If they own 51% it is excluded; if they own 50% it is not excluded

This includes siblings, parents, grandparents and spouses

If the small business is a partnership where each partner owns exactly half of the business, and the family is one partner and a third party is the other, it does not qualify for the small business exclusion. In order to qualify, the family must own a majority of the business (more than half). Otherwise, the family does not control the payday loans Alma MI business and must report it on the FAFSA as either a business asset or an investment.

The US Department of Education issued subregulatory guidance that uses a laxer definition of family than appears in section 481(l) of the Higher Education Act. The US Department of Education guidance indicates that for the purpose of the small business exclusion, family is not restricted to individuals counted in household size on the FAFSA. It can include family members who are directly related by birth or marriage to the people counted in household size. Note that if the family owns two small businesses, each with 100 or fewer FTE employees, but which together have more than 100 FTE employees, each business may nevertheless qualify for exclusion.If a FAFSA is selected for verification, the college may ask for a copy of Schedule C or

IRS Form 1120. While these forms do not list the number of employees, they do list the total amount paid as salaries. College financial aid administrators will use a rule of thumb to estimate the number of employees, by dividing the total salary by $10,000. A business does not need to be incorporated to be considered a small business. Sole proprietorships and partnerships can also be considered a small business. Likewise, the type of tax return filed (Schedule C, Schedule C-EZ, IRS Form 1120) does not affect whether the business can be excluded.The small business exclusion only excludes the reporting of the business as an asset on the FAFSA. If the business is a pass-through entity (e.g., sole proprietorship, partnership, S corporation or LLC), the business income attributable to the taxpayer (e.g., through schedule C or schedule K-1) must still be reported on the FAFSA. Likewise, any salaries paid by the business to the family still count as income. Generally, this income will be included in adjusted gross income (AGI) and should match the figure reported on the FAFSA.

If the result is more than 100, they may ask for documentation concerning the number of employees

Rental Property Occasionally a family will try to characterize a rental property as a small business in order to have it excluded as an asset on the FAFSA. For example, the family might own a vacation home which they rent when they aren’t using it themselves.

This situation is addressed in a Application and Verification Guide:At times a student or parent will claim rental property is a business. Generally, it must be reported as real estate instead. A rental property would have to be part of a formally recognized business to be reported as such, and it usually would provide additional services like regular cleaning, linen, or maid service. This note mirrors the language from How To Report Rental Income and Expenses on page 16 of IRS Publication 527, Residential Rental Property (Including Rental of Vacation Homes). This section of Publication 527 discusses whether rental income is reported on Schedule E or on Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ of IRS Form 1040. In order to file Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ, the taxpayer must provide significant services that are primarily for your tenant’s convenience, such as regular cleaning, changing linen, or maid service.