You may be able to use your 2022 income for 2023-24 financial aid, if it is significantly less than your income was in 2021. To do this you will need to request “Professional Judgment for Income Reduction”. See below for the steps to do this.
You can request the forms in question from City Vision.
- Fill out the Professional Judgment for Income Reduction form.
Use the form for the 19-20 aid year and select either the one for Independent or Dependent student as appropriate (see below).
a) At the top of the form, select option #1 – “unemployment or change in employment which has drastically reduced your and (or) your spouse’s income”.
b) Make sure to fill out the estimated income table for 2023-24.
c) Sign and date at the bottom, in pen. - Write a letter of explanation of how your financial situation changed in 2022.
a) For example, if you were living in a homeless shelter and were unemployed, you could simply state that.
b) If you didn’t receive unemployment benefits, you will need to state that in the letter.
c) You can type the letter, but the signature and date must be written in pen.
d) If your income was reduced due to disability, you will need to submit a doctor’s statement detailing the length and type of disability. - Fill out the 2023-24 Filing Status Worksheet. Note that it is asking about whether you filed taxes in 2021.
- Fill out the 2023-24 Household Information Worksheet. This form asks about the members of your household between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023.
* Note: If you are still married, you will need to include your spouse in your household, even if you do not live with him/her.
* See also the other instructions on the form. - If you have a letter confirming that you received unemployment benefits in 2022, include this with your form.
- Get your 2022 Federal Income Tax Transcript from the IRS and include this.
a) If you have a spouse, and you filed separately, you will need both your tax transcripts.
b) See the directions below for how to get this form. - If you filed taxes in 2021, also request your 2021 Federal Income Tax Transcript.
* Note: The 2021 Tax Transcript isn’t needed if you used the IRS Data Retrieval Tool on your FAFSA to automatically add your tax information.
If you didn’t file taxes in 2021, get your paystubs for 2018 year-to-date. If you don’t have any, state that in the letter you wrote in step #2, with the reason why.
- Fax all these documents to the City Vision Financial Aid Office at 816-256-8471.
- Once we’ve received the forms, our financial aid servicer will review them, and let us know if anything else is needed.
Independent vs. Dependent Students
In steps 1, 3 & 4, you will need to fill out the Independent worksheets if the US government considers you to be an Independent student. Otherwise, fill out the forms for Dependent students.
If you are not sure which you are, look at the questions on https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/infographic-accessible. If your answer to all of them is “No” you should consider yourself a Dependent student. All students over 24, or in grad school, are independent.
Getting an IRS Tax Return Transcript
To get an IRS Tax Return Transcript, do the following:
- Go to www.IRS.gov
- Under the Tools heading, click “Get a tax transcript.”
- Click “Get Transcript ONLINE.” Make sure to request the “IRS Tax Return Transcript” and NOT the “IRS Tax Account Transcript.”
- Alternatively, you can call 1-800- 908-9946.
If you can’t get it online, you can call the phone number, above, or else fill out the 4506-T form to request it.
You can download and print the 4506-T form here.
On line 5 of the form, you will need to put your own address.
When you’ve completed the form, mail it to the address indicated on the 2nd page, in the “Chart for individual transcripts” section.
When you get the tax transcript back, you’ll need to fax it to us at 816-256-8471. The IRS won’t send tax transcripts directly to colleges anymore.
If you have any difficulty with any of these steps, please let us know at financialaid@cityvision.edu or call our financial aid office at (816) 708-0797.