Is FAFSA Consent Required From the Spouse When Married Filing Jointly?

Award Year: 2024-25 KA-36545 Helpfulness Rating 1,523 page views

This guidance is specific to the 2024-25 award year and later.

According to guidance NASFAA has received from the U.S. Department of Education (ED), it is true that all FAFSA contributors must provide consent to retrieve federal tax information (FTI) from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). However, a spouse isn’t always a contributor. In the example of a married couple who filed a joint tax return (married filing jointly), the spouse isn’t a contributor. The same is true for both the dependent student's parents and the independent student.

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