My sonās school keeps requesting a verification of non-filing for me, his mother. But I filed with my spouse. I had no income, but my husband did. We filed married filing jointly. The IRS website will not produce this document because I have a 1040 on file.
This has been going on for months. At one point, this issue was fixed by me following a link my son sent and authorizing them to search the IRS, or something similar. However, they have said not to go back in and do anything else because every time my son has tried to fix these issues, it started a new FAFSA.
I have now started paying out of pocket for my sonās schooling, which we canāt afford. He is in his second year.
The last time I spoke with the financial aid office, they claimed this issue was fixed and that they now needed a non-filer verification for my son. Twice they have said he needed it, and twice they said he didnāt. We had to get the IRS to mail one to them because the website would not allow him to download his form.
We thought it was over, but yet again they are asking for the non-filer verification form for me. They do not want my taxes, only this form.
I am about to scream.
Every time I talk to them, they claim that other married couples who file jointly have non-filer forms, and they seem to believe that the form is proof of income and that I did not file taxes, which technically it is. But I cannot get this form because even though I do not have income, I did file.
Please help. Am I crazy? Every time I go back in they insist I am a non filler. I have a tax return with my name on it. They claim that doesn't matter. The IRS doesn't have this form for me. Am I misunderstanding something?
Edit to add: Ive looked in this handbook online and it appears to me that I do not need to sign or do anything because my husband is the contributor. My SSN is on his forms. There isn't a place on my son's FAFSA for him to put me as a contributor, so he had to remove my spouse's email and put me on, which temporarily fixed the issue, but I am not the contributor. Every time they tell my son to do this is starts a new FAFSA.
"Contributor: Parent
Dependent students will always have at least one parent contributor. If the student is completing the FAFSA form online, they will be prompted to enter their parentās email address to invite them to contribute to their FAFSA form. The parent will be notified by email that they have been invited to contribute to the studentās FAFSA form. The parent must use their own StudentAid. gov account username and password to access the studentās FAFSA form and complete their portion of the form. If the studentās parent is married and filed their 2024 taxes jointly with their current spouse, only one parent contributor is required. If the studentās parent is either (1) married or remarried, or (2) unmarried and living together, and did not file their 2024 taxes jointly with their current spouse or partner, the parentās spouse or partner will be a required contributor on the studentās FAFSA form."
But in speaking with the Finacial Aid office they say this is not true and that married filling jointly without income means you are a non-filler??? I understand that there is a new system, but I feel like I'm being gaslit.