Transfer Your IRS Tax Information Directly into Your FAFSA

You may have received an email from Federal Student Aid recommending that you use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to transfer tax information directly from the IRS into your FAFSA. If for any reason the Data Retrieval Tool is unavailable, you can manually enter your tax information into your FAFSA.

The IRS Data Retrieval Tool transfers your IRS tax information directly into your FAFSA. To use the Data Retrieval Tool, complete the following steps:

  • Go to studentaid.gov and select the “Start Here” button
  • Log in using your FSA ID
  • Select the “Continue” or “Make a Correction” button
  • Select the "Financial Information" tab from the top of the page.

Instructions for the parent to request the parent IRS information:

  1. Go to "Parent Financial Information" page
  2. Answer the questions in the first box to see if you are eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool
  3. If eligible, select which parent is providing information on the FAFSA
  4. Enter the FSA ID for the parent providing the information
  5. Click "Link to IRS"  (for an example of screen shots from the IRS DRT, see student section below)              
  6. For your privacy, the tax information you transfer from the IRS into your FAFSA form won’t be visible to you. Instead, you will see “Transferred from the IRS” in the appropriate fields on fafsa.gov, the IRS DRT web page, and on the Student Aid Report
  7. If you only need to update the parent tax information, then proceed to the Sign and Submit page.

Instructions for the student to request the student IRS information:

  1. Go to "Student Financial Information" page
  2. Answer the questions in the first box to see if you are eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool
  3. If eligible, click "Link to IRS"

IRS link from FAFSA

Student Leaving FAFSA

Click "OK" to continue to IRS

For authorized use only

Get My Federal Income Tax Information

Federal Income Tax Information

*Note that this is en example, you will need to submit the Income from the tax year that our office has requested.

For your privacy, the tax information you transfer from the IRS into your FAFSA form won’t be visible to you. Instead, you will see “Transferred from the IRS” in the appropriate fields on fafsa.gov, the IRS DRT web page, and on the Student Aid Report.  

You have successfully transferred your tax information

  4. Proceed to the Sign and Submit page.

If you'd like to know more about the tool, FinAid offers a in depth summary on their website.