Do I qualify as indigent?

[BigShotBob]

Hello all,

First, I'm new to the forum, so I don't know if this is the correct place to ask this. I apologize if I'm wrong.

Basically, I'm a college student and am getting ready to take my CHL class. I noticed while filling out the online application that you can apply as an indigent if your income is below the poverty line. Since I've been in school, I haven't worked too much. Last year and most of this year I didn't work at all. I just started at an internship last month, but that's the only income I've had in a year and a half.

Does this make me eligible for indigent status? If so, how do I prove my income level if I didn't file a tax return for last year because I didn't have a W2.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Robert

[BrianSW99]

How have you supported yourself this last year? If your parents are supporting you with tuition, room & board, etc, you may not qualify since I think that would be considered income. If you've been living on school loans, then you might qualify.

For proving income, you may need to file a tax return for last year even if you show zero income.

Brian

[BigShotBob]

My parents have helped me with some expenses, but I'm primarily paying for tuition, room and board, etc with loans.

Ok, I'll have to see about filing the return.

[RPB]

you might, if earned income is low enough.

There's a form online at IRS.gov

4506-T (Transcript) Check the box "W-2 ONLY" and fill in the years ending 12/31/2010 etc
http://search.irs.gov/web/query.html?co ... search.y=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(Be sure form is complete, even phone number ... in 25 years they've never called, but they'll reject incomplete forms)
They'll send you a copy of the W-2 filed by any employer with the IRS.
You can order up to 4 years worth of W-2s
No cost to you except the stamp to mail it.. if you get only W-2 forms.


Then, you can fill out your 1040/1040A or whatever, and you'll know by looking up the limits for indigent.


After you fill out your 1040, you'll have it for the FAF/Financial Aid and other purposes too.

As far as the FAF/Financial Aid (not CHL) ... If you made "too much" they used to not count money contributed to IRA accounts ...

[Kythas]

If so, how do I prove my income level if I didn't file a tax return for last year because I didn't have a W2. :

You should always file a tax return, even if you have $0 income. Not filing is a red flag for the IRS.

[WildBill]

Sorry to be a spoil sport, but I don't think that you will qualify. The fact the you attend college probably means that you are a poor student rather than indigent. Most government agencies consider that to be a temporary situation until you graduate and start making the big bucks so they can tax you. I am not a lawyer or an IRS agent so YMMV.

BTW, welcome to the forum.

[Ameer]

I wouldn't be surprised if you're out of luck if your parents or anyone else claimed you as a dependent on their taxes. If you're broke, many other states have normal CHL fees that are lower than the Texas discount fee for poverty.

[JP171]

what Bill said, no you as a college student do NOT qualify as indigent. almost all states and the federal gubberment have a rule that if your in college you do not qualify as indigent nor do you qualify for food stamps of AFDC of any kind. Sorry dude your out of luck.

[RPB]

My parents have helped me with some expenses, but I'm primarily paying for tuition, room and board, etc with loans.

Ok, I'll have to see about filing the return.

I'm old now, but back when I was in college, I told my Uncle (an accounting professor at U.T.) that I was going to RICE .... wait no, I could only afford to eat RICE, but it was another college in Houston.

For grins, I applied for food stamps, they approved like $3.00 a month, and it would only take a half-day trip to get them each month to a dangerous part of town and $4.00 worth of gas ..... so I declined them anyway. I did accept from the Hospital District a free pair of nerd glasses when the duct tape fell off my broken pair.... My taxes I paid for the next 40 years more than reimbursed that cost to them.

For school financial aid, IRA accounts were not "income" and they asked for AGI Adjusted Gross or Taxable Income, I forget which, but it wasn't "Total Income" I didn't reside with parents.

Federal Tax returns at that time considered CWS, College Work Study programs, where you work on campus and got paid, as not "income" but rather a financial aid for school ... so that "income from work" (at school) didn't count. (Another benefit of working on campus was the Staff Parking Sticker, the softer toilet paper in Staff Lounges/restrooms and getting to know the professors, which IMHO contributed to better grades.... really, the toilet paper "they" get is softer ... better parking spaces was invaluable, I'd have worked for free for that benefit)

Student loans:
Borrowed money "LOANS" are not generally "income" ... they are loans (forgiven debt is income if you default and the lender forgives the debt though later)

And you might, or might not... qualify as indigent as as student.... depends on your income, whichever they figure it by.
Just like the county indigent health care, where in Harris County, you could get a new pair of nerdy glasses (not much choice in frames etc) if your broke from the County Hospital District ... you'll have to figure your income, and see if you qualify as being not over whatever percent of the federal poverty level.

http://www.coverageforall.org/pdf/FHCE_ ... yLevel.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for 2011

from DPS site
2011 HHS Poverty Guidelines
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administra ... eqDocs.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
2011 HHS Poverty Guidelines
Persons in Family
48 Contiguous States and D.C.
1 $10,890 (which as you see by the other chart above, is 100%)


And .... after you graduate College, get a good job and pay plenty of Taxes .... believe me, you'll pay them back eventually for the few dollars saved while in school ... plus more

School comes first so you can get that better job and pay mo taxes and pay back the student LOANS

You can pay higher CHL fees when you renew after graduating.
I ain't a attorney, consult a tax attorney for tax advice iffn you needta.

Edited to add, at the time I returned to college and qualified for food stamps (which I decided not to get), It was 1982-1986, and I was over 24 years old and owned a home.... not living with parents.

Still, none of that matters with CHL (maybe for food stamps. dental/heALTH CARE ... BUT NOT chl ... only the income MATTERS... )see the post below ...

what all the other agencies use for their definition doesn't matter for this discussion. What we need to know is how the state of Texas defines indigence for a CHL application.

[Hoi Polloi]

One issue not raised above is your age. Every agency has a different calculation for who they define as being indigent. Many take age into consideration when looking at students. If you're a student and 24 or under, many consider you by default to be a dependent of your parents. Some of them allow you to dispute that your parents provide your support and some don't. None consider college students as being a separate "poor student" category once they're out of this age bracket.

In any case, what all the other agencies use for their definition doesn't matter for this discussion. What we need to know is how the state of Texas defines indigence for a CHL application.

GOVERNMENT CODE
TITLE 4. EXECUTIVE BRANCH
SUBTITLE B. LAW ENFORCEMENT AND PUBLIC PROTECTION
CHAPTER 411. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY OF THE STATE OF TEXAS
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND ADMINISTRATION
Sec. 411.194. REDUCTION OF FEES DUE TO INDIGENCY.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, the department shall reduce by 50 percent any fee required for the issuance of an original, duplicate, modified, or renewed license under this subchapter if the department determines that the applicant is indigent.
(b) The department shall require an applicant requesting a reduction of a fee to submit proof of indigency with the application materials.
(c) For purposes of this section, an applicant is indigent if the applicant's income is not more than 100 percent of the applicable income level established by the federal poverty guidelines.

The Federal Poverty Guidelines do not give guidance concerning age or college status. I would say if your parents would claim you as a dependent if they were to file their taxes right now, you would be part of their household. If not, you would be your own household of one. Either way, you might qualify for indigence depending on your (or your family's) finances.

[shooter76blue]

what Bill said, no you as a college student do NOT qualify as indigent. almost all states and the federal gubberment have a rule that if your in college you do not qualify as indigent nor do you qualify for food stamps of AFDC of any kind. Sorry dude your out of luck.

I worked in the food stamp office in 2001 and had several people who were college students come in and they qualified for food stamps. Unless things have changed, I think it's still this way...

[tornado]

I'll be laid off from the state on June 30, so I'll be applying for unemployment, SNAP (food stamps), TANF & CHIP. It's time for me to renew the CHL, and the website says you can pay the indigent renewal fee if you provide a "copy of an application for government assistance." I'll be applying for the aforementioned assistance programs July 1.

So I'll repeat the headline question: In your opinion, do I qualify as indigent?

[MoJo]

Give it a try, the worst they will do is say "No."

[tornado]

As long as the worst they can do is say "No, pay us the other half," I'll do it. I just don't want to get on their bad side if there are more penalties to it.

But I think I'm following the letter & the spirit of the law, since I'm laid off from my full time job. (I'll still be working the part-time job, but it pays under $10/hour.)

[RPB]

For the purposes of CHL fees

the key seems to be

submit proof of indigency with the application materials.
(c) For purposes of this section, an applicant is indigent if the applicant's income is not more than 100 percent of the applicable income level established by the federal poverty guidelines.

and I posted a link to the 2011 Federal Poverty Guidelines depending on household sizes above.

http://www.coverageforall.org/pdf/FHCE_ ... yLevel.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administra ... eqDocs.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's really that simple, the Government code doesn't say "unless he is taking college Algebra, or unless he is too young to shave his back yet or worked part time as an organ grinder with an accordion taking donations from the dancing monkey ...." Either you fit that bracket on the chart under the 100% for your "family size" ... or you don't. Even if you NEVER got W-2s/1099s etc and NEVER filed taxes ... a 4506-T form will get from the IRS a transcript as proof of all your income .... if it's below that set level .... you qualify.