i864 Proof - IRS Transcripts sufficient?

[mrbtx 7]

Hi everybody, I am finishing the I864 as we speak and all I can see if that we only need to include tax transcripts from the prior 3 years as evidence? If these are official transcripts printed directly from the IRS website, do we need to provide other tax or wage information? 

[Crazy Cat 41,978]

Unless you are self employed, you should  include supporting evidence of CURRENT annual income...pay stubs, employment letter, etc.  Current annual income is king, and it is calculated as follows:

 

CURRENT pay period gross income X number of pay periods per year = CURRENT annual income.

Example:  If your current monthly gross income is $5000.00, then your current annual income would be $60,000.00.

If your current weekly gross income is $1000, then your current annual income would be $52,000.00.

$1000 X 52 = $52,000.00

Edited March 16, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[mrbtx 7]

Just now, Lucky Cat said:

Unless you are self employed, you also have to include supporting evidence of CURRENT annual income.  Current annual income is king, and it is calculated as follows:

 

CURRENT pay period gross income X number of pay periods per year = CURRENT annual income.

Example:  If your current monthly gross income is $5000.00, then your current annual income would be $60,000.00.

Hello, thank you for your reply...So for my wife who is sponsoring me, we also need to provide her year to date pay slips?

These pay slips in addition to her tax transcripts should be sufficient? We are talking >$300k annual earnings which should be clear from these documents 

[Crazy Cat 41,978]

1 minute ago, mrbtx said:

Hello, thank you for your reply...So for my wife who is sponsoring me, we also need to provide her year to date pay slips?

These pay slips in addition to her tax transcripts should be sufficient? We are talking >$300k annual earnings which should be clear from these documents 

Pay slips would document CURRENT annual income as I explained above.  She must include the transcript/return for the most recent tax year, but she can also include the transcript/return for the 3 most recent tax years.

[mrbtx 7]

3 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

Pay slips would document CURRENT annual income as I explained above.  She must include the transcript/return for the most recent tax year, but she can also include the transcript/return for the 3 most recent tax years.

Thank you. In that case we will do YTD pay stubs and 2019 - 2017 transcripts from the IRS. Her 2020 taxes are not yet completed, do I need to state this anywhere? 

[Crazy Cat 41,978]

2 minutes ago, mrbtx said:

Thank you. In that case we will do YTD pay stubs and 2019 - 2017 transcripts from the IRS. Her 2020 taxes are not yet completed, do I need to state this anywhere? 

I don't think so.

[mrbtx 7]

Just now, Lucky Cat said:

I don't think so.

 

Thank you for your help here 

[Ayrton 965]

3 hours ago, mrbtx said:

Hi everybody, I am finishing the I864 as we speak and all I can see if that we only need to include tax transcripts from the prior 3 years as evidence? If these are official transcripts printed directly from the IRS website, do we need to provide other tax or wage information? 

You're getting confused with the requirements.

 

There's one question for Current Annual Income. You write down your salary or yearly rate. Technically you don't need to send proof of this, but it's always good to submit recent paystubs and employment verification letter showing the salary. Remember that past income (what tax return shows) is not proof of current income. If you lose your job today, your current income is 0 and you don't qualify anymore, but your return will still show your past income.

 

The other question is to write down the Total Income line from the latest return and send the latest return + w2 or the transcript. Filling out the other 2 years and sending the other 2 returns is optional.

 

They are separate questions on the form and separate requirements.

 

In some cases, tax return becomes proof of income, for example, if you're self employed. So then sending the tax return as evidence of the first question is the way to go. They also mention that you can send 3 returns if you want to show that your income was consistent throughout all those years.

Edited March 16, 2021 by Ayrton

[mrbtx 7]

17 hours ago, Ayrton said:

You're getting confused with the requirements.

 

There's one question for Current Annual Income. You write down your salary or yearly rate. Technically you don't need to send proof of this, but it's always good to submit recent paystubs and employment verification letter showing the salary. Remember that past income (what tax return shows) is not proof of current income. If you lose your job today, your current income is 0 and you don't qualify anymore, but your return will still show your past income.

 

The other question is to write down the Total Income line from the latest return and send the latest return + w2 or the transcript. Filling out the other 2 years and sending the other 2 returns is optional.

 

They are separate questions on the form and separate requirements.

 

In some cases, tax return becomes proof of income, for example, if you're self employed. So then sending the tax return as evidence of the first question is the way to go. They also mention that you can send 3 returns if you want to show that your income was consistent throughout all those years.

Thank you so much for clarifying this as I think I was about to make a mistake. 

I uncluded the same amount for "current individual income" (part 6 question 7) and most recent total income (2019 tax transcript). 

 

I guess then based off this, I should change the "current individual income" to reflect my wife's current salary, plus her bonus (for 2020) which she already received 2 weeks ago? Or should I do salary only? I have printed out her last 6 months payslips, 2020 W2 and also a proof of employment letter with salary from her employer. 

[Ayrton 965]

41 minutes ago, mrbtx said:

Thank you so much for clarifying this as I think I was about to make a mistake. 

I uncluded the same amount for "current individual income" (part 6 question 7) and most recent total income (2019 tax transcript). 

 

I guess then based off this, I should change the "current individual income" to reflect my wife's current salary, plus her bonus (for 2020) which she already received 2 weeks ago? Or should I do salary only? I have printed out her last 6 months payslips, 2020 W2 and also a proof of employment letter with salary from her employer. 

I'm not sure how to do with bonuses. For my 864, I wrote down only my spouse's salary, no bonus, because that would match the employment letter. If your wife's salary is way over the poverty line, then I wouldn't bother, but someone else can give another opinion.

[mrbtx 7]

1 minute ago, Ayrton said:

I'm not sure how to do with bonuses. For my 864, I wrote down only my spouse's salary, no bonus, because that would match the employment letter. If your wife's salary is way over the poverty line, then I wouldn't bother, but someone else can give another opinion.

Understood. That is what I will most likley do to keep it simple. Salary is >$200k.

In that case, the following backup should be sufficient:

 

Last 6 months pay checks

Letter of employment with current salary

2020 W-2

2017 - 2019 Tax Transcripts (Don't have 2020 yet as it is with the accountants)

 

Anything I am missing? I don't need to submit any proof of her ID here do I? 

[Ayrton 965]

Just now, mrbtx said:

Understood. That is what I will most likley do to keep it simple. Salary is >$200k.

In that case, the following backup should be sufficient:

 

Last 6 months pay checks

Letter of employment with current salary

2020 W-2

2017 - 2019 Tax Transcripts (Don't have 2020 yet as it is with the accountants)

 

Anything I am missing? I don't need to submit any proof of her ID here do I? 

W2 not necessary, since you're sending transcripts. And only latest transcript is required. And make sure you're sending tax return transcript, not tax account transcript.

[mrbtx 7]

11 minutes ago, Ayrton said:

W2 not necessary, since you're sending transcripts. And only latest transcript is required. And make sure you're sending tax return transcript, not tax account transcript.

I am sending transcripts printed from the IRS website - Looks like a grocery list spanning 4-5 pages each. This is the one that we should send, right?

[Ayrton 965]

Just now, mrbtx said:

I am sending transcripts printed from the IRS website - Looks like a grocery list spanning 4-5 pages each. This is the one that we should send, right?

You can print 2 or 3 different types of transcripts from the website. As long as you're printing the Tax RETURN transcript and not the tax account transcript, you should be fine.

[Paul Hanaki 72]

On 3/16/2021 at 3:06 PM, mrbtx said:

Hi everybody, I am finishing the I864 as we speak and all I can see if that we only need to include tax transcripts from the prior 3 years as evidence? If these are official transcripts printed directly from the IRS website, do we need to provide other tax or wage information? 

From the instructions.

Item Numbers 23.a. - 25. Federal Income Tax Return Information. You must provide either an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) transcript or a photocopy from your own records of your Federal individual income tax return for the most recent tax year. If you believe additional returns may help you to establish your ability to maintain sufficient income, you may submit transcripts or photocopies of your Federal individual income tax returns for the three most recent years. You are not required to have the IRS certify the transcript or photocopy unless specifically instructed to do so by a Government official; a plain transcript or photocopy is acceptable.