Verification

The Department of Education selects approximately 30% of students who complete the FAFSA for verification.  Verification is a process where the school confirms the data reported on the FAFSA is accurate.  Students selected for verification will receive notification from the Department of Education on their Student Aid Report (SAR), a letter or an email from the Financial Aid Office, and the required documents will appear on the To Do List in WINS.  The type of documents a student is required to submit will vary for each student.  Check with the Financial Aid Office if you are not sure what documents to submit. We do not recommend submitting documents via email if those documents contain personal information (social security number, date of birth). Documents can be submitted in the following ways:

• Fax to (262) 472-5655
• Drop off at Hyer Hall Room 130
• Mail to:
  UW-Whitewater
  Financial Aid Office
  800 West Main Street
  Whitewater, WI 53190

Deadlines

There are strict deadlines, so the verification process must be completed in a timely manner. Failure to complete verification requirements by the deadlines may prevent you from receiving a financial aid award for that aid year.

It is recommended that you submit all verification documents by the priority date of January 1 - for the 2023-2024 academic year, the priority date is January 1, 2023. If you are unable to submit documents by January 1, please submit as soon as possible.

For most financial aid programs, including Federal Direct Loans, verification documents must be submitted no later than two weeks prior to the last day of the term or your last day of attendance for that term, whichever is earlier, in order to receive aid.

For a Federal Pell Grant, verification documents must be submitted no later than 120 days after the last day of attendance or the final deadline for the academic year, whichever is earlier:

• for 2021-2022, the final deadline is September 10, 2022
• for 2022-2023, the final deadline is September 10, 2023
• for 2023-2024, the final deadline is September 14, 2024

IRS Data Retrieval

Students and parents of dependent students who utilize the IRS Data Retrieval tool while completing the FAFSA could reduce the number of documents required.  This tool transfers tax data directly from the IRS.  Taxes should already be completed by the time the FAFSA is filed.  If a tax extension was requested, the data retrieval should be available 2-3 weeks after filing taxes electronically. Here's how it works:

• If you indicate the federal tax return has already been completed, an information box will ask if certain situations apply.  These situations are used to determine eligibility for the IRS Data Retrieval.
• If you are eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval, you may be asked to confirm your FSA ID and password and you must click Link to IRS.
• Type in all required information.  Your address must be an exact match (e.g., do not type Street for St).
• Once you have verified your identity and the tax information is available, you must click the checkbox and the Transfer Now button for the data to populate the FAFSA.  If you make any changes to this data, the Financial Aid Office may require you submit a tax transcript.
• For security purposes, tax data will be masked on the FAFSA. Every item transferred will have a message "Transferred from the IRS" but you will not be able to see the figures.
• If you or your parents have a tax filing status of "Married, filing jointly" then you will need to manually enter income earned from work.
• If you or your parents had a rollover from a pension or IRA, you will be asked additional questions to make sure this is documented appropriately. The Financial Aid Office may ask for follow-up data on this.

If you do not utilize the IRS Data Retrieval during the initial filing of the FAFSA, you can update this information at a later date by going back to fafsa.gov, logging in, and clicking Make Corrections to a Processed FAFSA.

Need Help Getting the Right Documents?

When the Financial Aid Office requests documents, it is important to submit these documents in a timely manner.  Any documents which are incomplete or illegible will be returned to the student.  If our office needs additional information after reviewing the documents, an email or letter will be sent to the student.

Verification Worksheets

All worksheets are available in our online forms section.  Check the To Do list or the communication from the Financial Aid Office to determine which worksheets you need to submit.  Be sure you are downloading worksheets for the correct aid year.

Verification of Nonfiling Letter

Note: The Department of Education has indicated that we may waive this letter in certain circumstances. If you attempt to obtain this letter and are unable to do so, please be sure to indicate this on the addendum on the back of the Non-Filing Worksheet. Any questions, contact your Financial Aid Administrator.

Order the Nonfiling Letter Online

The IRS Verification of Nonfiling Letter is required for independent students and parents of dependent students. It is not required for dependent students.

Note: You must have a credit card, mortgage loan, home equity loan, or auto loan in order to verify your identity and obtain IRS data online.

• Go to the IRS website.
• Click Get Transcript Online.
• First time users must register by verifying their identity. If you are unable to create an account, then you must request a letter using another method.
• You may need to disable your pop-up blocker to download the Verification of Nonfiling Letter. Please be sure to choose the correct year (2021 for the 2023-2024 aid year; 2020 for the 2022-2023 aid year).

Order the Nonfiling Letter using IRS Request Form

• Download form 4506-T form.
• Enter your identifying information on the form.
• It is recommended you do not complete step #5 to mail to a 3rd party. Due to the nature of university suites, it is not guaranteed to reach our office.
• Check the box next to Verification of Nonfiling.
• For year requested, use the correct year (12/31/2021 for 2023-2024; 12/31/2020 for 2022-2023).
• Mail or fax the form to the appropriate address based on your state of residency.

***Tax Return Transcripts***

The Financial Aid Office must collect tax return transcripts for anyone selected for verification who did not use the IRS Data Retrieval or if an update to the FAFSA invalidated the transferred data.  We are unable to accept a copy of the tax return in place of a tax transcript.  The IRS will provide a tax return transcript free for any tax filer.  You can order a transcript to be mailed or call 1-800-908-9946.  Be sure to order a Return Transcript.  If you need to speak to a person at the IRS, call 1-800-829-1040; however you cannot order transcripts using this phone number.

Order a Transcript Online

Note: You must have a credit card, mortgage loan, home equity loan, or auto loan in order to verify your identity and obtain IRS data online.

• Go to the IRS website.
• Click Get Transcript Online.
• First time users must register by verifying their identity. If you are unable to create an account, then you must request a transcript using another method.
• You may need to disable your pop-up blocker to download the trasncript. Please be sure to download the Return Transcript for the correct year (2021 for 2023-2024; 2020 for 2022-2023).  

Order a Transcript Through the Mail

• Go to the IRS website.
• Click Get Transcript by Mail.
• Type in your identifying information. For joint filers, use the primary filer. Make sure your address is accurate based on US Postal standards for abbreviations. Click Continue.
• Choose Return Transcript and the correct year (2021 for 2023-2024; 2020 for 2022-2023).  
• The transcript will be mailed to you. Expect to receive it within 5-10 days.  Mail or fax the transcript to the Financial Aid Office.  Be sure to include the student ID number. It is recommended you keep a copy for your records.

Order a Transcript using IRS Request Form

• Download form 4506-T form.
• Enter your identifying information on the form.
• It is recommended you do not complete step #5 to mail to a 3rd party. Due to the nature of university suites, it is not guaranteed to reach our office.
• Under Transcript requested, indicate 1040 and choose Return Transcript.
• For year requested, use the correct year (12/31/2021 for 2023-2024; 12/31/2020 for 2022-2023).
• Mail or fax the form to the appropriate address based on your state of residency.

Update the FAFSA with IRS Information

• In most cases, if you use the IRS Data Retrieval (see the section above) on the FAFSA, you do not need to request a tax transcript.

If you are struggling with obtaining IRS data, contact the Financial Aid Office to schedule an appointment with your administrator.

Amended Tax Returns

If you have submitted an amended return to the IRS, please send the Financial Aid Office a signed copy of the amended return (1040X form). If you did not file an amended return, but the Financial Aid Office requests a 1040X form, please submit a Record of Account Transcript from the IRS. These are requested when you utilize the IRS Data Retrieval Tool and the IRS flags the record as amended. You can obtain the Record of Account Transcript by using the Get Transcript Online process or submitting a 4506-T form to the IRS. The Record of Account indicates if the IRS amended a data field on your tax return.

Identity Theft

If you have been the victim of identity theft and you cannot obtain tax transcripts, you must provide the following documents:

• A Tax Return DataBase View (TRDBV) transcript obtained from the IRS by contacting the IRS's Identity Protection Unit (IPSU) at 1-800-908-4490.
• A signed and dated statement from the tax filer indicating they are a victim of tax-related identity theft and the IRS has been made aware of the situation.

W-2 Forms

If you did not save a copy of your W-2 form(s), you can contact your employer(s) for copies.  You can also obtain a copy by submitting the 4506-T Form to the IRS. You only need to submit W-2s if they are requested.