Financial / income requirements for alien relative

[geowrian 22,335]

5 hours ago, Mile2509 said:

Considering I'm not sure how much is the minimum threshold, we'll have to read about this if I could find anything that talks about the financial side of the story.

Any links to read more about it?

The thresholds are quite low. I'll direct you to the IRS:

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#idm140076646135408

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/do-i-need-to-file-a-tax-return

[Jorge V 195]

6 hours ago, Mile2509 said:

She isn't. She moved to EU 10 years ago so she is not paying US taxes in years (apart from student loans which she is repaying yearly).

Would this disqualified her?

@geowrian has given you some great advice, but I just wanted to reiterate the need for her to file her taxes. US citizens and permanent residents are taxed on their worldwide income. It doesn't matter where you live, where that money is earned, or where the company is headquartered. If you receive income above the filing limit then you must file taxes with the IRS. Thanks to double taxation agreements and the foreign earned income exclusion, most people do not end up paying anything extra, but that doesn't relieve them of their duty to file.

 

You will not be able to proceed with the I864 until your wife files her back taxes. If she did not earn above the minimum threshold for a particular year then she can include an explanation letter in lieu of a tax transcript. Be sure to check the filing requirement for each year, as these are frequently adjusted. There are many online CPAs that help US expats get caught up on their taxes, so she might want to look into that. They're expensive (a few hundred dollars per tax year), but could be helpful. She also has the option of simply doing it herself. 

[Mile2509 0]

Thanks for the info.

I'll be sure to let her check this but I'm also pretty sure she didn't pay any US taxes because her income was below the threshold as she always been a waitress in UK and didn't earn enough for the double taxation.

Anyway, will definitely look into that.

[geowrian 22,335]

4 minutes ago, Mile2509 said:

Thanks for the info.

I'll be sure to let her check this but I'm also pretty sure she didn't pay any US taxes because her income was below the threshold as she always been a waitress in UK and didn't earn enough for the double taxation.

Anyway, will definitely look into that.

Using the chart above, since you were married in 2015, 2016, and 2017 - and she presumably couldn't do Married Filing Jointly due to no SSN or ITIN for you - the only filing status she could have claimed was Married Filing Separately (MFS). The minimum income threshold to file is $4,050 for MFS.

Edited September 14, 2018 by geowrian

[UKtoUSAsoon 0]

2 hours ago, geowrian said:

Using the chart above, since you were married in 2015, 2016, and 2017 - and she presumably couldn't do Married Filing Jointly due to no SSN or ITIN for you - the only filing status she could have claimed was Married Filing Separately (MFS). The minimum income threshold to file is $4,050 for MFS.

I think its pretty certain she was earning more then £3,000 so she should of been filing USA tax returns, even thou she wouldnt owe any USA tax.

 

Research Streamline Disclosure where she can file last 3 years returns to get upto date on the returns and she signs to say she didnt mis the returns wilfully.

 

I found website expatforum and its section on tax very helpful on this

 

[Mile2509 0]

25 minutes ago, Kph100 said:

I think its pretty certain she was earning more then £3,000 so she should of been filing USA tax returns, even thou she wouldnt owe any USA tax.

 

Research Streamline Disclosure where she can file last 3 years returns to get upto date on the returns and she signs to say she didnt mis the returns wilfully.

 

I found website expatforum and its section on tax very helpful on this

 

She will definitely look into that and be ready to file her tax returns.

In any case, informations online are quite tricky to understand in this matter, as we also know she could exercise the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) where American expats can avoid paying taxes on their first 101.300$.

Still, that doesn't mean she shouldn't have file her returns.

Thanks for your time, appreciate the help.

[Jorge V 195]

17 minutes ago, Mile2509 said:

She will definitely look into that and be ready to file her tax returns.

In any case, informations online are quite tricky to understand in this matter, as we also know she could exercise the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) where American expats can avoid paying taxes on their first 101.300$.

Still, that doesn't mean she shouldn't have file her returns.

Thanks for your time, appreciate the help.

It sounds like you have a firm understanding of things now. She should file at least the last 3 years as that's what's required on the I864, she should probably back file more than that but that's another matter. You're right that she likely won't owe any taxes thanks to the FEIE, but note that the FEIE only covers federal income taxes, it doesn't cover FICA taxes. I still imagine she wouldn't owe anything, but FICA trips a lot of expats up when using the FEIE, including me at first.

 

Also note that she doesn't have to file her back taxes before you guys file the initial I130. The tax issue doesn't come up until you have to submit the I864, which is done at the interview. Going by all the recent UK DCF posters, you have around 3-5 months between filing and the interview. As long as she files her taxes before the interview then you should be ok.

[Mile2509 0]

5 minutes ago, Jorge V said:

but note that the FEIE only covers federal income taxes, it doesn't cover FICA taxes. I still imagine she wouldn't owe anything, but FICA trips a lot of expats up when using the FEIE, including me at first.

Aren't the FICA taxes covered by the Totalization agreement between USA and UK? That's to avoid paying double taxation in the same country.

For what I understand, federal taxes play the big game in terms of the ability for us to get to US, that's why we should look into her returns asap.

[Jorge V 195]

11 minutes ago, Mile2509 said:

Aren't the FICA taxes covered by the Totalization agreement between USA and UK? That's to avoid paying double taxation in the same country.

For what I understand, federal taxes play the big game in terms of the ability for us to get to US, that's why we should look into her returns asap.

I'm not familiar with taxes between the US and the UK, but in general, yes. I just wanted to point out FICA because there are situations where one may owe $0 due to the FEIE but still owe some amount due to FICA. So while it's unlikely to affect you, you should still be aware of it in case it ever arises.