I think you’re missing the point. The really wealthy can just stop receiving income and have enough to draw on from their accumulated wealth. You can start looking at net assets but it’s a cat and mouse game against lots of very well resourced opponents.

> You can start looking at net assets

When I applied for grad school many admission documents explicitly asked about this, even outside the realm of financial assistance.

If your family has $10MM in the bank, you too can take (and report) to IRS zero income.

In the US parents' income is already considered when applying for financial aid. Just add that info to admissions

Does this mean you can not work for a couple of years to make it easy to get in, plus get a discount on the fee?

No, assets are taken into consideration for that exact reason.

Assuming US due to agency choice. What about a 1099-INT? Surely even trivial interest earnings on 10mm would trigger this?

Moreover I'd expect that any given user w/10mm would be rolling into multiple accounts to maximize protection offered by FDIC.

If you put the money mostly into bonds or stocks that don't issue significant dividends, you'll pretty much just have to worry about capital gains (form 1099-B), and those aren't taxed until the fiscal year in which they're realized.

Taking a $0 salary for a few years is feasible for most rich people. That's why the FAFSA (financial aid form) also asks about assets.

And the CSS profile, like FAFSA but for fancier schools, is even more exhaustive.

Or they could just have their kid “adopted” by a friend and avoid having to list parents income: https://www.propublica.org/article/university-of-illinois-fi...

"tax returns" and the OPs example was someone who had millions in the bank and took no "income" for years to fudge the tax return.

> If you lie on your tax returns then you have much bigger issues than college admissions counselors.

If you own a large amount of equities you can get a secured loan on those holdings and use it to pay your bills while taking zero salary. This allows folks to live fancy lifestyles without selling holdings and triggering capital gains:

* https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/13/portfolio-loans-can-be-one-w...

The loan is not counted as income.

At some point the loan gets paid, and then the income taxes apply.

Deferred compensation plans allow you to strategically create a low w2 income for awhile and are mostly available to high earners.