Posted Date:September 23, 2010
| Author: | Jennifer Douglas, General Manager, Student Aid Awareness and Applicant Services Channel, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: IRS Data Retrieval Tool for 2010-2011 Available on September 26, 2010
On September 26, 2010the 2010-2011 FAFSA on the Web site will begin offering the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Data Retrieval tool for initial and renewal applications. The IRS Data Retrieval tool enables Title IV student aid applicants and parents of dependent applicants to transfer 2009 tax return information from an IRS Web site directly to their 2010-2011 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) if they are using FAFSA on the Web.
On September 26, 2010 we will also implement enhancements related to the IRS Data Retrieval tool to the 2010-2011 Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) and the 2010-2011 FAA Access to CPS Online and the ISIR Analysis Tool Web sites.
Other than the enhancements described in this message, the 2010-2011 IRS Data Retrieval tool for FAFSA on the Web applicants remains the same as the 2009-2010 process. For more information about the IRS Data Retrieval tool, including student and parent eligibility and a description of how the tool works, see the November 5, 2009 Electronic Announcement on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site.
2010-2011 FAFSA on the Web Enhancement
For 2010-2011, we are expanding the availability of the IRS Data Retrieval tool to include applicants using the Spanish version of FAFSA on the Web. Users of the Spanish version of FAFSA on the Web follow the same process and are presented with the same prompts as users of the English version.
Users of the Spanish version should be aware that initially the IRS Web site they are transferred to (external to FAFSA on the Web) will be in English; a Spanish version of the IRS Web site will be implemented in December 2010.
2010-2011 ISIR and FAA Access to CPS Online Enhancements
To assist schools in more easily identifying student and parental financial information that was transferred to the 2010-2011 FAFSA from the IRS Web site, we will begin populating the Student IRS Request Flag and Parent IRS Request Flag fields on the student's 2010-2011 ISIR. The values for these fields indicate whether student or parent financial data was transferred from the IRS, as well as whether the data was subsequently modified. The use of SAR comment codes to convey this information, as we implemented for the 2009-2010 Award Year, will not be necessary for 2010-2011.
The values and descriptions for the Student and Parent IRS Request Flags are as follows:
- Blank - Not eligible for IRS data retrieval (i.e., paper FAFSA, EDE, or FAA Access)
- 00 - IRS data request for the parent/student was not submitted to IRS (i.e., parent/student was not presented with the option to use the IRS data retrieval process in FAFSA on the Web or chose not to use it)
- 01 - IRS data request for the parent/student sent to the IRS (i.e., parent/student was presented with the option to use the IRS data retrieval process in FAFSA on the Web, elected to go to the IRS Web site, but did not request the IRS to transfer data into the FAFSA on the Web application)
- 02 - IRS data for the parent/student was returned from the IRS and was not changed by the user (i.e., parent/student was presented with the option to use the IRS data retrieval process in FAFSA on the Web, elected to go to the IRS Web site and transfer IRS data into the FAFSA on the Web application, and did not change IRS data once it was transferred)
- 03 - IRS data for the parent/student was returned from IRS and was changed by the user (i.e., parent/student was presented with the option to use the IRS data retrieval process in FAFSA on the Web, elected to go to the IRS Web site and transfer IRS data into the FAFSA on the Web application, but changed the IRS data before the application was submitted)
- 04 - IRS data for the parent/student was returned from IRS and was corrected by the user (i.e., IRS data for the parent/student was transferred from the IRS, but it was changed by the user on a subsequent transaction)
On the FAA Access to CPS Online Web site, text values for the Student IRS Request Flag and Parent IRS Request Flag will now display in Student Inquiry, ISIR Compare, and in the FAA Information section of the eSAR.
Also on the FAA Access to CPS Online Web site, student and parental financial data fields that include a value resulting from the IRS Data Retrieval process will now be flagged in the Verification Tool with a "Transferred from the IRS" label, unless any one of the transferred values is modified. (This matches existing functionality in Correction Entry.) These labels will also display on the Print Summary in Verification Tool.
2010-2011 ISIR Analysis Tool Enhancement
We are updating the 2010-2011 ISIR Analysis Tool to add two new pre-defined filters for all standard reports. These two new filters will enable schools to limit output for a specific standard report to ISIR transactions that have a specific value for the Student IRS Request Flag or the Parent IRS Request Flag, respectively.
Impact on the Verification Process
Information about how an applicant's use of the IRS Data Retrieval tool may impact verification will be provided at a later date. Watch for forthcoming announcements on the IFAP Web site.
2011-2012 IRS Data Retrieval Tool
We plan to implement the 2011-2012 IRS Data Retrieval tool in late January 2011. Enhancements to the process for 2011-2012 will be described in the 2011-2012 Summary of Changes for the Application Processing System guide, due to be posted to the IFAP Web site in November 2010.
Contact Information
If you have any questions, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 800/330-5947 (TDD/TTY 800/511-5806) or by e-mail at CPSSAIG@ed.gov.
If your students have any questions, ask them to contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 800/4-FEDAID (800/433-3243) or by e-mail at FederalStudentAidCustomerService@ed.gov. TDD/TTY service is also available at 800/730-8913.