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(Application Processing) Subject: Issue Alert: Student/Parent IRS Request Flag Values Not Carried Forward for Real-Time Corrections

Posted Date:March 18, 2011

Author: William Leith, Service Director, Program Management, Federal Student Aid

Subject: Issue Alert: Student/Parent IRS Request Flag Values Not Carried Forward for Real-Time Corrections

We have discovered an issue affecting a relatively small number of applicants with the Student and Parent IRS Request Flag values used in the IRS data retrieval process. These flags are not being carried forward from the applicant’s prior Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) transaction to subsequent transactions when a real-time correction is submitted using FAFSA on the Web, FAA Access to CPS Online, or other real-time interfaces. The flags are similarly not being carried forward on Student Aid Reports (SARs).

On Friday, March 18, 2011, we resolved this issue in the Central Processing System (CPS) for 2011-2012 applicants.

2010-2011 real-time corrections submitted after the original implementation of the Student and Parent IRS Request Flags in late September 2010 are also affected, but we are still reviewing options for resolving this issue for that application processing year.

The absent flag values affect schools that query their systems for a Student IRS Request Flag and Parent IRS Request Flag value of "02." A flag value of "02" indicates that the student and/or parent transferred financial information from the IRS Web site into their FAFSA on the Web application and did not modify it. If a flag value of "02" is present on an ISIR, schools may choose to use the income data transferred from the IRS as documentation for verification purposes.

Resolution and Next Steps

This issue was resolved on March 18, 2011 for new 2011-2012 real-time corrections. We are continuing to assess solutions for existing 2011-2012 transactions that were processed prior to March 18, 2011 that do not contain IRS Request Flag values.

Again, we are also reviewing options to resolve this issue for 2010-2011 real-time correction processing and existing 2010-2011 transactions that do not contain IRS Request Flag values.

Please monitor the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site for additional communications regarding this issue in the near future.

Contact Information

If you have 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 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.