Jump to content
mirrortraveler

Trying to clear up some of the Income/Tax confusion with I-864 - Help, plz?

 Share

11 posts in this topic

Recommended Posts

*le sigh*

Okay, my apologies. This has been WAY too confusing so I decided to start a new thread and clear this up once and for all - for myself and for probably countless others who have this problem.

Anyone: If you can answer these questions you're an absolute hero and if you're ever in the Orlando/Titusville area of Florida, my husband and I will gladly invite you out to dinner as a 'thank you'.

Anyways, we are concerned with the question of income and tax forms on the I-864.

We would like to know where exactly on the Tax Return Transcripts and W2's to find the required information in our case.

To start off: We have a joint sponsor. She has filed her taxes jointly with her husband for the last 3 years, but she is the one supporting us, not her husband. However, all the numbers shown on her Tax Return Transcripts are for both of them combined.

She has only given us her Tax Return Transcripts for the past 3 years and her W-2's for that time.

My husband as the primary sponsor didn't make enough money before 2013, so he only has one Tax Return Transcript (for 2013 as he hasn't filed for 2014, yet) and 2 W2's (one for 2013 and one for 2014). We current can't find 1040's or 1040EZ's for either of them.

To the questions:

1) We are trying to get the information for I-864, Part 6. Question 5: "My current individual annual income is:"

Can we even get this information from the Tax Return Transcripts and W2's? If yes then where exactly on these forms can we find it? If no, how do we calculate it? Do we used earnings statements? What if the statements don't say how much he makes annually, nevermind currently?

2) Questions 13.a. through 13.c. have completely thrown us for a loop. How can they be so poorly worded?

It says there "My total income (adjusted gross income on IRS Form 1040EZ) as reported on my Federal tax returns for the most recent 3 years was:"

Since we only have the IRS Tax Return Transcript and the W2's for everyone and cannot find the 1040EZ to double-check, which one is it? Do they want to know the number listed under "Total Income" or "Adjusted Gross Income" on the Tax Return Transcript? They are fortunately the same for my husband who didn't receive any adjustments to his income, but they differ quite a bit for our joint sponsor. Then of course there is the fact that her individual income has been thrown together with her husband's on the Tax Return Transcript.

The W2's do show her individual income, but which numbers do we have to look for to answer that question?

Is it the number under "Wages, tips, other comp."? If yes, is it "Gross Wages", "Taxable Wages" or something altogether different?

Anyways, thanks a lot in advance!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13a tru 13c is your last three years income and use your AGI on your return Thats what I did and for part 6 since I was making more I put different amount with supporting pay stubs and letter of employment from my employer. If your sending tax transcript YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SEND W2's and TAX RETURN.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you! I know that I don't have to send W2's etc. if I have a transcript. I just wanted to know if I can use them for reference to find out which numbers to put into I-864 and how I would do that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I could use it for my husband's form but my joint sponsor's tax transcripts are different. She filed jointly with her husband. So everything on her tax transcript is her income + his income combined. So that means that I can't use the tax transcript for reference to fill out 13.a. through 13.c.

I have her W2's. Those are the only forms I have of her which show her individual income.

But which number on the W2 represents the Adjusted Gross Income?

Under "2014 W-2 and Earnings Summary", there is a section called "Gross Wages" and different categories for that like "Wages, Tips, Other Comp.", "Social Security Wages", "Medicare Wages".

For each of these, there are different sections, too. None of them states "Adjusted Gross Income". The only other one that makes sense is "Taxable Wages". The amount for "Gross Wages" is higher than the one for "Taxable Wages". But which one is the right one to choose?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Mexico
Timeline

I believe I answered all these in your other thread here > http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/542414-i-864-joint-sponsor-question/?p=7549322

Let me know if there was something I missed that you still need answered.

Link to K-1 instructions for Ciudad Juarez, Mexico > https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/K1/CDJ_Ciudad-Juarez-2-22-2021.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you KayCeeDee! You did answer most of my questions in the other thread and anything concerning my husband as the primary sponsor has been solved. But this one is still missing:

Since everything in my joint sponsor's tax transcripts represents both hers and her husband's combined income (the transcripts don't separate incomes, so it's all in one lump sum and I can't differentiate how much of that income is actually hers), and since I don't have access to any of her other tax or tax related forms - except for her W-2 - I am looking for a way to determine the answers to her questions 5. and 13.a. through 13.c. under Part 6 of Form I-864 using her W-2's for the years 2014, 2013, and 2012.

I would like to know how I can do that and which parts of her W-2's are the ones relevant to answering these questions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, I am currently reading another post which has ended up confusing me even more on this matter: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/535411-i-864-for-joint-sponsor-help-needed-with-regards-to-filing-joint-sponsors-wifes-i-864a-or-no/

So, our joint sponsor's husband files taxes jointly with her, but won't be sponsoring us, too. So he doesn't need to fill out an I-864A, right? And that means that he also doesn't need to be listed as Person 1 under Part 6.6.a. through 6.c. on our joint sponsor's form I-864.

So whenever we find out what our joint sponsor's individual annual income is, we put the same amount in Part 6. 5. (current individual income) and in Part 6.10 (current household income)? Am I correct?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Mexico
Timeline

If the husband will not be signing an I-864A to use his income too, then what you have for her as the joint sponsor is what you need. The joint transcript along with her W-2, which shows her individual income from their joint taxes. He will not be listed as Person 1, but will just be counted in her household size in part 5 where she will put a 1 for her spouse. You are correct. Her individual current income will also be listed in #10 as the household income because only her income is being used for the joint sponsorship.

For her current income, I would provide her recent pay stubs and then take an average of her bi-weekly gross pay and multiply that by 26, instead of using the highest bi-weekly amount. OR, since it is difficult to know how much overtime she gets, you could just use her base pay amount without overtime, if it is enough to meet the requirement. Your third option is to use the amount from her 2014 W-2, which will work fine in this case, since it is hard to estimate how much she will earn in a year without knowing how much overtime she will get.

For the tax info from the last 3 years, in Part 6 #13a-c., she will not list her individual amounts there. She needs to list the Total Income from the joint taxes. The tax info and current annual income are separate things.

Link to K-1 instructions for Ciudad Juarez, Mexico > https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/K1/CDJ_Ciudad-Juarez-2-22-2021.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brilliant! Thank you SO much, Kay Cee Dee! Those were the answers I was looking for. I've finally managed to wrap my head around all of this.

I have now filled in 13. a.-c. and taken the average of both my husband's and my joint sponsor's bi-weekly gross payments and multiplied them by 26 to determine the current annual individual income for both my sponsors.

Looking at my joint sponsor's W-2, however, her gross income is significantly higher than the result of that calculation. The gross income on my husband's W-2 is slightly higher than his predicted income for 2015 as well.

Should I just go with the higher number from the W-2 as USCIS at least has a way to look that up?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Mexico
Timeline

You are welcome. I think in your case it should be fine to list the amount from the W-2s, and also provide the recent pay stubs. I think that should cover the current income aspect.

Link to K-1 instructions for Ciudad Juarez, Mexico > https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/K1/CDJ_Ciudad-Juarez-2-22-2021.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
Didn't find the answer you were looking for? Ask our VJ Immigration Lawyers.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
- Back to Top -

Important Disclaimer: Please read carefully the Visajourney.com Terms of Service. If you do not agree to the Terms of Service you should not access or view any page (including this page) on VisaJourney.com. Answers and comments provided on Visajourney.com Forums are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Visajourney.com does not endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in answers or comments. VisaJourney.com does not condone immigration fraud in any way, shape or manner. VisaJourney.com recommends that if any member or user knows directly of someone involved in fraudulent or illegal activity, that they report such activity directly to the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. You can contact ICE via email at Immigration.Reply@dhs.gov or you can telephone ICE at 1-866-347-2423. All reported threads/posts containing reference to immigration fraud or illegal activities will be removed from this board. If you feel that you have found inappropriate content, please let us know by contacting us here with a url link to that content. Thank you.
“;}
×
×
  • Create New...