The never ending "One 'last' question"...

[ryna 132]

So, my wife's N-400 was ready to go but there is one final (I hope!) doubt...

She's never worked since her arrival and, in 2012, I was fortunate enough to be able to take the entire year off so my income, and our combined income, was practically zero. We tried to e-file our 2012 return but it wouldn't process (I guess because of the lack of income) so April 15th came and went and we hadn't filed yet (and, since our income was well below the filing threshold, I didn't think anything of it.) Later, and before filing our 2013 taxes, I remembered the late 2012 return and filed it on paper late.

Today, she was reviewing her N-400 for a final time and saw the question about "Have you ever not filed a Federal, State or local tax return since you became a Permanent Resident?" and she's not sure what to put. It does mention that if you didn't file because you had no tax filing obligation (due to insufficient income level), to answer 'Yes' and attach an explanation, but that's not her case... We did file, we just filed late.

Now, I still think she should leave her answer as 'No' because it doesn't say 'on-time' or 'by the tax deadline' and we have filed a return for each and every year since her arrival even though we didn't file the 2012 return by April 15th, 2013 (and, we had no tax filing obligation, no fines, no interest nor penalties to worry about.)

We have the tax transcripts for every year, including 2012, since her arrival (except for 2015, since we haven't those filed yet). Also, our state has no income tax so we haven't missed anything there, either.

Any thoughts???

Edited February 11, 2016 by ryna

[Harmonia 211]

So, you filed it, albeit late, but you filed it. The answer is "no". You have filed all your tax returns. I don't understand what the confusion is.

[ryna 132]

So, you filed it, albeit late, but you filed it. The answer is "no". You have filed all your tax returns. I don't understand what the confusion is.

Thanks. She just asked me to run it by the VJ crowd...

She was just uneasy with the 'Answer yes and give an explanation of you didn't have to file' statement. But, that's my argument - we filed every year. Late once because we weren't obligated to file that year, but we did file.

[Harmonia 211]

Tell her you did file. You have a tax return for every year. You can amend a tax return for up to 3 years. Never filed is completely different. You wouldn't have a tax return for that year.

[ryna 132]

I agree. She was reading the "on time/by April 15th" part into it. I was just verifying here on VJ with people who've been down this road before that it doesn't matter.

"No" it is!

[Harmonia 211]

Good luck!

[ryna 132]

Thanks! The check (and the N-400) are in the mail!

[TBoneTX 43,058]

Great to see you guys at this stage.

[ryna 132]

Great to see you guys at this stage.

Thanks, TBone! Yeah, it was supposed to be sent in months ago but, for one reason or another, it just kept getting put off. We're hoping everything will be done sometime this summer.

[Indy&Benji 0]

Ryna, sorry to ask in your post. I read that since you live in FL you habeas no income tax. My situation is that based on MT state tax law, active duty military pay, for residents of MT who enlisted from there, is exempt from income tax. Since my husband's sole income is from there, so there is no tax for him thus we did not file the state return. Does it mean we answer with "No" for the question if I have ever not file Tax? We never missed filing Federal tax.