VERIFICATION COURSEISFAA Winter Conference December 13, 2012

TODAY’S INSTRUCTORSSue Allmon, WGU Indiana

Lori Love, UIndy

VERIFICATION

COU

RSE 2012

Guiding Principles

Federal Register

Dear Colleague Letters

Electronic Announcements

Program Integrity Questions & Answers

NASFAA News

SYLLABUS

Retrospective on 2012-2013 verification Spotlight on significant change Part I Updated guidance for 2012-2013

Prospective for 2013-2014 verification Spotlight on significant change Part II

Discussion board for 2013-2014 implementation

RETROSPECTIVE ON 2012-2013 VERIFICATIONGeneral requirements for selected applicants

VERIFIABLE DATA ELEMENTS 2012-2013 Household size Number in college Child support paid reported on FAFSA Receipt of food stamp benefits (SNAP) Certain information for tax filers

AGI U.S. tax paid Untaxed IRS Distributions Untaxed pensions Education credits IRA Deductions Tax-exempt interest

Income earned from work for nontax filers

NEW TO 2012-2013 SPOTLIGHT ON SIGNIFICANT CHANGE PART I

Child support paid

Food stamps (SNAP)

Signature of person paying support

Amount paid per recipient Name of each recipient

Signature (parent or independent student)

Received SNAP in 2010 or 2011

Data Element Acceptable Documentation

NEW TO 2012-2013 SPOTLIGHT ON SIGNIFICANT CHANGE PART I CONTINUED

Income of nontax filer Signed statement certifying not filed and not required to file for tax year

Sources and amounts of income earned

Copy of W2 for each source

Data Element Acceptable Documentation

SOU

RCE FOR VERIFYIN

G TAX IN

FO

REPORTED

Spotlight on significant change

Part I

Did you know? P-Q&A: May also accept as proof of tax filer data elements

• Record of Account Transcript

• Return Transcript for Taxpayer (RTFTP)

World of Tax Return Transcripts

Data elements for tax filer transferred by IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) DRT used – unchanged transfer – 02

IRS Request Flag No additional tax information needed

Data elements for tax filer where DRT not used or information changed Must obtain tax return transcript May request by:

Online (www.irs.gov) Telephone request at 1-800-908-9946 Fax or mail form (4506T-EZ, 4506-T) In person (local tax center)

UPDATED VERIFICATION GUIDANCE 2012-2013Issue Guidance

8/21, 9/25, 11/2, Program Q & A

Limited circumstances – DRT & tax return not possible

• Signed copy of relevant 2011 IRS tax return

• Failed paper request – copy of IRS response, signed by tax filer

• Failed online request – signed copy of screen print from official IRS web page displaying request unsuccessful

• Completed, signed IRS Form 4506T-EZ or 4506-T with line 5 completed (school information)

UPDATED VERIFICATION GUIDANCE 2012-2013 CONTINUEDIssue Guidance

8/21, 9/25, 11/2, Program Q & A

Identity theft • If Form 14039 not available, may accept signed copy of tax return, copy of filed police report or signed identify theft statement

Amended returns • Signed copy of original tax return (or return transcript)

• Signed copy of Form 1040XForeign tax returns • Signed copy of foreign return(s)

or other information listing similar income tax information, converted into U.S. dollars

• Nontax foreign tax filer – signed statement certifying income/taxes paid.

UPDATED VERIFICATION GUIDANCE 2012-2013 CONTINUEDIssue Guidance

8/21, 9/25, 11/2, Program Q & A

U.S. Territory or Commonwealth tax returns

• Signed copy of applicable tax return (Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands)

• Signed copy of individual wage and tax statement for each employer along with signed statement listing all income and taxes for tax year (Republic of the Marshall Islands, Republic of Palau, Federated States of Micronesia—Freely Associated State.)

UPDATED GUIDANCE REVIEW PROGRAM INTEGRITY – Q & A

PROSPECTIVE FOR 2013-2014 VERIFICATIONGeneral requirements for selected applicants

INTRO INTO WORLD OF VERIFICATION TRACKING GROUPS 2013-2014 V1 – Standard: Verifiable data elements from 2012-2013

for tax filers and nonfilers, child support paid, and SNAP.

V2 – SNAP: receipt of SNAP benefits only.

V3 – Child Support Paid: child support paid only.

V4 – Custom: Child support paid, SNAP, high school completion status, and identity/statement of educational purpose

V5 – Aggregate: all data elements in tracking groups V1 and V4.

NEW TO 2013-2014 SPOTLIGHT ON SIGNIFICANT CHANGE PART II

Verification groups

High school completion status

Step towards customization

Documentation of high school diploma Diploma or 8 semester transcript

(includes graduation date) GED Homeschool credential Academic transcript showing

successful completion of 2 year program fully transferrable to a bachelor degree

Data Element or Process Acceptable Documentation or Explanation

NEW TO 2013-2014 SPOTLIGHT ON SIGNIFICANT CHANGE PART II CONTINUED

Identity/statement of educational purpose

In-person: School official must obtain

government-issued photo id and signed statement of educational purpose

Date id was received Name of school official

If not in-person: Copy of government-issued

photo id Notarized statement of

educational purpose signed by applicant

Data Element or Process Acceptable Documentation or Explanation

NEW TO 2013-2014 SPOTLIGHT ON SIGNIFICANT CHANGE PART II CONTINUED

Verification tracking flag

Added field on ISIR: V1, V2, V3, V4, V5

FAA Access to CPS online: Standard, SNAP, Child Support Paid, Custom, or Aggregate verification.

Data Element or Process Acceptable Documentation or Explanation

VERIFICATION RESOURCES VIA FSA 6/18/10 NPRM (Pages 34825-34834)

http://www.ifap.ed.gov/fregisters/FR061810ProgramInteritylssuesNPRM.html

10/29/10 Final Rule (Pages 66902-66913 and 66954-66958) http://www.ifap.ed.gov/fregisters/FR102910Final.html

Federal Register Notice of Information To Be Verified for the 2012-2013 Award Year http://www.ifap.ed.gov/fregisters/FR071311FAFSAInfor

mation.html

VERIFICATION RESOURCES VIA FSA GEN-11-13 and GEN-11-03

http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN1113.html http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN1103.html

Q&A on Program Integrity website: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2

009/verification.html Sample 2012-2013 Verification Worksheets

http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/020312SampleVerificationWorksheets1213.html

VERIFICATION RESOURCES VIA FSA FAFSA-IRS Tax Return Transcript Matrix

http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/031612FAFSA1213VerificationIRSTaxReturnMatrix.html

2012-2013 Application and Verification Guide http://www.ifap.ed.gov/fsahandbook/attachments/1213A

VG.pdf GEN-12-7 – Acceptable Documentation for Income

and Taxes http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/attachments/

GEN1207.pdf

VERIFICATION RESOURCES VIA FSA 2012-2013 Electronic Data Exchange (EDE)

Technical Reference http://www.ifap.ed.gov/edetechref/010612EDETechRef1

213Jan12Update.html 2012-2013 ISIR Guide

http://ifap.ed.gov/isirguide/attachments/1213ISIRGuideDec2011.pdf

Electronic Announcement on Acceptable Documentation Update for 2012-2013 Award Year Verification http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/110212AwardYrVerA

cceptDocs.html

VERIFICATION RESOURCES VIA FSA Electronic Announcement on Acceptable

Documentation for Verification of 2011 IRS Information http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/072012Accept

ableDocumentation4Verification2011IRSInfo.html Electronic Announcement on Limited

Circumstances When a Signed Copy of Tax Return or Other Documentation is Acceptable for Completing Verification http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/082112Limited

CircumstancesWhenSignedCopyofTaxReturnisAcceptable.html

2013-2014 VERIFICATION RESOURCES VIA FSA Federal Register notice published 7/12/2012 Dear Colleague Letter GEN-12-11

http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN1211.html Electronic Announcement on Plans for 2013-2014

Verification Worksheets http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/110112Plansfor1314

VerificationWorksheets.html

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGEQuestion: If a school receives both unaltered tax data (02 IRS Request Flag) and a tax return transcript from an applicant, is the school required to review the transcript?Answer: Yes. The school must review the transcript to ensure there is not discrepant information.

DISCUSSION BOARD• 2012-2013 wrap-up• 2013-2014 implementation