The U.S. Department of Education issued a statement on Thursday informing families that the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) has been temporarily suspended due to an ongoing effort to ensure the security of private information.

The DRT is a feature of the FAFSA, the universal application for federal financial aid, intended to make filing the application faster by transferring tax information directly from the IRS database to a student’s FAFSA. The DRT is intended to assist students and is not required in order for a student to complete their FAFSA. Students and their families can still complete and submit the application using information from their 2015 tax return. No other part of the application has been affected. Missouri’s FAFSA deadline for state aid eligibility is April 1^st, and students should not wait for the DRT to come back online before filing their FAFSA.

The IRS expects the DRT to be unavailable for several weeks. In the event that a student needs to submit a tax return transcript to their financial aid office for verification, one may be requested in a few different ways:

1. Request a transcript online (download) at https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript
2. Request a transcript be mailed at https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript
3. Submit IRS Form 4506-T to the IRS
4. Call the IRS Transcript Request Line (toll-free): 1-800-908-9946

Questions about the FAFSA and the Data Retrieval Tool may be directed at the Office of Student Financial Aid.

Office of Student Financial Aid

901 S National Avenue

Springfield, MO 65802

(417) 836-5262

Fax: (417) 836-8392

FinancialAid@MissouriState.edu