i 864 - only 1 year of tax return when worked 3 years

[new american 0]

hi

I have all my package ready before adjustment of status based on marriage and i'm stuck on one thing which is my wife's tax return.

she has only 2014 tax return and 2013-2012 she doesn't have one because the employer paid her only cash. (she were 18-19 years old back than)

and they asking for last 5 years of employment and of course we added that job because she worked there over 3 years,

is it going to be a problem?

of course we have joint sponsor which makes over 80k and he attached the last 3 years of tax return.

the past 6 months she working for a corporate and have a steady tax withdrawal and pay stabs as a proof that she already made 12k this year and paid the tax that needed.

so is it going to be a problem that we will attach only 1 year of tax return and not 3 Aldo she worked 3 years in a job? thank you

[slvrfx576 15]

The law is that you must report ALL income when filing income tax. It does not matter whether paid in cash and whether any taxes were withheld by the employer, it is still taxable income. IMO claiming that your wife worked those years but did not file a tax return would be a red flag if it were to be noticed. However, if her income were below the filing threshold (the value of her standard deduction and her personal exemption) for the years in question, she may not have been required to file a return even though she did have earned income.

[aaron2020 11,651]

The law is that you must report ALL income when filing income tax. It does not matter whether paid in cash and whether any taxes were withheld by the employer, it is still taxable income. IMO claiming that your wife worked those years but did not file a tax return would be a red flag if it were to be noticed. However, if her income were below the filing threshold (the value of her standard deduction and her personal exemption) for the years in question, she may not have been required to file a return even though she did have earned income.

She would owe 15% payroll taxes (Social Security & Medicare) since the employer never paid them.

[new american 0]

Well, she made almost 5k for year 2013 and 4k Maybe that's way she didn't filled any tax return?

[aaron2020 11,651]

Well, she made almost 5k for year 2013 and 4k Maybe that's way she didn't filled any tax return?

The requirement to file a tax return is separate from the requirement to pay payroll taxes on wages.

[new american 0]

So what are my options? She didn't filled since she didn't know the law and that is required. She was 18 years old with little knowledge about taxes... There is no any kind of proof that she even got paid... I dont mind to pay the tax she own

[slvrfx576 15]

Aaron is correct....she will owe payroll taxes for social security and medicare taxes at 15.3% of her earnings. She will not actually owe any "income tax" but must reconcile the payroll taxes on an income tax return for each of those two years. In addition to the regular 1040 form she will need to file a Schedule SE form to pay the payroll taxes.

[new american 0]

Since there are no w4 for 2 years and no record for employment, or any proof of employment.

What stopping me from just writr that she was unemployed and only worked 2014

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

If her income was below the filing threshold, then she would not have been required to file. Not sure why her employer was paying under the table and then changed to actually do it the legal way, but good thing they finally did.

If she was legally required to file and did not, then she needs to file the back taxes. I would say she should check with an accountant/tax adviser and ask them if they believe she is legally obligated to back file those 2 years. If not, then she needs to include a statement with the I-864 stating that she did not file those 2 years because her income was below the IRS filing threshold and she was not required to file.

~ Moved from Tax & Finances During US Immigration to AOS from Work, Student & Tourist Visas - topic is I-864 for AOS ~

[MariaR323 199]

Income is income , no matter the amount. It is a common misconception that if a taxpayer does not receive a form or if the income is under $600 per payer, the income is not taxable. There is no minimum amount that a taxpayer may exclude.

The reason this topic gets confusing for taxpayers is that the threshold for required reporting from the payor is $600. So, in other words, if payments are over $600 then the payor (the person or company paying the person) is required to file a federal form 1099-MISC.

To report this type of misc income, you either use a Schedule C or C-EZ. Also, you would need to include Schedule SE for self-employment taxes if the net profit exceeds $400 for a year. (On $5k of income, without any write-offs, you're probably looking at somewhere around $600/700 of self-employment tax based on a single status.)

As to how will the IRS know if you do or do not report it... they may or may not find out, but that's a risk you would be taking if you choose not to have the returns filed.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

hi

I have all my package ready before adjustment of status based on marriage and i'm stuck on one thing which is my wife's tax return.

she has only 2014 tax return and 2013-2012 she doesn't have one because the employer paid her only cash. (she were 18-19 years old back than)

and they asking for last 5 years of employment and of course we added that job because she worked there over 3 years,

is it going to be a problem?

of course we have joint sponsor which makes over 80k and he attached the last 3 years of tax return.

the past 6 months she working for a corporate and have a steady tax withdrawal and pay stabs as a proof that she already made 12k this year and paid the tax that needed.

so is it going to be a problem that we will attach only 1 year of tax return and not 3 Aldo she worked 3 years in a job? thank you

Only the latest tax return is required to be sent in with an I-864.

The previous two are optional.

The USCIS is not the IRS and will not be auditng her tax return. That is an IRS issue. In my opinion, USCIS is not going to see she had an employer and start digging into if she filed correctly.

I believe you can file your AOS, which was your question.

[slvrfx576 15]

Since there are no w4 for 2 years and no record for employment, or any proof of employment.

What stopping me from just writr that she was unemployed and only worked 2014

Hopefully your conscience would stop you. She owes payroll taxes for those years. I would hope that you would not start your life in the US by condoning tax fraud.