3 years Tax Transcripts needed?

[Bob in Boston 631]

Amend the return and take the extra deduction, Get some money back also

[EMMO 2]

So, I am in the same boat. Although my 10 year Green Card was received in September 2019.

 

I literally came from HR Block like 15 mins back and they said I don't need to file my returns on change my wife's 1040 from MFS to MFJ.

 

We were both living a different country together till the Sep 2019.

 

Her 1040 shows my name and SSN on it.

 

Can i submit that as my 2019 return? 

[TOLOHIO 0]

5 minutes ago, EMMO said:

So, I am in the same boat. Although my 10 year Green Card was received in September 2019.

 

I literally came from HR Block like 15 mins back and they said I don't need to file my returns on change my wife's 1040 from MFS to MFJ.

 

We were both living a different country together till the Sep 2019.

 

Her 1040 shows my name and SSN on it.

 

Can i submit that as my 2019 return? 

My wifes 2019 return has my name and SSN number on it to. she simply filed as an individual (a married individual) and not jointly back in 2019. We also lived in a different country and a tax company from there did all our taxes. so I'm wondering if it is going to be a bit of a headache trying to amend that return or if we can amend through IRS website. Alternatively i can file my own taxes from 2019 - Im not sure if I can still do 2019 taxes online or if it will need to be a paper application. In any case, i do not believe taxes need to be front loaded with the n400 application, but brought to the interview.

Edited September 17, 2022 by TOLOHIO

[Bob in Boston 631]

4 minutes ago, EMMO said:

So, I am in the same boat. Although my 10 year Green Card was received in September 2019.

 

I literally came from HR Block like 15 mins back and they said I don't need to file my returns on change my wife's 1040 from MFS to MFJ.

 

We were both living a different country together till the Sep 2019.

 

Her 1040 shows my name and SSN on it.

 

Can i submit that as my 2019 return? 

When you file married filing single you pay a higher tax rate. Married filing jointly you get an extra deduction and pay a lower rate. Uncle sam owes you money. H&R Suould gve you better advise than that.

[Bob in Boston 631]

3 minutes ago, TOLOHIO said:

We also lived in a differant country and a tax company from there did all our taxes. s

and the plot thickens. You should seek out a US Tax Service (Not H&R) and let them do it.

[Loren Y 2,748]

16 minutes ago, EMMO said:

HR Block

This is the worst place to ever get your taxes done. Better to give a 3 year old a box of crayons and let them fill out your return. I have never had taxes done by them, and that is because of the horror stories I have heard and read about. A halfway competent CPA is half the price, and your much better off. The way they lure people in is they offer to give you your refund in advance ( At 29% interest minimum), and then screw up your return. Then you still owe them their money back no matter how bad they messed up. But I heard you can make payments from Federal prison if you get on a work program while incarcerated for tax fraud.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Loren Y

[TOLOHIO 0]

9 minutes ago, Bob in Boston said:

and the plot thickens. You should seek out a US Tax Service (Not H&R) and let them do it.

no thickening plot LoL - we simply lived and paid taxes in another country before we moved to the US, and it was easier to let the experts from that country handle those overseas taxes. 

[EMMO 2]

2 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

This is the worst place to ever get your taxes done. Better to give a 3 year old a box of crayons and let them fill out your return. I have never had taxes done by them, and that is because of the horror stories I have heard and read about. A halfway competent CPA is half the price, and your much better off. The way they lure people in is they offer to give you your refund in advance ( At 29% interest minimum), and then screw up your return. Then you still owe them their money back no matter how bad they messed up. But i heard you can make payments from Federal prison if you get on a work program while incarcerated for tax fraud.

Fair. I have filed taxes with H&R Block for 20 and 21 and luckily havent had issues.

 

We went to a CPA for 2019 who advised my wife (USC) to file as Married filing separately and also told us that I did not need to file any returns since I did not have any income in the US from (Sep 2019 - Dec 2019)

 

I guess the best case scenario for both the OP and my situation might be to  file the 1040X  and change it to MFJ.

 

[Mike E 11,730]

1 minute ago, EMMO said:

We went to a CPA for 2019 who advised my wife (USC) to file as Married filing separately and also told us that I did not need to file any returns since I did not have any income in the US from (Sep 2019 - Dec 2019)

Neither your CPA nor HR block have competencies in U.S. naturalization law.  
 

However we do.  
 

Regardless your CPA is not very good at taxes. I’ve lost count of the number of CPAs I’ve encountered are aren’t good at taxes. That’s why I don’t use CPAs for my taxes.  

[EMMO 2]

1 minute ago, Mike E said:

Neither your CPA nor HR block have competencies in U.S. naturalization law.  
 

However we do.  
 

Regardless your CPA is not very good at taxes. I’ve lost count of the number of CPAs I’ve encountered are aren’t good at taxes. That’s why I don’t use CPAs for my taxes.  

absolutely! hence I am here trying to get advice on what the best course of action will be.

 

So, in terms of next steps, do you think this is the best solution? -   File the  2019 1040X and change it to MFJ?

[Mike E 11,730]

31 minutes ago, EMMO said:

  -   File the  2019 1040X and change it to MFJ?

Yes I would do that.  

[SteveInBostonI130 3,330]

10 hours ago, TOLOHIO said:

Yes your correct - spouse filed separately but would have indicated we were married. Which would be noted on the return i believe 

 

Odd.  Your spouse would have saved a lot on taxes if filed MFJ.  Not only for the increase in standard deductions, but MFJ has a separate tax table that has lower tax rates than as MFS.

 

 

[Calicolom 265]

21 hours ago, TOLOHIO said:

Thanks for your reply. my point is for 2019 I did not work/had not income and i was not required to file a return. How would i have a tax return if determined i didn't need to file a return?

In that case then Im presuming it comes down to my spouse who would have had to include me in their return

You ALWAYS file a tax returns, even if you made "0" dollars. Then you will never have problems with issues like this.