ED Posts Notice on Verification for 2019-20 Award Year
By Megan Walter, NASFAA Policy & Federal Relations Staff
The Department of Education (ED) on Wednesday published a notice in the Federal Register detailing the FAFSA information that an institution and an applicant may be required to verify for the 2019-20 award year, as well as the acceptable documentation for verifying FAFSA information.
Compared to the 2018-19 award year, there are no changes in the data elements required for verification for the 2019-20 award year.
While the optional element for verification of amended tax filers—using IRS Data Retrieval Tool information on an ISIR record with all tax information from the original tax return—was missing from the notice, NASFAA confirmed with ED it is still permissible as an alternative to collecting an applicant’s 2017 tax return transcript.
For amended tax return filers, the notice listed only the following as required verification documents:
a) A transcript obtained from the IRS that lists 2017 tax account information of the tax filer(s); and
b) A signed copy of the IRS Form 1040X that was filed with the IRS.
ED will issue a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) highlighting any additional changes in how these data elements are verified. Schools should be sure to review the DCL when it becomes available.
Publication Date: 3/29/2018
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