# Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) Information To Be Verified for the 2022-2023 Award Year
**AGENCY:**
Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.
**ACTION:**
Notice.
**SUMMARY:**
For each award year, the Secretary publishes in the *Federal Register* a notice announcing the FAFSA information that an institution and an applicant may be required to verify, as well as the acceptable documentation for verifying FAFSA information. This is the notice for the 2022-2023 award year, Assistance Listing Numbers 84.007, 84.033, 84.063, and 84.268.
**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:**
Vanessa Gomez, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 2C179, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202) 453-6708. Email: *[email protected].*
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.
**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:**
If the Secretary selects an applicant for verification, the applicant's Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) includes flags that indicate (1) that the applicant has been selected by the Secretary for verification and (2) the Verification Tracking Group in which the applicant has been placed. The Verification Tracking Group indicates which FAFSA information needs to be verified for the applicant and, if appropriate, for the applicant's parent(s) or spouse. The Student Aid Report (SAR) provided to the applicant will indicate that the applicant's FAFSA information has been selected for verification and direct the applicant to contact the institution for further instructions for completing the verification process.
To help institutions and applicants deal with the challenges resulting from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Secretary has provided flexibilities to the verification regulations through the end of the first payment period that begins after the date that the COVID-19 national emergency is rescinded.
The following chart lists, for the 2022-2023 award year, the FAFSA information that an institution and an applicant and, if appropriate, the applicant's parent(s) or spouse may be required to verify under 34 CFR 668.56. The chart also lists the acceptable documentation that must, under § 668.57, be provided to an institution for that information to be verified.
| FAFSA information | Acceptable documentation |
| --- | --- |
| Income information for tax filers: | (1) 2020 tax account information of the tax filer that the Secretary has identified as having been obtained from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) through the IRS Data Retrieval Tool and that has not been changed after the information was obtained from the IRS; |
| Income information for tax filers with special circumstances: | (1) For a student, or the parent(s) of a dependent student, who filed a 2020 joint income tax return and whose income is used in the calculation of the applicant's expected family contribution and who at the time the FAFSA was completed was separated, divorced, widowed, or married to someone other than the individual included on the 2020 joint income tax return— |
| | (2) For an individual who is required to file a 2020 IRS income tax return and has been granted a filing extension by the IRS beyond the automatic six-month extension for tax year 2020— |
| | An institution may require that, after the income tax return is filed, an individual granted a filing extension beyond the automatic six-month extension submit tax information using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, by obtaining a transcript from the IRS, or by submitting a copy of the income tax return and the applicable schedules that were filed with the IRS that lists 2020 tax account information. When an institution receives such information, it must be used to reverify the income and tax information reported on the FAFSA. |
| | (3) For an individual who was the victim of IRS tax-related identity theft— |
| | Tax filers may inform the IRS of the tax-related identity theft and obtain a TRDBV transcript by calling the IRS's Identity Protection Specialized Unit (IPSU) at 1-800-908-4490. Unless the institution has reason to suspect the authenticity of the TRDBV transcript provided by the IRS, a signature or stamp or any other validation from the IRS is not needed. |
| | (4) For an individual who filed an amended income tax return with the IRS, a signed copy of the IRS Form 1040X that was filed with the IRS for tax year 2020 or documentation from the IRS that include the change(s) made to the tax filer's 2020 tax information, in addition to one of the following— |
| Income information for nontax filers: | For an individual who has not filed and, under IRS or other relevant tax authority rules (e.g., the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, a U.S. territory or commonwealth or a foreign government), is not required to file a 2020 income tax return— |
| | (1) A signed statement certifying— |
| | (2) A copy of IRS Form W-2
for each source of 2020 employment income received or an equivalent document
; and |
| | (3) Except for dependent students, verification of nonfiling
from the IRS or other relevant tax authority dated on or after October 1, 2021. |
| Number of Household Members | A statement signed by the applicant and, if the applicant is a dependent student, by one of the applicant's parents, that lists the name and age of each household member for the 2022-2023 award year and the relationship of that household member to the applicant. |
| | Verification of number of household members is not required if— |
| Number in College | (1) A statement signed by the applicant and, if the applicant is a dependent student, by one of the applicant's parents listing the name and age of each household member, excluding the parents, who is or will be attending an eligible postsecondary educational institution as at least a half-time student in the 2022-2023 award year in a program that leads to a degree or certificate and the name of that educational institution. |
| | (2) If an institution has reason to believe that the signed statement provided by the applicant regarding the number of household members enrolled in eligible postsecondary institutions is inaccurate, the institution must obtain documentation from each institution named by the applicant that the household member in question is, or will be, attending on at least a half-time basis unless— |
| | Verification of the number of household members in college is not required if the number in college indicated on the ISIR is “1.” |
| Identity/Statement of Educational Purpose | (1) An applicant must appear in person and present the following documentation to an institutionally authorized individual to verify the applicant's identity: |
| | |
| | I certify that I ____________ am |
| | the individual signing this Statement of Educational Purpose and that the Federal student financial assistance I may receive will only be used for educational purposes and to pay the cost of attending __________ for 2022-2023. |
| | (Name of Postsecondary Educational Institution) |
| | __________________ _____ |
| | (Student's Signature) (Date) |
| | __________ |
| | (2) If an institution determines that an applicant is unable to appear in person to present an unexpired valid government-issued photo identification and execute the Statement of Educational Purpose, the applicant must provide the institution with— |
| | (a) A copy of an unexpired valid government-issued photo identification
such as, but not limited to, a driver's license, non-driver's identification card, other State-issued identification, or U.S. passport that is acknowledged in a notary statement or that is presented to a notary; and |
| | |
| | I certify that I __________ am |
| | the individual signing this Statement of Educational Purpose and that the Federal student financial assistance I may receive will only be used for educational purposes and to pay the cost of attending __________ for 2022-2023. |
| | __________________ _____ |
| | __________ |
**Verification Requirements for Individuals Who Are Eligible for an Auto Zero Expected Family Contribution (EFC)**
Only the following FAFSA/ISIR information must be verified:
For dependent students—
• The parents' AGI if the parents were tax filers;
• The parents' income earned from work if the parents were nontax filers; and
• The student's identity/statement of educational purpose, if selected.
For independent students—
• The student's and spouse's AGI if they were tax filers;
• The student's and spouse's income earned from work if they were nontax filers;
• The student's identity/statement of educational purpose, if selected; and
• The number of household members to determine if the independent student has one or more dependents other than a spouse.
*Note:* Verification of nonfiling <sup>4</sup> from the IRS (or other relevant tax authority, if applicable) dated on or after October 1, 2021, must be provided for (1) independent students (and spouses, if applicable) and parents of dependent students who did not file and are not required to file a 2020 income tax return, and (2) individuals who are required to file a 2020 IRS income tax return but have not filed because they have been granted a tax filing extension by the IRS beyond the automatic six-month extension for the 2020 tax year.
The individual FAFSA items that an applicant must verify are based upon the Verification Tracking Group to which the applicant is assigned as outlined in the following chart.
| Verification | Verification tracking | FAFSA information required to be verified |
| --- | --- | --- |
| V1 | Standard Verification | |
| | | |
| | | |
| V2 | Reserved | N/A. |
| V3 | Reserved | N/A. |
| V4 | Custom Verification Group | • Identity/Statement of Educational Purpose. |
| V5 | Aggregate Verification Group | |
| | | |
| | | |
| V6 | Reserved | N/A. |
**Other Sources for Detailed Information**
We provide a more detailed discussion on the verification process in the following resources:
• *2022-2023 Application and Verification Guide.*
• *2022-2023 ISIR Guide.*
• *2022-2023 SAR Comment Codes and Text.*
• *2022-2023 COD Technical Reference.*
• Program Integrity Information—Questions and Answers on Verification at *www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2009/verification.html.*
These publications are on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals website at www. *ifap.ed.gov.*
*Accessible Format:* On request to the program contact person listed under *FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT* , individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an accessible format. The Department will provide the requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file, braille, large print, audiotape, or compact disc or other accessible format.
*Electronic Access to This Document:* The official version of this document is the document published in the *Federal Register* . You may access the official edition of the *Federal Register* and the Code of Federal Regulations at *www.govinfo.gov.* At this site you can view this document, as well as all other documents of this Department published in the *Federal Register* , in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the site.
You may also access documents of the Department published in the *Federal Register* by using the article search feature at: *www.federalregister.gov.* Specifically, through the advanced search feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published by the Department.
*Program Authority:* 20 U.S.C. 1070a, 1070b—1070b-4, 1087a-1087j, and 20 U.S.C. 1087-51—1087-58.
Michelle Asha Cooper,
Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Postsecondary Education.