As the year 2011 comes to an end, it’s time to start gathering all of your paperwork. This will help you prepare to file your tax returns and FAFSA in 2012. When you have all your documents nicely arranged in one folder, it will be much easier to navigate the filing processes for both the tax returns and the FAFSA. You will be able to complete everything much faster without having to stop and search for requested documents. Here is a list of forms that many students will need to collect in order to prepare for the new calendar year:
- W-2s from all employers for whom you worked during 2011. This includes federal work-study and co-op.
- 1099 forms, if any. There are many versions of this form – MISC, INT, DIV, etc. If you earned money from these sources, the documents will be mailed to you.
- Student loan statements.
- Copies of the educational invoices for the calendar year.
- 1098-T form. You will be able to find this form on your myNEU portal at the end of January.
- Statements from banks where you have your checking accounts, savings accounts, or investments.
Please keep in mind that this is just a short list of most commonly needed documents. You may want to check with a tax professional regarding your specific questions or needs.
December is also a good month to take important steps toward a successful year-end close. Here are some things you might consider doing:
- Check for any missing documents. Please check on your myNEU portal account for this important information. Some outstanding documents may hold up disbursement of your fall and spring financial aid.
- Pay your balance, if it’s due. Failure to pay your fall balance will result in a block on your account, and consequently, your spring classes will be dropped. In addition, if there is a spring balance due on your account, you should have a plan in place to cover those outstanding charges.
- Loan Exit Counseling For December Graduates: If you are graduating in December 2012 and had Federal Stafford Loans, you need to log into www.studentloans.gov to complete exit counseling. If you had a Federal Perkins, Health Professions, or Nursing Loan, the Northeastern University Loan Collections Office will mail out an exit packet to the permanent address on file. Documents in that packet will need to be filled out and mailed back to the Loan Collections Office. For the Federal Stafford and Federal Perkins (Health Professions or Nursing) loan details and totals, you can log into NSLDS website at https://www.nslds.ed.gov/
If you have any questions about this post, please do not hesitate to comment. If you have any other questions regarding your financial aid, please contact our office.
