At first the request seems like a paradox – you didn’t file a tax return, and the college financial aid office is asking you to prove something you didn’t do.
While it may seem unusual to prove that you didn’t file a tax return, you may need to do just that and depending on your situation, you may need help from Internal Revenue Service to obtain the proof.
If you’re a dependent student for financial aid purposes, you typically only need to submit a signed statement that you did not and were not required to file a tax return and include copies of any W-2 forms or Earning Statement for the applicable tax year. However, if you’re an independent student or parent of a dependent student, in addition to the W-2 forms or an Earning Statement, you’ll need to provide documentation of non-filing or a “Verification of Non-filing Letter.”
You can easily obtain the “Verification of Non-filing Letter” from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) through their online request process.
- Go to the official IRS Get Transcript page.
- Click “Get Transcript Online”.
- Follow the prompts to create an account or log in. You will need your SSN or ITIN, an email address, date of birth, mailing address, and account numbers for a loan or credit card associated with your name for identity verification.
- Once logged in, select the “Verification of Non-filing Letter” option and choose the appropriate tax year.
- You can then view and print the letter immediately.
The “Verification of Non-filing Letter simply states that the IRS has no record of a processed Form 1040-series tax return as of the date of the request. It doesn’t indicate, however, whether you are required to file a return for that year.
