Need help with taxes I-485 SIMPLE QUESTION HELP PLEASE

[bahamamama234 25]

I am at the final steps to send my AOS package, my husband has income and is paying taxes currently with w2's at each paycheck he gets every week.

In 2013 he was self employed as an artist but did not more than 1 work so the tax company that he uses told him not to file nothing for 2013 cause his income was almost equal a 0 and his expenses more than income

In 2012 and 2011 he did a few gigs (20 gigs for those whole years)as an artist to a company and got paid with W2'S automatically paid his taxes every paycheck, but did not filled the taxes at the end of the year. OBS he does not owe IRS any money neither ever got any letter requesting anything

What should I do? Can I fill his affidavit of support saying he was pretty much unemployed in 2013 and was not required to file a tax for the year, and then we go and file his 2012 2011 taxes and put that number there to show something at least?

We do have a great co-sponsor that filled taxes and has awesome income, my husband also has income now in a daily good job and proof of it and prove he pays taxes every week, in our situation, what should we do? I am one week from sending my package so would really appreciate any help

Edited October 11, 2014 by Jabuticaba 1

[Ian H. 207]

What do you mean by 20 gigs? Like gig in the performance sense or are you referring to actual money made?

If he wasn't required to file taxes because his income was too low, he needs to include a statement saying why he didn't file and attach a copy of the IRS publication that says he wasn't required to file.

Also even if he wasn't required to file, he should have if he had taxes taken out. He may be due a refund. Please keep in mind that just because they take out taxes from your paycheck, doesn't mean you aren't required to file. The reason they require you to file a tax return is to see if you still owe taxes.

As for the self employment, you are required to file tax return whenever you make $400 or more in self employment income. So if he made more than $400 in self employment income, he is required to file and he will have to pay the tax on that which is about 15% plus penalties and interest.

Now even if he made more than $400 if his expenses were more than what he made, he won't have a tax liability, but you will need proof of that just in case you get audited, i.e. receipts, records, etc.

You can file the taxes for 2012 and 2011 if you want, but I would only do it if you are due a refund. If you weren't required to file, it won't make a difference anyway since they go by his current income.

That said, since you do have a joint sponsor, your husband's previous income is irrelevant so it doesn't matter what he made plus they go by current income anyway.

He will need the I-864 and he will need the taxes if he was required to file for one of those years and a written statement along with proof of IRS publication if he wasn't required to file for one of those years. As for his current job, he will need an employment letter/ or most recent paystubs.

I hope that makes sense because it's a lot of info to take in. Just ask if you are still unsure.

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

It is not simply making more than $400. You must make more than $400 net. If their expenses were more than their income, then they would not have to file in 2013 because their net would actually be $0 in that case; so the tax company he used was correct in stating he was not required to file.

He must provide a statement explaining why he was not legally required to file that year, and he needs to file the other years in which he was legally required to file. You must file if you were required to. It is not about whether or not you get a refund. You must list the income from the last 3 years of taxes or provide an explanation as to why you were not legally required to file for any of the years you did not. If you were required to file and did not, then you must file before filling out the I-864.

[Ian H. 207]

The only tax company I trust is TurboTax. My mom was told one time by both the IRS and a tax "professional," that she wasn't required to file because she made too little. It turns out she was due a refund. Fortunately, after 3 years she was still in the period of claiming a refund and I filed the return for her and got her due refund.

In any case I only told the OP to file to get a refund, if her husband wasn't otherwise required to file. I clearly told her that they had to file if they were required to, but if they weren't they need only do so if they will get a refund.

[bahamamama234 25]

Thanks everyone for the replies, is helping me to get there and find out what to do....

I mean 20 gigs is the total number of gigs he had as an actor in his acting company , I do not know how much he got paid, i know is not a lot cause he always worked doing ''extras'' in movies and never real roles

So, should I fill an unemployment tax for 2013 and send it to IRS and send a copy to my AOS or should i try to get the receipt of that ONE time for the whole year that he got paid as an actor and then fill a tax for 2013 based in only one receipt of around 50 dollars that he got?

Should I only take care of the 2013 tax or have him file the 2012 2011? Cause I am running out of time, if there is an option of only solving the 2013 tax year would be more simple to us.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Jabuticaba 1

[bahamamama234 25]

so In other words, how can i send a document or something explaining that my husband didn't worked in 2013 so he didn't got w2's or 1009 etc that the AOS people will accept? IS there ANY way someone in the IRS can give my husband a statemant saying he was not required to file for 2013? if we go to an IRS office and ask for it can they give to us?

ALSO HE DOES NOT HAS COPIES OF W2'S, WHEN HE GOES TO FILE HIS 2012 YEAR TAX, IS THE IRS GOING TO HAVE THOSE COPIES?

Edited October 13, 2014 by Jabuticaba 1

[Ian H. 207]

No, here is what he will need:

If he only made $50 in 2013, then he needs to include a written statement saying that he wasn't required to file because his income was too low. What you include from the IRS, is a copy of the publication where it says that he is exempt from filing because of his income, I will try to find this for you.

As for 2012 and 2011, if he made too little he is also not required to file and must do the same thing, write a statement and include a copy of the IRS publication. If for all 3 years, he didn't file for the same reason (low income) then he can write one statement explaining that for the 3 years and one copy of the IRS publication.

If he had taxes taken out, like state or federal withholding (not social security or medicare) then he may want to file those taxes in order to get a refund.

In the following links it would tell you how much he had to make in those years in order to be required to file, if the amount he made is less then he doesn't have to file, but he should if he is due a refund.

[Ian H. 207]

Here are the links on filing requirements, it's on the second page: I could only find the publications for 2013 and 2011, I couldn't find it for 2012. You only need to include the first page and the page where the exemption is, which is the second page.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

http://www.stratagee.com/resources/2011/Publication_501.pdf

Never mind here is the one for 2012:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/p501--2012.pdf

And here is the IRS website link for 2011:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/p501--2011.pdf

This is the main website with all years:

http://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/priorFormPublication.html;jsessionid=dWN1-wVmRVWKbNfT9jVCiQ__?value=501&criteria=formNumber&submitSearch=Find

[bahamamama234 25]

Oh nice! Thank you so so much that was so helpful !

So he never made more than 8.000 for any year, so he could send those pages and state that he did not made more than 8.000 in any of the 3 years right?

but I think we gonna go to the IRS tomorrow just to make sure, and so he can file his 2012 2011 just to get the refund, do you think it is a good idea or we better off not going to IRS and just sending the explanations that he was not required to file? I think we just have to go to IRS cause he don't have his W2'S in case if someone asks for to prove low income and IRs probably has it ...

[Ian H. 207]

You're welcome.

If he made less than the amounts you see on the publications, then he isn't required to file. You can file in order to get the refund, however if you don't have the W2's, you would have to get these from the employer, not the IRS.

If that would involve too much hassle, then you may not want to do it. Keep in mind that you need to see the W2's in order to know if he had any federal withholding. He may also know this info if he has his paystubs from when he worked since they should have these amounts.

The IRS doesn't ask for proof of low income, you simply don't file if you aren't required. They receive this info from the employer, excluding any other income that wasn't reported to the IRS, such as self employment income.

If you decide to file, you will need a full copy of the returns to submit with the package. If you don't decide to file, then you need the written statement stating that he didn't file because his income was too low and the copies of the publications with this exemption from filing.

[Ian H. 207]

Also, you have to look at the chart in the publications carefully and make sure that you read the amount that applied in each of those years for his filing status. For example, if he was single in 2011, he needs to look at the filing requirement for single which was $9500, not $8000.

If he made a few thousand, even if it was less than the amount required to file, then he definitely should track down those W2's because he should be due a refund. Fortunately, the IRS let's you claim refunds 3 years back.

[bahamamama234 25]

Oh so we might be better off going to IRS just to make sure he does not owe IRS any money right?

His w2's are lost, will be hard to get it back cause acting he worked to SAG-AFTRA and they don't have the records cause is an union not a company, to get the W2'S he would prob have to contact every different movie set he worked on and would take too long

I acessed his information online and it says ''return transcript'' for 2013 2012 2011 (but i could not open) and in the side it says Record of account transcript for 2013 2012 2011 N/A

''wage and income transcript'' appears the numbers 2013 2012 2011 but i cant open and then in Account transcript right on the side of ''wage and income transcript'' appears 2013 2012 2011 and N'A

at the end says ''indicated the availability of non-filling letter for the year''

So that means he doesn't owe them money or was not required to file?

what does that means? again thanks a lot for your help

[Ian H. 207]

Ok, here's the thing. The transcripts aren't there because he never filed taxes for those years, you can't have transcripts for any year in which you didn't file.

The IRS doesn't know if he owes any taxes or not based on those years because he never filed taxes for those years. While his income was reported to the IRS, if it was less than the minimum amount in order to file, then the IRS will say that he doesn't owe them anything. If he had made a lot of money and didn't file, then the IRS would have intervened.

Like I said, if it is too much hassle to get the all of the W2's, then it may not be worth it. He does need to be absolutely certain that he made below the amount required to file for those years. How did he lose all of those W2's? Those are records that have to be kept secured like SSN and birth cert.

Also, I'm not sure if USCIS will require proof of his income for those years, even if he wasn't required to file.

[bahamamama234 25]

Cause he was living with his mom, and she has a lot of memory problems and she lost all the W2'S that he kept in her house

Bt yes he is absolutely sure he did not more than 4 thousand for any of those years to be honest, even cause he was living with his mom, on food stamps, and did not owed any car or anything... was always harsh on money (when I met him I had to pay his ticket to my country and his visa, cause he did not had more than 5 dollars)

So, can I just go ahead, show the gross income of like 50 dollars for the year 2013, attach the transcript that you gave to me about 2013 showing that his income was way more low than 10.000 and so he was not legally required to file? I am thinking about doing it and not mention any of 2012 and 2011 even if he was not required to file, cause they say in the instructions that those are optional and for only show if you believe it gonna help you (didn't filed and was not required to,so will not help to show)

Edited October 14, 2014 by Jabuticaba 1

[bahamamama234 25]

And if i choose to do it, only talk about 2013 and show the low income

when it comes to the part of the form I-864 where it says

Federal income tax return information

( ) I have filed a tax return for each of the three most recent years and only attached a copy of my federal tax return transcript or photocopy for my most recent year....

Should i check that box, and in the space provided to show my income and year boxes, i put ''N/A SEE ATTACHMENT'' or I just don't check the ''( ) I have filed a tax return...'' box and still write in the space provided for year and income ''N/A SEE ATTACHMENT''?