Thinking about lieing on the FAFSA? help?
February 22nd, 2012
So my single Dad makes like thirty thousand dollars and I know i probably could get some finacial aid and could claim him. BUT what happened was my grandmother became very sick with a terminal illness and because of that the goverment gives my dad money to treat her and we take care of her. But because my dad has to work we just hired a family member to take care of our grandma so we dont actually take in any of the money my dad recives to take care of her. The hard part about this though is that that he has to claim that extra money and add it to his total income on our taxes….thus it appears as if he makes like $50,000+ when really he doesnt. Now my dad is saying i should claim to be dependent on my older sister who lives alone and is in college herself……i feel like it looks pretty suspicous for me to be living with my dad all these years and then all of a sudden claim my sister (whos only a few years older than me) to be my legal gaurdian and that im dependent on her? Will i they ask me to verify this? could i possibly get caught? i dont know what to do because the situation is so unfair…..it looks like we make alot of money but we dont and my Dad cant afford to give me anything.
Your FAFSA must match the taxes- they check. You shouldn’t use your sister’s income on your FAFSA unless she actually claimed you on her income taxes. If she does claim you on your taxes, she should also be able to show that she provided at least more than half of your support in 2011. If she lives in a dorm, there’s no way that’ll happen. If she has an apartment and earns some kind of income, you could possibly make the argument.Even so- the school might want you to provide back-up evidence because this is an unusual situation… like you might have to prove why your dad couldn’t provide for you- like show that he was dead or disabled or had a history of abusing you.
If your dad claimed both you and your grandmother on his taxes as dependents, $50,000 is still a very low income. You will probably still get a good amount of financial aid. You might have to take some loans and/or get a work study job- but you will probably be able to get enough aid to go to college.
Every college is different, some offer more aid than others- and some states have extra tuition assistance, like New York State has TAP- but I don’t think you’ll necessarily get much more aid if your sister claims you vs. your dad.
Seriously, do you think lying (about this or any other matter) is ever a good idea?
Seriously? Anyway, everything you’ve proposed (including claiming your sister is your "legal guardian") is preposterous and unworkable.Your attempts to deceive will only get you disqualified for FAFSA determined financial aid for the rest of your life.
You would most definitely be caught and face fraud charges including huge fines and jail time.
You can get fined & go to jail for lying on the FAFSA.
Is your sister your ACTUAL… as in Court Papered Legal Guardian & if so, did the courts make this agreement before 2011?You will have to show actual court documents to PROVE THIS
If not, then this will not work….
FAFSA checks database against IRS…. even your dad’s tax filing from 2010 could be referenced & mess you up
Your dad might have to show it as income, but he also would show the expense of the care of your grandmother in his write-offs…. off-setting that income
YES, you could get caught.. in fact, you could GO TO PRISON, PAY HUGE FINES, AND EVEN BE BARRED FROM GETTING ANY KIND OF FIN AID FOR SCHOOL
If you lie on FAFSA, you’re a jerk. I know college is expensive, but there are better ways to get money for college. Loans and grants and scholarships. The college will work with you if you ask. Go for student jobs; there’s a place to apply for it on FAFSA. If you get it, the government pays your paycheck instead of the job so it’s like free work for them but you ARE getting paid. If you lie on FAFSA, you’re lying to a government agency. That’s a felony. They can kick you out of the school for that; it happened to my friend who didn’t report her dad’s income because he refused to give her any money because she went to a college he didn’t approve of to major in a subject he didn’t approve of. She was kicked out of the university, fined, and it went into her legal record.
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