In order to protect sensitive taxpayer information, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Federal Student Aid (FSA) recently announced the IRS Data Retrieval Tool in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is down. That means, instead of pulling in all the tax information you already submitted to the IRS, you'll have to manually input your tax information. The IRS expects the Data Retrieval Tool to be down until the new FAFSA opens in October.

While the IRS Data Retrieval Tool is unavailable, there are some options to help you and your parents complete the FAFSA. You'll have to manually enter your 2015 tax information. If you don't have a copy of your 2015 Tax Transcript, you may be able to access it through the tax software used to prepare your return (TurboTax for example) or contact your tax preparer to get a copy.

You and your parents can also download a copy of their tax transcript at www.irs.gov/transcript or call 1-800-908-9946 and have a transcript delivered to the address on record within 5-10 days.

Have a question? Don't hesitate to get in touch with the Office of Financial Aid at 817-531-4420 or financialaid@txwes.edu.