1. For this next section, you will want to refer to your parent's tax form for 2019 (IRS 1040)

2. Select one of the choices regarding whether or not your parents have filed taxes for 2019.

5. The second question will ask about your parents' tax filing status. You will find this at the top of your parent's IRS 1040 tax form.

6. Depending on how your parents filed their taxes, you MIGHT see a box for the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. If you click, "Link to IRS", your parent will need to create an FSA ID and you will be taken to an IRS website where you will enter your address and other information. If it can find your parent's tax information, it will AUTOMATICALLY add it to your FAFSA which saves you time.

7. If you don't get this option or choose not to connect with the IRS, click "Next"

There are a few IMPORTANT ADVANTAGES to using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool:

It makes completing the FAFSA quicker and easier because you don't have to hand-enter the information from your tax forms

It makes it VERY UNLIKELY that you will later be selected for something called, "Verification" which involves filling out additional forms and providing a copy of your tax transcript to your college.

For the rest of these steps, we will assume that the IRS data retrieval tool was not used and will show how to complete the FAFSA without it. However, if you DO use the IRS data retrieval tool, you will see a message under many questions that says, "Transferred from the IRS"