Spouse unpaid Tax question ?

[n400 0]

Hello All,

I'm waiting for my interview date and I have a question concerning unpaid tax for my spouse from 3 yrs ago. I am LPR for seven years through marriage to USC, got my AOS approved back in 03 and ROC was approved in 08 ( yes it took them 3 yrs to approve my ROC!!). In 2007, my wife filed her taxes separately but never told me that she owed money to IRS until last week when we were talking about how USCIS will be checking that I was paying taxes all these yrs and then she admitted that she owes money to the IRS. I called IRS this week and with interest and penalties she owes almost 8K

well, I guess my question, is this going to come up during interview. does CIS check on spouse also since they asked for her SS on the application ? does USCIS check with IRS at all when you answer no for the question about owning taxes

I'm really getting very nervus with all this and thinking to withdraw my application as I hate to be on the hook again with CIS considering it took them 3 yrs to approve my ROC

Thanks

[payxibka 10,044]

Hello All,

I'm waiting for my interview date and I have a question concerning unpaid tax for my spouse from 3 yrs ago. I am LPR for seven years through marriage to USC, got my AOS approved back in 03 and ROC was approved in 08 ( yes it took them 3 yrs to approve my ROC!!). In 2007, my wife filed her taxes separately but never told me that she owed money to IRS until last week when we were talking about how USCIS will be checking that I was paying taxes all these yrs and then she admitted that she owes money to the IRS. I called IRS this week and with interest and penalties she owes almost 8K

well, I guess my question, is this going to come up during interview. does CIS check on spouse also since they asked for her SS on the application ? does USCIS check with IRS at all when you answer no for the question about owning taxes

I'm really getting very nervus with all this and thinking to withdraw my application as I hate to be on the hook again with CIS considering it took them 3 yrs to approve my ROC

Thanks

I assume you are applying based on 5 years as a PR not based on a marriage to a USC.... since your spouse filed separately from you in that year, this liability is hers and not yours. As long as you have filed and are current, this should not pose an issue for you

[v333k 59]

I agree with payxibka, however, your wife should establish an agreement with them and start a payment plan (my suggestion).

[NickD 202]

So far, two posters with unpaid taxes, if I fail to pay either my property or income taxes, have them knocking on my door threatening me to auction off my home and vehicles to get their money instantly. That happened to me in 95 when I suffered from a severe automotive accident, no excuses with these basterds.

Just wonder how these people get buy, and can these latest advertisements on TV really get people out of paying their taxes? Just find that hard to believe.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

There are two ways to pay taxes in YOUR situation: jointly, being married, or separately, being married.

If you and your wife each filed separately in 2007, then you are not responsible for her tax debt. How did you guys file in 2008 and '09?

What matters in case of a joint tax liability is that a payment plan with the IRS has been entered. As long as there's no open, unresolved tax claim, meaning payments so far have been made as scheduled, the applicant has green light.

[n400 0]

I assume you are applying based on 5 years as a PR not based on a marriage to a USC.... since your spouse filed separately from you in that year, this liability is hers and not yours. As long as you have filed and are current, this should not pose an issue for you

Yes, I filed under the 5 yrs rule but what freaks me out that they also asked for her SS so I don't want to be bombarded with questions at the interview that I am not prepared for in advance. We are trying to work it out with IRS but not sure if the wife will be on top of it before my interview.

There are two ways to pay taxes in YOUR situation: jointly, being married, or separately, being married.

If you and your wife each filed separately in 2007, then you are not responsible for her tax debt. How did you guys file in 2008 and '09?

What matters in case of a joint tax liability is that a payment plan with the IRS has been entered. As long as there's no open, unresolved tax claim, meaning payments so far have been made as scheduled, the applicant has green light.

that leads to another question, back in 07 I didn't want to file jointly because she wanted to claim her niece on her tax return( so she ended up filing as a Head of household I believe, can't do that when filing separately and I filed MFS)

The wife is the kind who likes to file taxes the first week she gets her W-2, I like to wait till i get all my paperwork in line and most of the time I get an extension to file. so every year her accountant files hers as single( apparently, she won't get a big refund if she files as married separately) and then I amend hers to add my income later on and file as MFJ. I did that for 2008 and about to do same for 2009( she filed single but will be amending that when filing mine which I'm working on).

I know it doesn't make a lot of sense but thats how we been filing in the last 3 years.

[NickD 202]

back in 07 I didn't want to file jointly because she wanted to claim her niece on her tax return( so she ended up filing as a Head of household I believe, can't do that when filing separately and I filed MFS

Sounds like the reason for her problems, cannot file head of household status while married and trying to get away with by filing a separate return. Was she called in for an audit?

Can really be a nightmare is one spouse goes haywire in a marriage, especially on the spouse that is trying to do the right thing. I still cannot believe I was held liable for the debts my ex spouse had made, that I had absolutely no part in making. Why isn't there a law that prevents a spouse from going in debt without even the say of the other responsible spouse? Speaking about debts in the five figure range. Good reason for a divorce, they don't mention that stuff in the marriage ceremony. Said I would never marry again, but met a wonderful woman that had a spouse exactly like mine, we get along together very well.

Another injustice is holding parent responsible for kids until they are 18, wouldn't be bad if we had an economy so you can keep an eye on them, but as it is, both parents have to work to make ends meet. And that damned peer pressure.