database, as well as to sign and submit the FAFSA online); if the student or parent does not have a PIN, they will be provided with the opportunity to apply for a PIN and use it immediately to transfer IRS data to the FAFSA and submit the FAFSA
• Must have a valid Social Security Number (SSN)
• Must have filed a 2008 federal tax return
• Marital status has not changed since December 31, 2008

Who Cannot Use the IRS Data Retrieval Process?

Some students and parents may not use the IRS Data Retrieval process, either because there is no information for them in the IRS’ database or the information is not what should be reported on the FAFSA. Therefore, students or parents who meet any of the following criteria will not be able to use the IRS Data Retrieval process when completing their 2009-2010 FAFSA on the Web application:

• Parents with all zeroes for SSN
• Students using an 888 identifier in place of an SSN (i.e., students from the Pacific Islands)
• Any student or parent with a marital status date of January 1, 2009 or later
• Any student or parent who indicates they have not already filed a tax return or will not file a tax return in response to the “For 2008, have [you, your parent] completed [your, their] IRS income tax return or another tax return?” FAFSA question

Who Should Not Use the IRS Data Retrieval Process?

Some students and parents should not use the IRS Data Retrieval process, but we cannot determine that from the information they provide on the FAFSA. Therefore, we advise students and parents who meet any of the following conditions not to use the IRS Data Retrieval process:

• Students or parents who filed an amended federal tax return for 2008 (the IRS database used for this process contains only original IRS information, not information from amended returns)
• Students or parents whose 2008 federal tax filing status was “married filing separately”
• Students or parents who filed a foreign (or Puerto Rican) tax return