I-864 Joint Sponsor did not file taxes.

[masterstatus 0]

Okay so has the title states I am using my Joint Sponsor (my father) to provide all of the income as I'm currently unemployed and all my previous tax years of income are from foreign sources.

Now my father has not filed taxes since 2013 because he was told by his tax guy that he did not need to. My father has been on disability since 1995 from a work related accident and he worked for the City of New York Parks Department. He is now 66 years old and lives off of his disability pension and social security. The embassy said that the forms he receives in the mail that shows his income from those sources is enough to provide proof of income, but I'm confused as what to do put down on his I-864. I checked off the box that says he did not have to file taxes because those are non-taxable sources and I will be attaching a signed affidavit from my father that says this:

I do not have to file taxes because I am over the age of 65, am unmarried and my income is derived from non-taxable sources. I, (name here) have been retired from the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation on a disablity since March 1995. My entire income is derived from my disability pension fund and social security benefits. Both of these incomes are non-taxable, I am over the age of 65 and because my actual taxabale income is so low, my tax attorney advised me that I am not obligated to file taxes. As proof I have attached the paperwork for the last year I filed taxes, 2013, as well as documentation that details my income from both my disability pension fund and my social security benefits.

I, (name here), declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing statement is true and correct.

Date

Signature

Name

So my question is, is this enough? His taxable income for 2013 was 113 USD. Do I need to list this on his I-864 form for the Most Recent, Second Recent and Third Recent tax year boxes? As far as I remember his taxable income has always been about 100 USD or so.

Thank you!

Edited February 10, 2016 by masterstatus

[newacct 688]

Whether the income is "taxable" or not is not what determines whether he needs to file. What determines whether he needs to file are the rules listed in the beginning of the respective year's Form 1040 instructions, in the section "Do You Have to File?". If he didn't have to file according to those rules for those years, then he should say that in his statement.

[masterstatus 0]

Thank you for the quick response! He has only not filed for 2014. He did file for 2013 and I assume 2012 and 2011, but on those tax documents his only reported income was 113 dollars or so.

So since he didn't file for 2014 I checked the box on the I-864 that said he didn't have to file. Does that mean I don't have to fill in the boxes that ask for information on his Most Recent, Second Most Recent and Third Most Recent tax years? That's what I'm confused about.

I'll amend the letter to reflect the fact that the rules for those years are the reason why he didn't have to file.

[newacct 688]

Thank you for the quick response! He has only not filed for 2014. He did file for 2013 and I assume 2012 and 2011, but on those tax documents his only reported income was 113 dollars or so.

So since he didn't file for 2014 I checked the box on the I-864 that said he didn't have to file. Does that mean I don't have to fill in the boxes that ask for information on his Most Recent, Second Most Recent and Third Most Recent tax years? That's what I'm confused about.

I'll amend the letter to reflect the fact that the rules for those years are the reason why he didn't have to file.

Yes, he needs to list the "total income" numbers for those years that he did file.