IRS online data retrieval tool now available for certain student aid applicants

IRS shuts down PTIN online tool after court rules it can't collect fees for tax preparer ID numbers

Trump budget could solve IRS PTIN payment problem

IRS online data retrieval tool now available for certain student aid applicants

Wednesday, June 07, 2017

The Internal Revenue Service and Department of Education have a graduation gift for some students. The tax agency's income data retrieval tool that makes it easier to apply for federal financial college aid is once again operational for some applicants.

This cool balloon was part of my neighbors' celebration of their son's graduation. Some Texas gusts, however, helped it take a post-graduation trip to our driveway. After snapping this photo (and Instagram video), I helped the light-headed fellow home.

Since 2012, the IRS has made getting income information easier for students and their parents who are seeking financial help by filing a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. Thanks to the IRS' online Data Retrieval Tool (DRT), folks filing FAFSA can get the necessary family earnings data and have it automatically entered on the application.

Or they could, that is, until March.

That month, the IRS turned off its DRT after indications that it had been hacked. Ultimately, the IRS revealed, around 100,000 taxpayer accounts were possibly exposed to identity thieves.

Now, however, DRT is back up and running for certain financial aid applicants.

Back online for some: The Education Department has announced that folks applying for income-driven repayment plans now can use the IRS' online data retrieval tool to obtain their tax data needed for that assistance.

The affected financial aid is shown on StudentLoans.gov where borrowers apply to repay their eligible William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program and/or Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans under one of the four income-driven repayment plans:

Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE),
Pay As You Earn (PAYE),
Income-Based Repayment (IBR), and
Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR).

The reactivated DRT has security updates to encrypt and mask taxpayer data in these cases, according to the Department of Education. That means that transferred tax return information will be hidden from view on the DRT web page and the online income-driven repayment plan application.

As an added protection, the IRS automatically will notify taxpayers by mail when their tax return information is accessed using the DRT.

Folks completing the general FAFSA, however, are still locked out of the system until this fall. The IRS and Education Department have set Oct. 1 as the expected date when the DRT again will be fully accessible for 2018-2019 applications.

You also might find these items of interest:

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Posted on Wednesday, June 07, 2017 at 04:31 AM in Education, Finances, Identity Theft, IRS, Tax fraud, Taxes | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Department of Education, Education, FAFSA, Free Application for Federal Student Aid, Identity Theft, income driven education loan repayment plan, Internal Revenue Service, IRS, online security threat, tax, Tax fraud, tax identity theft, Taxes

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Today's Tax Tip

What the one big tax bill could mean for you — It’s official. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is law, signed at a White House July 4th ceremony. Taxes are a major part of the nearly 1,000-page measure. Here’s a collection of articles on what the new tax (and more) law could mean for your tax planning and ultimate Internal Revenue Service bill. (July 5, 2025)
The 2025 Tax Tips offer ways to file your annual return, along with post-filing advice, important tax news and, of course, ways to cut your current tax year bill. You'll find the monthly assemblages on their own respective pages: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December. Remember, tax tasks and tips don't stop after you file your annual return!

All About Kay

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Kay Bell — Native Texan
(the blog title totally makes sense now, right?). Professional journalist. Tax geek.
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Tax Year 2025 Continues!

We made it. Tax Day 2025 is finally over. For most of us. When the filing season started on Jan. 27, the IRS said it expected more than 140 million individual tax returns for tax year 2024 to be filed by April 15. When the month started, the agency was around 39 million short of that number. While many taxpayers no doubt got their 1040s in by Tax Day, million every year get an extension to file. That's fine.

In fact, the Internal Revenue Service appreciates some of us spreading out our tax submissions. It gives the agency time to process the surge of returns that arrive en masse on April 15.

But enough about Uncle Sam's tax collection issues. The focus now is on all y'all who filed for extensions, giving you another six months to complete your return. Let's get started on meeting that new Oct. 15 deadline. It will be here before you know it.

The monthly tips and reminders a little further down this column can help you finish up your extended Form 1040. There also will be tax tidbits each month that make sure you meet other tax deadlines. And, of course, you'll find advice on ways to cut your 2025 tax bill.

The monthly tips and reminders a little further down this column can help you finish up your extended Form 1040. There also will be tax tidbits each month that make sure you meet other tax deadlines. And, of course, you'll find advice on ways to cut your 2025 tax bill.
Note: I'm in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.

Time for Tax Tasks

Welcome July!
🗽 USA 🎆 Birthday 🎉 Time! 🦅

This first full month of summer really knows how to get the season started: Fireworks across the country on July 4!
Or, if your neighborhood is annoyingly like mine, fireworks from July 1 through July whenever the pyrotechnics are all boomed!

Even more exciting, tax-related sparklers continue through the month. In fact, as the calendar of tax tasks below notes, they started before the wicks on any official Independence Day firecrackers were lit.

Click on the image for some fireworks safety tips and warnings from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

I know, you're feeling like the youngster above, not quite ready yet to hear about taxes. But when you do take your hands off your ears to hear — or rather, scroll down to read — you’ll find some tax information to note and tax moves to make in July.
July 1: The majority of state individual and corporate income tax policy changes follow the calendar year and take effect each Jan. 1. But, notes the Tax Foundation, many sales and excise tax changes take effect today, July 1, which is the beginning of the fiscal year for all states except Alabama, Michigan, New York, and Texas. That’s why that notable tax changes will take effect in several states today.

July 4: Happy 249th Birthday, America!

Most of us will never be totally independent of taxes, but we can celebrate fewer tax hassles by paying attention to what we might owe and how we can reduce that amount throughout the year. As for that owed amount, if you meet most of your annual tax federal obligation via paycheck withholding, now is a good time to review that amount. If you need to adjust your withholding, the amounts will be less noticeable by being spread across 2025’s remaining six months.

July 10: If your job is as a server at a restaurant or at any other establishment where gratuities from customers are part of your compensation, I hope you get all the tips you deserve for doing your job well. Remember, though, that those tips are taxable income.

Whether you're dining at your favorite eatery or getting food, groceries and/or prepared meals, delivered to your home, if a tip isn't included on your restaurant or delivery bill, click the image above to calculate how much to tip the person who brought it to you.

If you got at least $20 in gratuities in June for your extraordinary services as a food server or hair stylist or parking valet or whatever job where tipping is common, you must report that amount by today. Use Form 4070 to let your employer know the total tips you took in last month.

July 11: Today kicks off the first of the annual summer state sales tax holidays. During these special shopping events, usually touted as back-to-school tax holidays, certain items are exempt from the states’ and usually the local sales taxes. Announced July sales tax holidays are (so far) in —
Mississippi from July 11 to 13;
Alabama from July 18 to 20;
New Mexico from July 25 to 27, and
Tennessee from July 25 to 27.

July 18: If back in April you got an extension to file your 2025 tax return, you don’t have to wait until the final Oct. 15 deadline to do so. You can get this tax task out of the way so you don’t have to think about it for the rest of the summer. You also might be able to file electronically at no cost if your adjusted gross income (AGI), regardless of your filing status, is $84,000 or less by using the official IRS.gov Free File website.

Eight software companies are part of this year’s IRS-Free File Alliance partnership option at IRS.gov. They will be available through the Oct. 15 extension deadline, but again, you don’t have to wait. And if your income is too high, you still can file for free by using Free File's Fillable Forms option.

July 24: Millions of us head to the beach to beat summer’s heat. But when the waters heat up, too, they can feed tropical systems. So far, the 2025 Atlantic (and Gulf of Mexico) hurricane season, which runs through Nov. 30, hasn’t been that bad. But federal forecasters say just wait. They once again are forecasting a more active than usual hurricane season. Before another tropical system forms, now is the time to get ready.

Uncle Sam's official forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center say we could get 13 to 19 total named storms, which are those with winds of 39 mph or higher. Of those, six to 10 are forecast to become hurricanes, meaning winds of 74 mph or higher. Three to five of the storms this season could become major hurricanes; that’s category 3, 4 or 5, with winds of 111 mph or higher.

The countdown clock above can help you keep track of how many more days you have to worry about tracking any size or type of tropical storms. You also might want to check out the ol' blog's Storm Warnings collection of special pages with posts offer tax advice on preparing for, recovering from and helping those who sustain damages from the many ways that that weather goes wild.

July 31: Summer is a great time to make home improvements. And there’s some added urgency this year if you’re relying on tax credits to help cover the cost of energy-efficient residential upgrades. Congress has targeted green energy tax breaks in its massive One Big Beautiful Bill. Many of the tax breaks will expire sooner than originally scheduled, so get your home improvements — and other environmentally friendly moves, like buying an electric vehicle — in under the tax law change wire.

Small Business Tax Calendar: If you run your own company, you know there are myriad important filing, deposit, and record keeping dates throughout the year that your company needs to meet. You also can track key business and individual tax deadlines in IRS Pub. 509.

State Tax Help

Don't forget your state taxes!
Forty-two states and D.C. collect personal income taxes. But even if you live in of the eight states without any income levy, you still face other state (and local) taxes.

State Tax Departments provides links to your state's Web page. The companion page, Tax Tidbits, is the compilation of blurbs about each state's tax laws. And for more state tax news, check out all our state tax bloggings.

Tax Forms

Thanks to our increased use of tax preparers and computer software, many of us don't see our tax forms until we sign and file them. But knowing what's on these documents, either in paper or digital form, and why the IRS wants it is key to understanding our tax system. And knowledge definitely is power, especially when it comes to tax savings. Find this valuable information in the ol' blog's special Tax Forms 2025 page.

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I am a professional journalist who has been covering tax issues since 1999. I am not a professional tax preparer.

The content on Don't Mess With Taxes is my personal interpretation and opinion based on my study and understanding of tax laws, policies, and regulations. It is provided for your private, noncommercial, educational, and informational purposes only. While I work to ensure each post's accuracy, the items are not recommendations of any specific tax action(s) you should or should not take. Similarly, mentions of commercial tax products or services are not endorsements.

In other words, my ramblings on the ol' tax blog are free advice, and you know what they say about getting what you pay for. That's why when it is time for you to file your own taxes, I urge you to get additional, professional, paid-for guidance from an accountant, Enrolled Agent, or other reputable, qualified tax preparer who is familiar with your individual tax circumstances.

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COVID-19 & Taxes

Coronavirus has wreaked havoc
on the 2020 and 2021 tax seasons.
These five Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Taxes pages have details:
March-July 2020
August-December 2020
January-December 2021
January-December 2022
…and so it continues into 2023
…and, alas, into 2024
It is 2025 and, yes, it's still an issue
You can find medical coronavirus resource links in the next section.

COVID-19 Resources

Need help finding a coronavirus vaccine in the United States?
Call 1-800-232-0233
or TTY 1-888-720-7489.
More information and resources at:
CDC Vaccines
CDC Booster Shots
HHS Combat COVID
USA.Gov COVID Info

July 2025

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Uncle Sam on vintage postcard.
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Tell it to the Hill

While it's easy to rail at the IRS, for the most part we can thank — or blame — Congress and the White House for our tax laws. So if you have an issue with tax legislation or want a tax bill passed, you need to let your federal legislators and the White House occupant know of your concerns. You can find out who in Washington, D.C., to contact (and how), as well as get information on your local lawmakers for matters, tax or otherwise, closer to home, at USA Gov.

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