Late tax filing

[Mintxtea 1]

Dear VJers,

 

My husband (USC) has been overseas for 18 years.  We flew to the states this year on July 1st due to some family issues. I started my green card application in Aug, but first he had to catch up his 2016~2019 tax returns so that we can have tax transcripts that USCIS asked.  We knew the tax transcripts might still be unavailable when I filed, but we sent the tax forms out anyway.  Today, we realized we submitted the wrong forms for overseas earned income exemption (I know, it's been a while since last he did it), so we need to re-file it again, but we have some questions:

 

1. For 2016~2019, If we are in the states 2020 to file 2016~2019 overseas earn income (married filed separately), should we use foreign address or US address as filing address?  Which IRS office should we send to? Can we resubmit all files or just update the ones we missed?

2. For 2020 tax, since we have 182 days overseas, 184 days in USA, are we still qualified for foreign earned income exclusion for 6 months? Should we attach Form 2555 and schedule 1 as well?

3. Since I am still waiting for my green card, I don't have a SSN and I don't have a job.  For 2020 tax return, we are thinking married filed jointly.  We will submit W7 for my ITIN along with other tax forms.

 

Thanks for your great help,

Stay safe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

47 minutes ago, Mintxtea said:

. For 2016~2019, If we are in the states 2020 to file 2016~2019 overseas earn income (married filed separately), should we use foreign address or US address as filing address?  Which IRS office should we send to? Can we resubmit all files or just update the ones we missed?

You can’t file a new version of your return or add to it. You will file an amended return Form 1040X for each year. It compares what you filed with what has changed to decide if you owe more or get some back. You will need to work out what your new version would look like before you can do the 1040X. An over simplified explanation of a 1040X is it will have columns showing old, new, and difference. You use numbers from what you filed and what you should have filed to fill in those columns. They aren’t called old, new, and difference, but that is the concept of what you will be doing when you amend. And you will also submit any new documents that need to show your changes. You’ll just have to wade through it. 

 

57 minutes ago, Mintxtea said:

For 2020 tax, since we have 182 days overseas, 184 days in USA, are we still qualified for foreign earned income exclusion for 6 months? Should we attach Form 2555 and schedule 1 as well?

Yes. Any portion of a year overseas can be excluded whether it was just one month or 11 months of foreign earned income. But the filer has to qualify which is explained in the 2555 Instructions.

 

1 hour ago, Mintxtea said:

Since I am still waiting for my green card, I don't have a SSN and I don't have a job.  For 2020 tax return, we are thinking married filed jointly.  We will submit W7 for my ITIN along with other tax forms.

You can do that. If you were present in the US 183 days in 2020 you qualify to file as a resident alien. Or if not, you could still qualify as a resident alien for tax purposes based on marriage to a US citizen by each signing a statement saying you  elect to be treated as a resident alien.

 

[Mintxtea 1]

Hi Wuozopo,

 

Thanks for your quick reply.  You've been so helpful. 🙂

 

Happy New Year,

[Mintxtea 1]

Good morning,  @Wuozopo and everyone. Few more questions came up last night.

 

1. In July 2016, we moved from Vietnam to Taiwan, therefore we have 2 employers in that year.  Since we will only submit 1040x instead of attaching 2555 form, should we combine both income?

2. Before 2016, we sent our tax forms to Austin office (for overseas filers), since our current residence is in Maryland, should we use our current address on the 1040 forms for 2016~2019 tax as well?  And should we send them to Kentucky office (for Maryland filers) instead of Austin office.

 

Again, thanks for helping us out, cheers!

Edited December 30, 2020 by Mintxtea

[Wuozopo 4,293]

1 hour ago, Mintxtea said:

In July 2016, we moved from Vietnam to Taiwan, therefore we have 2 employers in that year.  Since we will only submit 1040x instead of attaching 2555 form, should we combine both income?

If you did not complete a form 2555 before but need to, then it will be submitted with the 1040x. I don’t know what you submitted or what you want to change so I can’t be specific. Follow the instructions of Form 2555 concerning how to report employers, etc. Use forms and instructions specific to the year you are amending. Each tax year can have different rules. 
 

1 hour ago, Mintxtea said:

Before 2016, we sent our tax forms to Austin office (for overseas filers), since our current residence is in Maryland, should we use our current address on the 1040 forms for 2016~2019 tax as well?  

You said you already filed 1040s for those years, so this question is irrelevant. You can’t file new 1040s. 
 

1 hour ago, Mintxtea said:

And should we send them to Kentucky office (for Maryland filers) instead of Austin office.

 

Again, use the instructions for the form you are filing such as the 1040x. They always have a section called “Where to File” near the end. 
 

The 1040x seems to have superseded their yearly dated forms and instructions with a new one where you fill in the year it pertains to. So you get to use these below four times instead of finding the specific year version. That is not true of a form 2555 which will have different form/Instructions for each year.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040x.pdf. Instructions 

 

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040x.pdf. Form
 

 

Edited December 30, 2020 by Wuozopo

[Mintxtea 1]

@Wuozopo Thanks, you are right, we didn't attach Form 2555 before.  We were also not sure which address to use for the "current address" field for 2016~2018, since we filed late, I guess the current address all should be our Maryland address. Even though 2016~2019 are all overseas income, their tax forms shouldn't go to the Austin office, they should all go to Kansas City since our current address is in Maryland. 

 

Thanks again for your help, have a good day! 🙂

[Wuozopo 4,293]

19 minutes ago, Mintxtea said:

@Wuozopo Thanks, you are right, we didn't attach Form 2555 before.  We were also not sure which address to use for the "current address" field for 2016~2018, since we filed late, I guess the current address all should be our Maryland address. Even though 2016~2019 are all overseas income, their tax forms shouldn't go to the Austin office, they should all go to Kansas City since our current address is in Maryland. 

 

Thanks again for your help, have a good day! 🙂

Take it literally.  Your current address means where you live today. It doesn’t say “address where you lived in 2016 when you should have filed a return.”

[Mintxtea 1]

Ya, that was what I was thinking earlier...

Anyway, thank you so much for your help, we sent out the docs this afternoon. 🙂