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Providing Financial Information

Beginning with the 2024-2025 academic year, students and parents will be asked to use the Direct Data Exchange (DDX) to transfer contributors’ federal tax information from the IRS directly into the FAFSA form. For 2023-2024 or prior year FAFSA, please see Applying For Aid with the IRS DRT.

Applying for Aid with the Direct Data Exchange

The Financial Aid Direct Data Exchange, replacing the IRS Data Retrieval Tool starting with the 2024–25 FAFSA form, will transfer contributors’ federal tax information from the IRS directly into your FAFSA form.

All contributors must provide consent and approval to

  • disclose their personally identifiable information provided on the FAFSA form to the IRS for matching purposes;

  • obtain their federal tax information from the IRS via direct data exchange;

  • allow the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to use their federal tax information to determine the student’s eligibility and amount of federal student aid;

  • allow ED to share their federal tax information with colleges, career/trade schools, and state higher education agencies for use in awarding and administering financial aid; and

  • allow ED to reuse their federal tax information on another FAFSA applicant’s form (e.g., if a parent has multiple dependent students or a parent’s own FAFSA form).

NOTE: Even if contributors don’t have an SSN, didn’t file taxes, or filed taxes outside of the U.S., they will still need to provide consent and approval.

IMPORTANT: If a required contributor doesn’t provide consent and approval to have their federal tax information transferred into the FAFSA form, you (the student) will not be eligible for federal student aid—even if the contributor manually enters tax information into the FAFSA form.

To ensure the information is secure, the federal tax information won’t be displayed on the FAFSA site or the FAFSA Submission Summary.

Applying for Aid with the IRS DRT (23-24 FAFSA and Prior)

Students and parents who filed their IRS tax returns can use the IRS DRT option on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). By using the IRS DRT, we are less likely to request additional income information from you, which streamlines the processing of your application and avoids unnecessary delays.

Follow these steps to transfer your tax information into your FAFSA:

  1. Log in to your current FAFSA, or start a new FAFSA at studentaid.gov.
  2. In the Financial Information section of the FAFSA, you will see a “Link to IRS” button if you are eligible to use the IRS DRT. Click “Link to IRS” and then “Proceed to IRS Site.”
  3. Enter or confirm the information from your federal income tax return and click “Submit.”
  4. On the next page, check the box for “Transfer My Tax Information into the FAFSA Form” and click “Transfer Now.”
  5. For your privacy, the tax information you transfer from the IRS into your FAFSA form won’t be visible. You will see “Transferred from the IRS” in the appropriate fields on fafsa.gov, the IRS DRT web page, and the Student Aid Report. You will also receive an acknowledgment in the mail from the IRS that your information was successfully transferred.
Please allow approximately two weeks from the date you filed your tax return electronically to use the IRS DRT. If you choose to file a paper return, please allow 6-8 weeks for processing by the IRS. If you used the IRS DRT when you first submitted the FAFSA, you do not need to resubmit the information unless you made changes to the information on your FAFSA. The IRS DRT automatically transfers your income information from the IRS directly onto your FAFSA.

Alternative Methods to Verify Income

If you are ineligible or unable to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, you can submit an IRS Tax Return transcript to Rutgers. This method will likely cause major delays in disbursing your financial aid, and we strongly recommend using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool if possible.

An IRS Tax Return transcript is not a photocopy of your IRS income tax return. You will need to obtain the transcript from the IRS. You can do so:

By phone:

  • Contact the IRS directly at 1-800-908-9946 and order a tax return transcript by phone.

Online:

By mail:

  • Mail or fax the IRS Form 4506-T, and check box 6a to request a return transcript. Mail or fax to the address listed on page two of the IRS Form 4506-T.
    • To expedite this process, you can bring the completed IRS Form 4506-T to the nearest IRS office.

To submit your tax return transcript, follow the steps listed here: Required Documents