Source: NPR
FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, allows students to receive federal, state, and institutional aid to pay for college tuition. However, because the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) is currently down, students are unable to complete their FAFSA on time.
FAFSA is notoriously complicated and tedious for students to complete because it requires them to manually enter their parents’ tax data. The DRT automatically answers FAFSA’s toughest tax questions, and students who apply early or on time are more likely to receive the financial aid they need.
A statement released by the IRS and the Department of Education details that the DRT was temporarily suspended “as a precautionary step following concerns that information from the tool could potentially be misused by identity thieves.”
Read full story at: NPR