Non-Residents

Those living outside of Prince George’s County are of course not eligible for fee assistance. However, another group of non-residents may be: immigrants. residing in the county who are not U.S. citizens and have not been naturalized.  These non-residents can get what is called an IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number in order to file taxes (since they are not eligible for Social Security Numbers). This allows one’s employer to submit a W-2 on his/her behalf; therefore, since income/Social Security/Medicare taxes are withheld from the individual’s pay and he/she can produce the same Return Transcript that any permanent resident would produce, an application can be submitted with a transcript retrieved using the ITIN.

Similarly, an exchange student would not qualify because even though he/she may be living in the county, there is no way to verify income using U.S. government-issued tax forms.

Filing Extensions

Anyone can get an extension to file his/her taxes (regardless of reason for doing so, all situations will be treated the same). In order to delay our deadline requirements, we must have proof that they have officially received the extension. This proof must be supplied in the form of an IRS Account Transcript. This account summary can be obtained the same ways as the Return Transcript and VNF but shows account updates including whether or not a deadline has been approved.  The extension will always be granted until 10/31 of that year; see Appendix D for more information on what year’s forms can be turned in when.

Joint Custody

Any custodial parent who did not claim a child on their taxes but wishes to include the child as a member of their family (in PARKS DIRECT and on Fee Assistance application) must provide proof of joint or sole physical custody of that child.  A court order detailing the custody arrangement (refer to Document Requirements Form, Section 2) will be accepted if it is dated during the previous tax year or more recently.

Adult Dependents

•  Any dependent over the age of 18 who is not listed on the Return Transcript must supply their own Return Transcript or VNF; if they filed taxes, their AGI should be added to the family’s total before any calculation is done.  
• Students away at school can be included in the family size but, if not claimed, must supply their own transcript.
• For adult dependents coming into the applicants care (such as elderly parents or an adult child with a disability), a court order detailing the guardianship arrangement must be supplied.

Military Service People

Most military families will be able to supply a Return Transcript.  If the service member is deployed and unable to file, he/she will have been granted a filing extension. Treat this situation as you would any filing extension request the Account Transcript for the previous year instead and use the Return Transcript from two years back to do your calculation.

Adults Filing Separately

If the applicant’s filing status is listed as “Married Filing Separately”, the spouse must provide his or her own Return Transcript or Verification of Non-Filing (unless they have legally separated or divorced since the tax file, in which case proof of the dissolution of the marriage must be included and spouse removed from PARKS DIRECT account). Married adults must combine their financial information into one application in order to qualify.

Cohabiting adults who are not legally married and do not file together cannot be included on one shared fee assistance application.  Separate applications must be filed for each adult.