Section 121.44. Required family financial data

(a) General. The applicant, the applicant’s parents and stepparents, and the applicant’s spouse shall submit financial data that the Agency requests and, further, shall be required to authorize the Director of the State Personal Income Tax Bureau and the District Director of the Internal Revenue Service to release to the Agency, upon request of the Agency, a copy or extract of the State or Federal Income Tax Return filed by the applicant, the applicant’s parents and stepparents, and the applicant’s spouse for the tax years the Agency designates. The Agency may in addition require the applicant, the applicant’s parents and stepparents, and the applicant’s spouse to submit a copy of the tax returns directly to the Agency.

(b) Exceptions. The Agency may determine the eligibility of the applicant without regard to the parents’ financial data, waiving its submission, in the following cases:

(1) If the applicant is a veteran as defined in § 121.1 (relating to definitions).

(2) If the applicant is in compliance with other criteria established by the Agency for the processing of applicants without regard to parental financial data which generally are the United States Department of Education criteria for financial independence for Title IV Federal student aid programs.

(3) Other exceptions may be granted by the Administrative Review Committee or the Committee on Appeals in turn on an individual case basis.

(c) Severe casualty losses. If, as a result of fire, storm or other casualty, the family of a higher education grant applicant has suffered severe losses not fully covered by insurance, the post-loss value of assets normally taxed in the eligibility determination may be used in processing the application to reflect the family’s reduced ability to finance educational costs. If the family’s loss is covered by insurance (whether fully or partially), the Agency, in processing the application, may elect to use either the preloss value of the assets or the insurance benefits received because of the loss. If the loss is not fully covered by insurance, the Agency may also elect to subtract from family income the amount of the casualty losses not covered by insurance, to waive the normal application filing deadline and to afford other special treatment of the application that may be merited.

The provisions of this § 121.44 adopted February 27, 1969; amended November 23, 1973, effective November 24, 1973, 3 Pa.B. 2719; amended December 27, 1974, effective December 28, 1974, 4 Pa.B. 2699; amended July 25, 1980, effective July 26, 1980, 10 Pa.B. 3091; amended July 25, 1980, effective July 26, 1980, 10 Pa.B. 3091; amended September 4, 1987, effective September 5, 1987, 17 Pa.B. 3600; amended July 12, 1996, effective July 13, 1996, 26 Pa.B. 3321; amended July 31, 2015, effective August 1, 2015, 45 Pa.B. 4163. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (268177) to (268178).

Notation

Authority

The provisions of this § 121.44 amended under section 4 of the act of August 7, 1963 (P. L. 549, No. 290) (24 P. S. § 5104); sections 1 and 6(e) of the act of January 25, 1966 (P. L. 1546, No. 541) (24 P. S. § § 5151 and 5156(e)); the act of July 18, 1974 (P. L. 483, No. 174) (24 P. S. § § 5181—5189); the act of July 1, 1988 (P. L. 1259, No. 155) (24 P. S. § § 5191—5197); and the act of June 26, 1992 (P. L. 322, No. 64) (24 P. S. § § 5198.1—5198.7).

Cross References

This section cited in 22 Pa. Code § 121.43 (relating to processing applications).