If you can afford a Palms condo, this post will not be of much help to
your finances. However, if you have gambling winnings on your 1040
and kids in college or starting next fall, the financial aid office
will probably compute your financial aid without considering your losses.
Last year about this time I finished the hours of forms (the financial
aid office wants to know much more than the IRS) plus my taxes and
waited. After I received the financial aid award I called to find out
if and how my gambling winnings were treated in the financial aid
equation because I knew adjusted gross income is a big part of the aid
equation.
Finding someone to talk to on this matter proved to be a problem.
They were quick to assure me that everything on my tax return is taken
into consideration, but they did not want to give me any real info on
how this was done. After several attempts I found someone who
understood what I was talking about. I requested that they recompute
my financial aid without my winnings and losses to see if it would
make a difference. You may need the following example to get
someone's attention.
Mr Gambler and Mr Stocktrader have the exact same income except for
their hobbies. Mr Gambler has $10,000 in wins and $10,000 in losses.
Mr Stocktrader has $10,000 in capital gains and $10,000 in losses.
The IRS 1040 shows Mr Gambler's adjusted gross income is $10,000 more
than Mr Stocktrader's AGI. Does Mr Gambler really have $10,000 more
than Mr Stocktrader for tuition, room, and board???
The person who actually listened to me suggested that I send in a
written request with my helpful example. She said she would present
it to the financial aid committee. There is a happy ending to this
tedious story. I received a nice increase to my already generous
financial aid package.
I hope this helps someone dealing with the $40,000 plus cost of almost
every private college or university.
Chris