The Office of Federal Student Aid and the Internal Revenue Service have worked together to develop a process, known as the IRS Data Retrieval Process, to simplify the steps to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

This process will allow you to automatically have your family's income information entered into your FAFSA. The process allows FAFSA to request and retrieve income and tax data directly from the IRS with your permission.

All 2013-2014 FAFSA On-The-Web applicants, and the parents of dependent applicants, who indicate that they have filed their federal tax returns prior to completing their FAFSA may use the FAFSA-IRS Data Retrieval process to complete their FAFSA.

• If the parents of a dependent student file separate tax returns;
• If an applicant's parent has a change in marital status after the end of the tax year on December 31, 2012;
• If anyone has filed an amended tax return;
• If the applicant or applicant's parents have filed a foreign tax return.

If you are unable to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool you must request an IRS Transcript to verify your income. Please complete IRS form 4506-T.

If you and your parents have filed federal tax returns before starting the FAFSA, you will be able to obtain your income information while completing the FAFSA.

If you have not filed federal tax returns before starting the FAFSA, you may input the IRS Data Retrieval information after filing federal tax returns by using the FAFSA corrections process and using the FAFSA – IRS Data Retrieval Tool.

Electronically filed tax return information will be available online from the IRS site 1-2 weeks after the return has been filed; data from paper tax returns will be available in 6-8 weeks.

Families must actively choose to utilize the data retrieval. When you choose to do so, you will be transferred to the Internal Revenue Service website. You will need to authenticate your identity before any personal information is displayed.

During the completion of the FAFSA, you will have the option to "Transfer" tax information to the FAFSA. Transferred data will have a notation - "Transferred from the IRS." Applicants can also choose NOT to transfer the data to the FAFSA.

Tax filers can request a transcript, free of charge, of their 2012 tax return from the IRS in one of three ways:

• Online Request (www.irs.gov)
  1. In the Online Services section of the homepage, click "Order a Tax Return or Account Transcript".
  2. Click on "Order a Transcript."
  3. Enter the tax filers's Social Security Number, date of birth, street address, and zip or postal code.
  4. Use the address currently on file with the IRS. Generally this will be the address that was listed on the latest tax return filed. However, if there has been a recent address change through the U.S. Postal Service, the IRS may have the updated address on file.
  5. Click "Continue".
  6. In the Type of Transcript field, select "Return Transcript" and in the Tax Year field, select "2012."
  7. If successfully validated, tax filers can expect to receive a paper IRS Tax Return Transcript at the address included in their online request, within 5 to 10 days from the time the on-line request was successfully transmitted to the IRS.
  8. IRS Tax Return Transcripts requested online cannot be sent directly to a third party by the IRS.

  Important Information:
  Once you receive the Transcript from the IRS provide it to the Financial Aid Office.

  Once the UMFK Financial Aid Office receives the required Tax Return Transcript, this item being requested on the student's TO DO List in MaineStreet, will be removed.

• Telephone Request (1-800-908-9946)
  1. Tax filers must follow prompts to enter their social security and the numbers in their street address. Generally this will be numbers of the street address that was listed on the latest tax return filed. However, if an address change has been completed through the U.S. Postal Service, the IRS may have the updated address on file.
  2. Select "option 2" to request an IRS Tax Return Transcript and then enter "2012."
  3. If successfully validated, tax filers can expect to receive a paper IRS Tax Return Transcript at the address that was used in their telephone request, within 5 to 10 days from the time the IRS receives the request.
  4. IRS Tax Return Transcripts requested by telephone cannot be sent directly to a third party by the IRS.
• Paper Request Form (IRS Form 4506T-EZ)

Many parents and students will not have their federal tax returns completed by the time they complete the FAFSA, which should be around February 15th, to meet UMFK's priority filing date of March 1st. If this is the case, you and your parents can use "estimated income" information on the initial FAFSA. You and your parents will be able to use the FAFSA corrections process and the FAFSA – IRS Data Retrieval Tool once the 2012 tax returns are completed and sufficient IRS processing time has been allowed.

Starting around April 1, 2013, FAFSA will remind applicants through emails and other communications that once they have filed their income tax return, they should use the FAFSA corrections process and the FAFSA- IRS Data Retrieval Tool process to update the FAFSA. Subsequent messages will be sent every 45 days until mid-September, then every 60 days until the end of the processing cycle.