help my husband doesnt want to file taxes!!

[titaxxx 0]

If she owes taxes, she is a bad resident. Bad residents don't get rewarded with 10-year Green Cards. Anybody home?

its my first year with a job, that i can do taxes. and i DO WANT TO FILE MY TAXES. why would i be a bad resident if i do want to file. i dont understand why some people say its okay for me to file separte as long as i do take care of my taxes. is this just cus immigration requires it? because i know many regular marriages that do their taxes separate. isnt immigration looking to proof that this is a real marriage?

[rika60607 215]

Married people file taxes either together or separately, depending on what is to their advantage.

It looks better to file together, but if there is a reason not to, it is understandable... and you have a reason not to file jointly.

If you do your part and file your taxes, IRS may choose to treat you as "innocent spouse" when it comes to your husband's trouble with the IRS. That however is an issue separate from immigration.

As I said before, you may get away with no tax returns. Why don't you ask IRS for extension on the filing date. Then you will have until September-October to sort out this mess.

[LT.Nora 7]

If you want to file taxes and your husband doesn't, you should just file "Married Filling Separately". Then you get the same deductions as filing "Single" and you will not be liable for your husband's taxes. That way you will show that you are a responsible resident filing and paying your taxes. Lot's of people do that and it isn't uncommon. Sometimes one spouse earns more than the other, maybe one spouse owes lot of taxes and the other one doesn't and so on. Lots of reasons and lots of people doing it.

You would be liable for his penalties and owed tax only if you filled "Joint" tax returns. So I wouldn't suggest doing that.

File your own taxes and try getting some other evidence as joint bank account, credit card, life insurance, car ownership with both names and etc.

Don't report him - that really wouldn't show that you are a loving married couple.

He should file his taxes, maybe he wouldn't even owe anything. But his reason for not doing so are only known to him.

[Jupiter07 12]

You would be liable for his penalties and owed tax only if you filled "Joint" tax returns. So I wouldn't suggest doing that.

So not true. You can file "joint" + Form 8379 (The Injured Spouse) and you will not be liable for his penalties. They will refund you what you deserve and post his to his penalties if at all he deserves any. Form 8379 explains all that. I do it all the time I file our joint taxes.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Jupiter07 gives good advice.

One way you may help encourage your husband to prepare his tax returns is to remind him that instead of owing taxes, he may actually be getting a refund. If taxes are being deducted by his employer at source they are being submitted to the IRS. It is surprising that they haven't come after him prior to this if he owed taxes. If he is owed a rebate, however, they are not going to hurry up and insist he files his returns. There may be a penalty for late filing for 2007, 2008 returns - and if he doesn't file them soon - 2009, but if he doesn't owe anything and can expect a refund there is double incentive to file - getting his money back and your 'removal of conditions'. Check into seeing how much a tax preparer would charge to do his back taxes. Maybe if you get all the preparation work done ahead of times so that he doesn't really have to do anything except sign a form he might be more willing to file. Regardless, file your own tax return as "Married, filing separately" and include that with your evidence.

Do you pay any of the household bills? Do you have a State identification card or Driver's License? Provide copies of bills that you pay and bills that he pays even if they are from separate accounts. The statements will show they are being mailed to the same address. Provide copies of Driver's Licenses, etc. to show both of you at the same address. What about a family cell phone plan? Include envelopes of mail addressed to both of you or to each of you separately but also showing the same address. Try and think of anything you have that show you are living together even if you don't have a lot of co-mingled expenses. Have you listed your husband as beneficiary on any retirement plans or pension plans? As emergency contact at your employment? Things like this also count as evidence. You can also get affidavits from friends, family and neighbours who know you as a married couple.

Good luck.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

Tita,

I hope you understand that when I said "bad resident" that I didn't mean that personally in any way.

The thing is this . . . the tax people and the immigration people have separate agendas.

As a married woman, you and your husband are a team. Each of you counts for 50% of this team. You can be a neat freak, if he's messy and they look at your house, it doesn't look as clean. If you are thrifty and he's wasteful, your balance sheet doesn't look as favorable anymore.

So if you pay your taxes, but he doesn't, you are 50% of a married couple that owes money to the IRS (assuming he even owes money).

That's the tax part.

Now to the immigration part. When applying for ROC, filing jointly, the I.O. wants to see proof that you guys are still a happily married couple, living together. Cornerstones of this are (highly preferable) jointly filed tax returns (unless tax reasons suggest separate filing), a joint residence, and the intermingling of finances in regard to banking and paying bills.

If you do not file taxes jointly, I'm very confident that your personal tax returns, even if filed as married, are not enough. IMHO it's very likely that they do want to see both of your tax returns, for reasons I already outlined in one of my earlier responses. For a moment try think like a drone. Why would a couple that is happily married and living together not file taxes jointly? Why would the wife not be able to provide the husband's tax returns? These are legitimate questions, and although you have a plausible answer to them, when it comes to evaluate your martial status, they may become obstacles on the way to your petition's approval.

Therefore I, and others, suggested that you work as vehemently as possible on beating some sense into your obviously stubborn husband's head. You may be able to circumvent the issue at ROC, although I doubt it, but in the long run you're hanging from the rope next to him. So instead of trying to patch the effect of the issue, try to go to the root and destroy it.

The first step may indeed be to get your hubby's pay stubs and payment information, put it all on the kitchen table, and sort out where he stands, tax wise. Saturday would be a great day to do that.

[Dakine10 5,452]

Tita,

I hope you understand that when I said "bad resident" that I didn't mean that personally in any way.

The thing is this . . . the tax people and the immigration people have separate agendas.

As a married woman, you and your husband are a team. Each of you counts for 50% of this team. You can be a neat freak, if he's messy and they look at your house, it doesn't look as clean. If you are thrifty and he's wasteful, your balance sheet doesn't look as favorable anymore.

So if you pay your taxes, but he doesn't, you are 50% of a married couple that owes money to the IRS (assuming he even owes money).

That's the tax part.

Now to the immigration part. When applying for ROC, filing jointly, the I.O. wants to see proof that you guys are still a happily married couple, living together. Cornerstones of this are (highly preferable) jointly filed tax returns (unless tax reasons suggest separate filing), a joint residence, and the intermingling of finances in regard to banking and paying bills.

If you do not file taxes jointly, I'm very confident that your personal tax returns, even if filed as married, are not enough. IMHO it's very likely that they do want to see both of your tax returns, for reasons I already outlined in one of my earlier responses. For a moment try think like a drone. Why would a couple that is happily married and living together not file taxes jointly? Why would the wife not be able to provide the husband's tax returns? These are legitimate questions, and although you have a plausible answer to them, when it comes to evaluate your martial status, they may become obstacles on the way to your petition's approval.

Therefore I, and others, suggested that you work as vehemently as possible on beating some sense into your obviously stubborn husband's head. You may be able to circumvent the issue at ROC, although I doubt it, but in the long run you're hanging from the rope next to him. So instead of trying to patch the effect of the issue, try to go to the root and destroy it.

The first step may indeed be to get your hubby's pay stubs and payment information, put it all on the kitchen table, and sort out where he stands, tax wise. Saturday would be a great day to do that.

Filing as married filing separately protects a spouse from any liability, including legal, that the other spouse incurs due to income tax evasion. That is actually the number 2 reason given by the IRS as why you might want to file this way. It does not provide protection for past activity (ie. if both have not filed taxes since 2006, both are responsible for those past years). It will protect you for liability for this year and future years.

I agree though, Tita, as far as removing conditions, you really need to get him to file too. It's going to come up in the future one way or another. My wife (who is a USC but originally came here from the Ukraine), was in this situation with her ex husband and she was able to remove conditions without tax returns, but the financial aspect was something she had to deal with for years, even after they got divorced.

Edited March 25, 2010 by Dakine10

[LT.Nora 7]

Tita,

I hope you understand that when I said "bad resident" that I didn't mean that personally in any way.

The thing is this . . . the tax people and the immigration people have separate agendas.

As a married woman, you and your husband are a team. Each of you counts for 50% of this team. You can be a neat freak, if he's messy and they look at your house, it doesn't look as clean. If you are thrifty and he's wasteful, your balance sheet doesn't look as favorable anymore.

So if you pay your taxes, but he doesn't, you are 50% of a married couple that owes money to the IRS (assuming he even owes money).

That's the tax part.

Now to the immigration part. When applying for ROC, filing jointly, the I.O. wants to see proof that you guys are still a happily married couple, living together. Cornerstones of this are (highly preferable) jointly filed tax returns (unless tax reasons suggest separate filing), a joint residence, and the intermingling of finances in regard to banking and paying bills.

If you do not file taxes jointly, I'm very confident that your personal tax returns, even if filed as married, are not enough. IMHO it's very likely that they do want to see both of your tax returns, for reasons I already outlined in one of my earlier responses. For a moment try think like a drone. Why would a couple that is happily married and living together not file taxes jointly? Why would the wife not be able to provide the husband's tax returns? These are legitimate questions, and although you have a plausible answer to them, when it comes to evaluate your martial status, they may become obstacles on the way to your petition's approval.

Therefore I, and others, suggested that you work as vehemently as possible on beating some sense into your obviously stubborn husband's head. You may be able to circumvent the issue at ROC, although I doubt it, but in the long run you're hanging from the rope next to him. So instead of trying to patch the effect of the issue, try to go to the root and destroy it.

The first step may indeed be to get your hubby's pay stubs and payment information, put it all on the kitchen table, and sort out where he stands, tax wise. Saturday would be a great day to do that.

That's the problem that the husband does not want to file taxes. I just assume that it would be really hard for her to gather all the income forms for his income. That's why I think filing married filing separately would be better. Unless somehow she can make her husband change his mind.

Tax issues and immigration are different things. As I said before, lots of "loving" couples file their taxes separately. Filing separately has nothing to do with love or the marriage. It's about math and what makes sense tax-wise.

Now if they REQUIRE to see his tax returns (for immigration purposes i.e. sponsorship) that would be an issue. If it would be just for a proof of your marriage, I don't see how could they blame you/or assume your marriage isn't legit just because of his failure to file tax returns?

If she gathers plenty of other evidence, I don't see how tax filing status would be an issue?

Like my husband has all kinds of corporations, income from investmens and other sources, I will be filing separately to keep myself out of his complicated tax pot. It doesn't mean I don't love him, does it?

[igomo 0]

Now to the immigration part. When applying for ROC, filing jointly, the I.O. wants to see proof that you guys are still a happily married couple, living together. Cornerstones of this are (highly preferable) jointly filed tax returns (unless tax reasons suggest separate filing), a joint residence, and the intermingling of finances in regard to banking and paying bills.

Actually that's not true. The I.O. is more interested in whether it is a real marriage, not so much on whether things are going well or not. As a matter of fact my attorney told me of several cases of ROC interviews where the USC started going off on the spouse and accusing of marrying only for immigration purposes and the officer shrugged it off and approved it.

In my opinion, if she files as married but separately, then if she gets called for an interview she can just tell the I.O. straight out that her husband refused to file his taxes which will make her look good and him look bad.

[payxibka 10,044]

Hellllllllllllloooooo!

The O.P. is responsible for her husband's taxes. She is responsible for his taxes, as she is his wife. If he owes taxes, she owes taxes. If she owes taxes, she is a bad resident. Bad residents don't get rewarded with 10-year Green Cards. Anybody home?

If she files a complete and accurate separate return she is NOT responsible for her husband's taxes

[titaxxx 0]

Actually that's not true. The I.O. is more interested in whether it is a real marriage, not so much on whether things are going well or not. As a matter of fact my attorney told me of several cases of ROC interviews where the USC started going off on the spouse and accusing of marrying only for immigration purposes and the officer shrugged it off and approved it.

In my opinion, if she files as married but separately, then if she gets called for an interview she can just tell the I.O. straight out that her husband refused to file his taxes which will make her look good and him look bad.

thank you all for the advices. this is what i am trying to explain. this is a Real Marriage. of course like any other marriage has its ups and downs. and right now thing are hard because of the tax issue. i have been beging him to file. and he is always saying that he is going to do it. how ever it is excuse after excuse. he wont be honest with me regarding on the reason why he wont file. he is a port authority police officer and makes over 90 grant a year. im sorry for getting personal here, but may be someone can open my eyes and explain to me or give me the reason why. since i am a little naive or lets call it ignorant in this subject of taxes. like i said this is my first year working and having a valid social security and that is why i really want to file my taxes. i am very responsible when it comes to credit and accounts but he is not. "big issue" that is why we keep separate bank accounts. and pay all our bills separate.

in terms of proof i do have my drivers liscence, with our address, we have same car insurance, and health insurance. we have friends and neighbours that can provide letters of affidavits, but we dont have any house bills because he "pays for all" i do have my phone bill with the address. would that be enough proof? but i am so exhausted about asking him to file i really dont see another option but to file separate. but i am really scare when it comes to removing conditions . i of course dont want to be denied. please any advise

[TracyTN 237]

There is nothing stopping you from filing your own return as married filing separately. If he wants to still dodge filing, that's up to him - but in my opinion, you shouldn't screw yourself with the IRS just because of his stubbornness.

[Jupiter07 12]

.

Now if they REQUIRE to see his tax returns (for immigration purposes i.e. sponsorship) that would be an issue. If it would be just for a proof of your marriage, I don't see how could they blame you/or assume your marriage isn't legit just because of his failure to file tax returns?

If she gathers plenty of other evidence, I don't see how tax filing status would be an issue?

Like my husband has all kinds of corporations, income from investmens and other sources, I will be filing separately to keep myself out of his complicated tax pot. It doesn't mean I don't love him, does it?

She says, "we only have car insurance together and health insurance,... no bank accounts or bills, because he takes care of it all. and i have my own bank account so i dont know .. ".

Because she doesn't have as much evidence, I would think tax return would be instrumental in her ROC. She doesn't have complications of her husband having corporations etc. My advise is file joint, file with Form 88xx: Injured Spouse. You will not be liable for his due and overdue taxes.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

Let me try to explain this like I would explain this to a 6-year-old.

Even if she files her taxes for 2009, she (a) has NO RETURN for 2008 (or 2007, for that matter), and (b), she ownes the taxes for said years, as neither she nor her husband have filed.

Step down to a 5-year-old.

Somebody who owes the IRS taxes for two years, and somebody who cannot provide the requested tax returns, will not get a 10-year Green Card, nor will she be able to become a naturalized USC until this issue is resolved.

I rest my case, as I can't find out how to explain this to a 4-year-old.

[titaxxx 0]

Let me try to explain this like I would explain this to a 6-year-old.

Even if she files her taxes for 2009, she (a) has NO RETURN for 2008 (or 2007, for that matter), and (b), she ownes the taxes for said years, as neither she nor her husband have filed.

Step down to a 5-year-old.

Somebody who owes the IRS taxes for two years, and somebody who cannot provide the requested tax returns, will not get a 10-year Green Card, nor will she be able to become a naturalized USC until this issue is resolved.

I rest my case, as I can't find out how to explain this to a 4-year-old.

Just Bob" you dont have to be ofensive.. i dont think any one in here is under 6 years old. all i am asking for is some opinions and advice. i thank all of you who help me without sarcasm or negative critics...

i guess i well seek a lawyer. thanks .