What Tax Information Do I Need for FAFSA? 1040, Assets, IRS Transfer

For the 2026–27 FAFSA, the tax information you need starts with your 2024 federal return — Form 1040 or 1040-NR — along with every W-2 and 1099 that fed into it. You’ll also want records of untaxed income, current balances for reportable assets, and Social Security numbers for everyone providing information. Because the IRS now sends most of your tax figures to the FAFSA automatically, a big part of your preparation is making sure each contributor has an account at StudentAid.gov and is ready to consent to that data transfer.

Which Tax Year the FAFSA Uses

The FAFSA follows a prior-prior year rule: it looks at tax data from two years before the academic year begins. The 2026–27 form uses your 2024 return.1Federal Student Aid Knowledge Center. 2026-27 FAFSA Preview Presentation The 2025–26 form uses your 2023 return. Because that year’s taxes are already filed and settled by the time you sit down with the FAFSA, you’re working with finalized numbers rather than estimates.

The Tax Documents to Have in Front of You

Even though the IRS sends most of your tax figures directly to the FAFSA, keep the paperwork open so you can verify what the system imports and answer supplemental questions. Pull together:

  • Your 2024 IRS Form 1040, or Form 1040-NR if you’re a non-resident alien
  • Every W-2 from 2024, showing wages and withholdings from each employer
  • Any 1099s for freelance work, interest, dividends, retirement distributions, or other non-wage income

If your parents filed separate returns, you’ll combine figures from both. If one parent filed and the other didn’t, you’ll add the filer’s income to the non-filer’s W-2 wages.2Federal Student Aid. What Was Your Parents Adjusted Gross Income

The 1040 Line Items That Matter

Several specific figures from the 2024 Form 1040 feed the aid formula. Knowing where they sit on the return makes it easier to check the imported data:

An FSA ID for Every Contributor

Before anyone opens the FAFSA, each person providing information — the “contributor” — needs their own account at StudentAid.gov. Depending on the situation, contributors can include the student, a spouse, a biological or adoptive parent, or that parent’s spouse or partner. Each contributor logs in separately, completes their portion, and signs electronically. For the 2026–27 cycle, contributors without a Social Security number can still create an account.

Getting these accounts set up a few days before you plan to fill out the form heads off the single most common delay families run into.

Consent to the IRS Data Transfer Is Required

The FAFSA no longer has you type your tax figures manually. A system called the Future Act Direct Data Exchange pulls federal tax information straight from the IRS and populates the form.5Internal Revenue Service. FUTURE Act – Direct Data Exchange, FA-DDX Every contributor has to provide explicit consent and approval, including contributors who didn’t file a tax return. If any single contributor refuses, the student loses eligibility for all federal aid — grants, loans, and work-study.6Federal Student Aid. What Does It Mean to Provide Consent and Approval to Retrieve and Disclose Federal Tax Information

This is where families get stuck. A non-custodial parent who prefers not to share financial details, or a stepparent who doesn’t see why their return matters, can block a student’s aid on their own. Have that conversation early.

If You Didn’t File a Return

Not every contributor files. If your income fell below the filing threshold in 2024 — $14,600 for a single filer — you weren’t required to submit a return, but you still report what you earned. Pull the wage totals from your W-2s and enter them on the FAFSA. The consent requirement still applies: even non-filers must approve the IRS data exchange.6Federal Student Aid. What Does It Mean to Provide Consent and Approval to Retrieve and Disclose Federal Tax Information

Contributors with foreign income have extra work. All foreign income and taxes must be converted to U.S. dollars using the exchange rate on the date the FAFSA is signed, and the amounts should be reported the way they would appear on a U.S. federal return. If your application is selected for verification, you’ll need to submit a complete copy of the foreign tax return. Foreign earners who didn’t file a return in their country report income using W-2 equivalents and the same dollar-conversion rule.

Watch the IRA and Pension Rollover Lines

One of the easiest ways to lose aid unnecessarily involves retirement rollovers. If you or a parent moved money from one retirement plan to another in 2024 — say, a 401(k) to an IRA — the transfer shows on the 1040 as a distribution, and the FAFSA can mistakenly count it as untaxed income.

Check Lines 4a and 4b of the 2024 Form 1040. If “Rollover” appears next to either line, report only the untaxed portion: Line 4a minus Line 4b. If that comes out negative, enter zero.7Federal Student Aid. IRA Rollover Into Another IRA or Qualified Plan Miss this and your reported income can look tens of thousands of dollars higher than it actually was.

Assets You Need to Look Up Separately

Not everything on the FAFSA comes from your tax return. The form also asks for the current value of certain assets as of the day you submit it. Pull those balances the day you fill it out, or as close to it as you can.

What Counts

  • Cash, savings, and checking account balances, combined across all accounts
  • 529 college savings and prepaid tuition plans — as a parent asset if the student is a dependent, as a student asset if independent8Federal Student Aid. Current Net Worth of Investments, Including Real Estate
  • Investment real estate such as rental properties and vacation homes, but not your primary residence and not real estate held by a reported business8Federal Student Aid. Current Net Worth of Investments, Including Real Estate
  • Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other securities
  • Annual child support received, which the current formula treats as an asset of the recipient rather than income9Federal Student Aid Knowledge Center. Filling Out the FAFSA Form

Report the net value after subtracting any debt secured by the asset. If the result for a particular property is negative, enter zero rather than a negative number.8Federal Student Aid. Current Net Worth of Investments, Including Real Estate

What Stays Off the Form

Several major categories are excluded. You don’t report equity in your primary home, the value of retirement accounts like 401(k)s, IRAs, and pensions, the cash value of life insurance, or personal property like cars and furniture.

You May Be Able to Skip the Asset Questions Entirely

Some families qualify to bypass the asset section. On the 2026–27 FAFSA, the exemption applies if your family’s AGI is below $60,000 and you didn’t file a 1040 with Schedule A, B, D, E, F, or H. Filing Schedule C is fine as long as your net business income was between a $10,000 loss and a $10,000 gain.10Federal Student Aid. Can I Skip the Asset Questions on the FAFSA Form When the exemption applies, the formula treats assets as zero, which generally raises aid eligibility.

When Your Current Situation Differs from 2024

Because the FAFSA looks back at 2024, it won’t reflect a job loss, pay cut, divorce, or medical crisis that hit in 2025 or 2026. If your family’s picture today is significantly worse than what the 2024 return shows, ask your school’s financial aid office for a professional judgment review. Federal regulations let aid administrators adjust individual data elements case by case when unusual circumstances exist. Bring documentation — termination letters, recent pay stubs, medical bills. Each school decides independently, and the administrator’s decision is final; Federal Student Aid cannot override it.11Federal Student Aid. What Is Professional Judgment