The FUTURE Act gave borrowers the ability to automatically share their income with the government via tax return for the use of certifying your income on the Income Driven Repayment (IDR) plans.
This sounds cool because it seems like it would make life so much easier. However, we have helped over 20,000 new grads at FitBUX and the biggest problem we see for those on IDR is miscalculated monthly payments. The #1 cause of this miscalculations stems from the use of tax returns to calculate the monthly payment.
The scary thing is, a lot of people simply just think that’s how it’s supposed to be and just accept that higher monthly payment. In this article, I will detail why this is the case, the bugs in the system, and provide solutions for you to fix the situation.
Government Deception?
The Department of Education (DoE) makes it very easy to give them access to your tax returns. In fact, you may not have realized you were even doing so as it is very deceiving on what you’re actually doing. It is optional to allow the government to have access to your tax returns and as of now, you do not want to do it. Below, there will be some pictures to show you what I mean by the deceit.
The picture below is the 2nd screen of the IDR application. You will see where it says to ‘Decline’ or ‘Provide Approval’. The Provide approval button makes it seem like you need to click it or you won’t be able to continue on with the application.
However, you can click the ‘Decline’ button. That declines government access to your tax return and you’ll still be able to continue on with the application.
Why Do You Want to Revoke the Status?
If you’ve already given the DoE access to your tax return you’ll want to revoke it. Below I detail the reasons why as well as how to revoke the access.
Bugs on the FSA Site
The FSA website has a ton of bugs on it. Especially, if you have a family. We actually had one of our FitBUX members go through one of these bugs.
This Member had gone through their IDR application to apply for the SAVE plan. She didn’t realize she had already consented to giving the DoE access to their finances through previous tax returns. At the end of the application, the FSA site had shown the Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan as the lowest monthly payment. This is a giant red flag because the ICR plan is the first IDR plan to come out and will always have the HIGHEST monthly payment attached to it. This is just one of many bugs the FSA site has on it.
Community Property State
There also becomes more issues if you are married, filing your taxes separately, and live in a community property state. They don’t always calculate the monthly payments correctly due to various bugs.
If you make less income than your spouse and live in a community property state, then using your tax returns wouldn’t be an accurate representation of your income. Someone in this situation would want to manually recertify their income to correctly reflect it.
Privacy
Lastly, and the one you were probably expecting first, is your privacy. Most people don’t want the government to have more access to their private information.
How to Revoke Access
If you had already provided the DoE access to your income, don’t worry. There is a way to revoke access which will be shared in a step by step process below on how to do that.
1. Once you’re logged in to your account on Studentaid.gov, hover over your name and click on ‘Settings.’
2. After you clicked on ‘Settings’, on the left hand side, you’ll need to click on ‘Financial Information Access’. If you had already given consent previously, you’ll see it say ‘Revoke Consent’. Click on that. Then put in your first name and last name and click ‘Revoke Consent’ again. Your screen should then look like the one below.
Questions?
If you find yourself needing personalized guidance or support at any point in your financial planning journey, do not hesitate to reach out to one of our financial experts at FitBUX. Our team is equipped with the knowledge and expertise to provide you with tailored advice, helping you navigate your unique financial landscape. Whether you’re starting from scratch, looking to recover from past financial events, or aiming to pick a specific IDR plan, our professionals are here to assist you in achieving your financial objectives.
We also have financial planning technology that will really help guide you on your journey to financial freedom. Feel free to build your profile and schedule a call and we’re always happy to help you with your journey.
