I need serious help with affidavit stuffs

[ninamyers 0]

Hi, I will try to make this as easy to read as possible, it's quite complicated..

So, Ed (my sponsor), earned somewhere in the region of $18000 last year, which is more than required. He didn't file taxes for the 2005 year because he was in England for most of it and didn't earn over the untaxable limit. This meant we couldn't send tax returns in when we sent in the AOS application (which we did in November), so instead we sent in employer letters and contracts for the 2006 tax year.

This was all sent in when we got the RFE, and when we got an interview, we assumed everything was ok. However, the immigration officer was looking through and couldn't find 2005 tax returns (because there aren't any), and didn't read anything in our file, and just asked us to send in 2006 tax returns. Annoying, but ok.

Now, the problem is, from Jan - May, Ed was on fellowship money from his school (USC), which is pretty much invisible to the IRS, and doesn't have to be declared. But, to make the tax returns show that he earned enough last year, he is going to HAVE to declare it, otherwise the tax return will only say $11000 ish...

Has anyone ever filed taxed that included fellowship/scholarship money? Will they make him pay tax on it? Or can they just include it and not charge any tax??

Also, I have scheduled an INFOPASS appointment to discuss this - will they actually be any help? We can take all the evidence we have that he earned money between Jan - May, if the immigration officer we speak to takes this as proof of income, can he sort it out or do we still have to deal with the nasty immigration officer at the interview who asked us for it?

I'm sorry for all the questions, this is just an absolute nightmare!!

Maria x

[hanster 0]

I am assuming a fellowship is the same as assistantship.

I too have an assistantship, and i had to pay taxes on it throughout the year but I was able to get all my money back after i filed my tax returns.

You are required by law to declare the assistantship money as personal income and he should have gotten a W2 form for it from his school.

now, in order to see if you would have to pay money or not, what you can do is go through filling out a tax return form (1040 or 1040EZ) and see what you end up with at the end; being having to pay the IRS or having to receive money back from them.

[ninamyers 0]

I am assuming a fellowship is the same as assistantship.

I too have an assistantship, and i had to pay taxes on it throughout the year but I was able to get all my money back after i filed my tax returns.

You are required by law to declare the assistantship money as personal income and he should have gotten a W2 form for it from his school.

now, in order to see if you would have to pay money or not, what you can do is go through filling out a tax return form (1040 or 1040EZ) and see what you end up with at the end; being having to pay the IRS or having to receive money back from them.

The 2006/2007 year he is on assistantship, the first year was what you would call 'a free ride', he didn't have to do anything apart from go to classes, and no tax was taken out of his earnings. This academic year he is being taxed, and he got a W-2, but it only states the assistantship money, not the fellowship!

It would've been so much easier if he'd done the assistantship last year as well...

[hanster 0]

I am assuming a fellowship is the same as assistantship.

I too have an assistantship, and i had to pay taxes on it throughout the year but I was able to get all my money back after i filed my tax returns.

You are required by law to declare the assistantship money as personal income and he should have gotten a W2 form for it from his school.

now, in order to see if you would have to pay money or not, what you can do is go through filling out a tax return form (1040 or 1040EZ) and see what you end up with at the end; being having to pay the IRS or having to receive money back from them.

The 2006/2007 year he is on assistantship, the first year was what you would call 'a free ride', he didn't have to do anything apart from go to classes, and no tax was taken out of his earnings. This academic year he is being taxed, and he got a W-2, but it only states the assistantship money, not the fellowship!

It would've been so much easier if he'd done the assistantship last year as well...

ok, a fellowship is like a grant or scholarship, and it usually gets applied towards tuition and you do not get taxed on it and you do not get a W2 for it, but you do get some a form for it to use when filing for taxes.

so this year, when he got the W2, he should also have gotten a separate form that lists his fellowships and you would use that form when filing for your tax returns.

in my case, i get money from school and they pay my tuition. I am being taxed on the money that i get paid, but i do not get taxed on the money they pay for my tuition.

[ninamyers 0]

I am assuming a fellowship is the same as assistantship.

I too have an assistantship, and i had to pay taxes on it throughout the year but I was able to get all my money back after i filed my tax returns.

You are required by law to declare the assistantship money as personal income and he should have gotten a W2 form for it from his school.

now, in order to see if you would have to pay money or not, what you can do is go through filling out a tax return form (1040 or 1040EZ) and see what you end up with at the end; being having to pay the IRS or having to receive money back from them.

The 2006/2007 year he is on assistantship, the first year was what you would call 'a free ride', he didn't have to do anything apart from go to classes, and no tax was taken out of his earnings. This academic year he is being taxed, and he got a W-2, but it only states the assistantship money, not the fellowship!

It would've been so much easier if he'd done the assistantship last year as well...

ok, a fellowship is like a grant or scholarship, and it usually gets applied towards tuition and you do not get taxed on it and you do not get a W2 for it, but you do get some a form for it to use when filing for taxes.

so this year, when he got the W2, he should also have gotten a separate form that lists his fellowships and you would use that form when filing for your tax returns.

in my case, i get money from school and they pay my tuition. I am being taxed on the money that i get paid, but i do not get taxed on the money they pay for my tuition.

Ok, thankyou so much for your help! I really appreciate it. Would the list be on a 1099? He remembers getting one of those...

[brightsunshine 0]

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc421.html

http://badgrads.berkeley.edu/doku.php?id=f...al_advice:taxes

The amount of the fellowship above tuition and fees, books, and other qualified expenses, is taxable as ordinary income. (State tax may or may not apply, depending on whether the school treat fellowship as state-source and whether he is a resident of the state.) The amount of the fellowship and qualified expenses should be listed on a 1098-T form issued by the school. Taxes are not withheld even for the taxable part of the fellowship for US citizens and permanent residents. Normally he would needed to have paid estimated taxes, but if he had no taxable income the prior year he would be fine.

(Disclaimer: I am a volunteer tax preparer + graduate student = not qualified to give tax advice! Consult counselors at school or tax professionals.)

[hanster 0]

I am assuming a fellowship is the same as assistantship.

I too have an assistantship, and i had to pay taxes on it throughout the year but I was able to get all my money back after i filed my tax returns.

You are required by law to declare the assistantship money as personal income and he should have gotten a W2 form for it from his school.

now, in order to see if you would have to pay money or not, what you can do is go through filling out a tax return form (1040 or 1040EZ) and see what you end up with at the end; being having to pay the IRS or having to receive money back from them.

The 2006/2007 year he is on assistantship, the first year was what you would call 'a free ride', he didn't have to do anything apart from go to classes, and no tax was taken out of his earnings. This academic year he is being taxed, and he got a W-2, but it only states the assistantship money, not the fellowship!

It would've been so much easier if he'd done the assistantship last year as well...

ok, a fellowship is like a grant or scholarship, and it usually gets applied towards tuition and you do not get taxed on it and you do not get a W2 for it, but you do get some a form for it to use when filing for taxes.

so this year, when he got the W2, he should also have gotten a separate form that lists his fellowships and you would use that form when filing for your tax returns.

in my case, i get money from school and they pay my tuition. I am being taxed on the money that i get paid, but i do not get taxed on the money they pay for my tuition.

Ok, thankyou so much for your help! I really appreciate it. Would the list be on a 1099? He remembers getting one of those...

I believe it is 1099 something (it has a letter after it).

what you guys can do is use www.turbotax.com they have free filing in certain states, you could go through their step by step instructions and it would tell you if you are getting money back or not. you can always stop your filing if you decide you do not want to go through filing with turbotax.