Back to FAFSA^® Guide 2026-27

How to answer other parent income tax questions on the FAFSA^®

Here’s a guide for how to correctly fill in 2026-27 FAFSA^® tax questions for the other parent and add your signature and consent. You or your spouse only need to fill this out if you filed separate tax returns.

FAFSA^® other parent basic information FAFSA^® preparer information

Providing consent to transfer federal tax information from the IRS

Why do they need this info?

For your student to be eligible for federal aid, you have to consent to allow the FAFSA^® to import your tax return information directly from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for your application. Providing consent also lets you skip the remaining income tax questions on the FAFSA^®, making it faster to complete.

Can I skip these questions?

Not if you want your student to get federal FAFSA^® money! You must answer AND provide consent, or your student will be ineligible for federal financial aid.
Even if you type in your tax return information yourself (which you can do if you decline to provide consent), your student still won’t qualify for federal aid.

How to answer these questions

For the online application, select “Approve” to consent to transfer federal tax information from the IRS.
For the paper version, on question 46 check the circle next to “Approval to transfer federal tax information from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)”.
Provide your signature and the date.

Other parent tax return info

Why do they need this info?

The FAFSA^® looks at parent tax returns when figuring out the student’s financial aid eligibility.
The student’s other parent (the one who did not complete the previous parent tax questions) needs to provide their tax info in this section if you filed separate tax returns.

Can I skip these questions?

Yes, as long as you provide consent to transfer federal tax information from the IRS.
Your FAFSA^® will not be processed unless you provide this consent.
On the paper form, you can skip all of question 45 as long as you provide electronic transfer consent in question 46.
The FAFSA^® will import your tax return info into your application once you’ve provided consent.

How to answer these questions

Check “Consent to transfer federal tax information from the Internal Revenue Service” (question 46, Other Parent Consent and Signature on the paper version).

44 Other Parent Tax Filing Status

Did or will the other parent file a 2023 IRS Form 1040 or 1040-NR?

Yes
No

If the answer is “No,” indicate which one of the following situations applies to the other parent for 2023:

If one of the options in the second column below is selected and the parent is unmarried, question 45 can be skipped.

The other parent filed or will file a tax return with Puerto Rico or another U.S. territory.
The parent filed or will file a foreign tax return.
Either the other parent earned income in a foreign country but still did not and will not file a foreign tax return or they were an employee of an international organization that did not require them to file a tax return. Such international organizations include, for example, the United Nations, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund.
The other parent, even though they earned income in the U.S., did not and will not file a U.S. tax return because their income was below the tax filing threshold.
The other parent did not and will not file a U.S. tax return for reasons other than low income.
The other parent did not and will not file any tax return because they did not earn any income.

45 Other Parent Tax Return Information

Filing status

Single
Head of household
Married filing jointly
Married filing separately
Qualifying surviving spouse

Convert all currency to U.S. dollars. If the answer is zero or the question does not apply, enter 0.

If the answer is negative, completely fill the circle ( – ) after the answer box.