Letter of financial support

[sammills89 2]

These people can file a single form called 1040EZ, which constitutes not much more than a post card.

This 1040EZ is what Samantha has, is that all I need from her?

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Well Samantha's Grandfather used TurboTax I believe, and they sent me the forms that they got back from the IRS regarding tax retruns, I may be mistaken in this but I think that this is the case. Would it be worth us getting the W2 forms also just to be on the safe side? It's incredible how many pages these things consist of!

The IRS generally never returns any tax forms to the taxpayer. If her grandfather used TurboTax then he probably filed electronically, in which case what you were sent were copies of tax forms printed by TurboTax. This is fine, and should be as legitimate as photocopies of the original forms. Something people often forget to do with computer generated copies is to sign and date them. Without a signature, the forms have no more legal weight than a copy of the crossword puzzle from the Sunday Times. With a signature, they are a sworn document.

When paper forms are submitted to the IRS then a copy of documents showing income and tax withholding are also submitted. This includes W2's and 1099's. However, you mentioned he was retired. In this case, he may not have any W2's, since these are generally given to employees by their employers. 1099's are given by stock brokers, fund managers (including retirement funds), and people who pay contractors. In any case, whatever documents would have been submitted with a paper tax return should also be included with the affidavit of support.

Income tax law is complicated in the US. Before software like TurboTax, people with complicated tax returns usually hired professionals to help them prepare their tax returns. Software like TurboTax greatly simplifies the process because it asks you the same questions a professional tax preparer would ask, performs the necessary calculations, determines which forms you need to file, and fills out those forms for you. A national VAT tax would be vastly simpler, but then you wouldn't have the benefit of having your taxes reduced for qualifying expenses like home mortgage interest, education expenses for you and your dependents, voluntary contributions to retirement plans, medical expenses, and charitable donations.

This 1040EZ is what Samantha has, is that all I need from her?

Yes, and her W2's.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Yes - always include the corresponding W-2/1099 (as applicable) for each year your submitting.

That is why calling the IRS and having them fax over your tax transcripts is so much easier, then trying to locate all your paperwork (it's easy, fast, and free).

[sammills89 2]

Right, what I'll do is ask Samantha to get her Grandfather to ask them to fax over all his transcripts. Would he then need to sign them? I'm getting more and more confused with this tax mess! It's so difficult to know what else we need as I really don't know what I'm looking for, even with your replies that have been so helpful. All I know is I have about 20 pages of tax information for my fiance and her grandfather, I have no idea what should be signed or anything. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this soon... Thank you for all your help again.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Right, what I'll do is ask Samantha to get her Grandfather to ask them to fax over all his transcripts. Would he then need to sign them? I'm getting more and more confused with this tax mess! It's so difficult to know what else we need as I really don't know what I'm looking for, even with your replies that have been so helpful. All I know is I have about 20 pages of tax information for my fiance and her grandfather, I have no idea what should be signed or anything. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this soon... Thank you for all your help again.

Tax transcripts don't need to be signed. They are just a computer printout on IRS letterhead showing the figures which were entered on the tax forms they received from the taxpayer. Consulates tend to trust tax transcripts more than tax returns because they are documents from another government agency.

You don't have to include anything like W2's or 1099's with the transcripts.

This tax stuff all seems pretty confusing until you actually sit down with some of these forms. That's when you realize that the vast majority of the stuff doesn't apply to you, like "How much money did you receive from a railroad retirement fund", or "how much money were you paid for not planting crops on your farm" (I'm paraphrasing - I don't remember the actual questions). You'll see what I mean when you see the transcripts - most of the lines just say $0. The tax prep software makes it easier because it doesn't even bother to ask questions if it knows they don't apply to you.

A lot of people, like your fiancee, don't even need the tax prep software. Their situation is straightforward - income only from wages from one or more job, only need to take the flat standard deduction, etc. The 1040EZ can be completed by hand in about 5 minutes. That's not a lot of effort to reconcile an entire year's income taxes.

[sammills89 2]

Haha it's insane that they have all the questions on there though, oh well - whatever works for you I guess. I've just had another flick through them all and it looks as though they all have forms which Samantha and her Grandfather filled out and sent in, as well as a breakdown/summary of taxes paid attatched to the back. I'm trying not to get too preoccupied on these forms, but it's driving me insane today! Thank you, JimVaPhuong, by the way - just wanted you to know I appreciate your patience and understanding with this matter.

Edited June 8, 2009 by sammills89