Yet another I-864 thread. (Self-employed AND employed by a company)

[Orzo 13]

Hello friends!

First, I'm sorry to clog the site with yet another 864 question. Thanks in advance to anyone who helps out. I'm working on my joint sponsor's 864 with him and just wanted to make sure I'm doing this in the most effective way possible.  I had to use a joint sponsor as I live abroad and am paid in JPY.

Here's what we have prepared:

6 months of paystubs from normal job. (I figured this is best for 864 Part 6 Line 7 as his self-employed income isn't easily determined and he's well over the threshold with his normal job. I figure there's no need to over complicate I-864 line 7 with the burden of more proof and paperwork, but maybe I'm mistaken.) 
3 years of IRS Transcripts
3 years of tax records. (Looks like he filled Schedule C,D, and SE as he is runs his own side gig, though not even close to his main source of income.) He makes around  a $1000ish profit (as per Schedule D line 31) from the side gig and the remaining 50-ish thousand from his actual job.
 
He's been employed at the real job for the past year, though his past 3 years of filing have still been well beyond the threshold. He's also younger so I figured that showing the last 3 years of transcripts wouldn't hurt.
He is single and files accordingly. I think the whole self employed bit is causing me to overthink.

Just to make sure I've got this right:

I know that some folks have gotten RFEs for not including tax records (1040,W-2,etc etc.) along-side transcripts. I also know that folks have gotten RFEs for mismatched income numbers.
I'm trying to strike a balance of providing enough info, as well as not providing so much that I could make a mistake.

Here are the numbers that match:
 

IRS Transcript TOTAL INCOME: 56,039
1040 Line 9: 56,039

Or

IRS Transcript page 1, WAGES, SALARIES, TIPS, ETC: 54,750
1040 Line 1: 54,750
 

I've seen 1040 line 11 thrown around on the site and his says 55,956, but I can't see where that number would have come from on the IRS Transcript. I'm not sure I should even need to look that carefully.

So finally my questions.

1. Part 6. Number 2. Should I include the self employment even though he is over the threshold with his normal job or is it better to just let it be? Would I need to provide proof of that self employment in addition to the 1040, schedules, etc?

2. Part 6, 24a,24b,24c. Which number should I be inserting if he is BOTH employed at a company and self employed (albeit hardly)

3. Is it safe to just use paystubs for his current job to calculate CURRENT income and ignore the side-gig as it doesn't disqualify him from being a sponsor.

Sorry for the super lengthy post. I tried to be as detailed as possible.
Thanks in advance!

[aerodnight 76]

I can tell you what I did since I had exact same situation as you(joint sponsor both employed and self-employed). For calculating total income I used pay stubs to get the employment income($18000 yearned as of beginning of September, so I made it $24000k annually). As for self-employment the income you need to use is the one from Schedule C line 31. So you use the last year income for self-employment and current year's income for employment.

 

I think you need to include self-employment as it will be stated on your joint sponsor's tax return/transcript, so if you omit it, then you risk RFE for not adding 1099 to your AOS package.

[Orzo 13]

9 hours ago, aerodnight said:

I can tell you what I did since I had exact same situation as you(joint sponsor both employed and self-employed). For calculating total income I used pay stubs to get the employment income($18000 yearned as of beginning of September, so I made it $24000k annually). As for self-employment the income you need to use is the one from Schedule C line 31. So you use the last year income for self-employment and current year's income for employment.

 

I think you need to include self-employment as it will be stated on your joint sponsor's tax return/transcript, so if you omit it, then you risk RFE for not adding 1099 to your AOS package.

Thanks for the advice. I'll get some proof of the self employment ready. Did you also provide 3 years of documents or just the most recent? 

 

Also which pair of numbers should I be inserting for 24 a, b and c?

[aerodnight 76]

For 24 a - insert the number from the most recent(2021) annual tax return, form 1040, line 9

For 24 b - look at the same number but on return from 2020

For 24 c - as above, 2019

 

I uploaded documents only from the last year, as uploading full three years is not required, you only have to enter numbers from those years. 

[Orzo 13]

30 minutes ago, aerodnight said:

For 24 a - insert the number from the most recent(2021) annual tax return, form 1040, line 9

For 24 b - look at the same number but on return from 2020

For 24 c - as above, 2019

 

I uploaded documents only from the last year, as uploading full three years is not required, you only have to enter numbers from those years. 

Maybe I'll just upload the one year then. 

Thanks for all of the specific advice! 

Hopefully I won't run in anymore trouble! 

[Orzo 13]

Just to clarify do we agree that this is what should be turned into the NVC along side the 864?

 

Myself:

US passport

IRS transcript from 2021

Tax package from 2021 

Explanation for lack of W-2 (I work abroad and am paid on Japanese Yen, hence my taxes say 0)

 

Joint sponsor:

Photocopy of US birth cert.

Transcript from 2021

Tax package from 2021

W-2 from 2021

Some form of proof of self employment for 2021

6 months of current year pay stubs.

Some form of proof of current self employment.

 

 

In your opinion, will this do?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[aerodnight 76]

4 hours ago, Orzo said:

Myself:

US passport - I don't think you need to provide proof of your status, CEAC didn't ask me to upload any proof of US citizenship or having an LPR status

IRS transcript from 2021 - correct

Tax package from 2021 - if you upload tax transcript and you've not filed taxes jointly, then you don't need to upload full tax package, transcript will have all necessary info

Explanation for lack of W-2 (I work abroad and am paid on Japanese Yen, hence my taxes say 0) - yes, and in that explanation also mention 1099, you can upload it as one statement under W2 file category

Apart from that, remember to upload proof of US domicile or proof of intent to reestablish one, it's very important.

 

4 hours ago, Orzo said:

Joint sponsor:

Photocopy of US birth cert. - the easiest would be a photo of the bio page from passport, but this will do as well

Transcript from 2021 - correct

Tax package from 2021 - as above, you don't need tax package if you upload transcript

W-2 from 2021 - yes, and don't forget about 1099 forms from last year

Some form of proof of self employment for 2021 - 1099 will be sufficient proof of self employment in 2021

6 months of current year pay stubs. - if you have it for the last 6 months that's great, I uploaded only two pay stubs per employment but I'm not sure if that will be sufficient

Some form of proof of current self employment. - correct

If I were you, I'd upload a proof of domicile for joint-sponsor as well, even if he lives in the US, just in case. For that, I re-used some paystubs and current driving license but paystubs will do, imo.

[Orzo 13]

29 minutes ago, aerodnight said:

Apart from that, remember to upload proof of US domicile or proof of intent to reestablish one, it's very important.

 

If I were you, I'd upload a proof of domicile for joint-sponsor as well, even if he lives in the US, just in case. For that, I re-used some paystubs and current driving license but paystubs will do, imo.

Thank you so much! 

 

Now things are getting a little interesting. I don't see a 1099 or any mention of it in the tax packet sent by his accountant. I'll ask him directly and see what's going on. I do know that the side job isn't a registered business. 

 

[aerodnight 76]

7 minutes ago, Orzo said:

I don't see a 1099 or any mention of it in the tax packet sent by his accountant

It shouldn't be a part of the tax package, but rather sent by an entity he works for as a self employed person. 1099 is like W-2, which you get from the employer at some point in the year and it's not related to tax package.

 

If this self employment is not registered in any way and is a literal side job, then I would not include it, because documenting it without 1099 could be problematic. If he started this self-employment this year, then you don't need to upload 1099 but have the explanation for not uploading one, plus some proof of income from this self-employment from this year. I'm not completely sure about that part, so it would be nice to have someone more experienced contribute to this topic, maybe @pushbrk?

[Orzo 13]

3 minutes ago, aerodnight said:

It shouldn't be a part of the tax package, but rather sent by an entity he works for as a self employed person. 1099 is like W-2, which you get from the employer at some point in the year and it's not related to tax package.

 

If this self employment is not registered in any way and is a literal side job, then I would not include it, because documenting it without 1099 could be problematic. If he started this self-employment this year, then you don't need to upload 1099 but have the explanation for not uploading one, plus some proof of income from this self-employment from this year. I'm not completely sure about that part, so it would be nice to have someone more experienced contribute to this topic, maybe @pushbrk?

I'm waiting for a reply from him now. The only issue I could see with not including it is that the 900 or so dollars is a part of the total income on the transcript as well as the fact that he filed the various schedules.
Sorry to cause such a hassle! 

 

[pushbrk 12,979]

13 hours ago, Orzo said:

I'm waiting for a reply from him now. The only issue I could see with not including it is that the 900 or so dollars is a part of the total income on the transcript as well as the fact that he filed the various schedules.
Sorry to cause such a hassle! 

 

It would be so much better if the US Citizen sponsor was here dealing with this.  He may or may not have received a 1099.  It depends on the source of the revenue.

[Orzo 13]

1 hour ago, pushbrk said:

It would be so much better if the US Citizen sponsor was here dealing with this.  He may or may not have received a 1099.  It depends on the source of the revenue.

Thanks for the reply and sorry to drag you into this. He said he has never received a 1099. To get specific, he owns and hosts a server on an online game and charges users to use it's premium features. EDIT: He also buys cards in bulk and sells them via his own website.

Is it possible that his accountant was able to file the schedules without having a 1099? According to schedule C, he made a profit of $956 in 2021.

Sorry to ask such a tax specific question. 

Edited November 18, 2022 by Orzo
Clarity of self employment.

[pushbrk 12,979]

1 hour ago, Orzo said:

Thanks for the reply and sorry to drag you into this. He said he has never received a 1099. To get specific, he owns and hosts a server on an online game and charges users to use it's premium features. EDIT: He also buys cards in bulk and sells them via his own website.

Is it possible that his accountant was able to file the schedules without having a 1099? According to schedule C, he made a profit of $956 in 2021.

Sorry to ask such a tax specific question. 

Not only possible but quite probable.  His tax return will have a schedule C for his business.  But, I repeat, the affidavit of support is HIS responsibility, and HE is the one who has a better chance of understanding the tax issue.  Get him on doing his homework by studying the form and its instructions to the point HE is an A-Student of both.

[Orzo 13]

5 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Not only possible but quite probable.  His tax return will have a schedule C for his business.  But, I repeat, the affidavit of support is HIS responsibility, and HE is the one who has a better chance of understanding the tax issue.  Get him on doing his homework by studying the form and its instructions to the point HE is an A-Student of both.

Thank you again. 

I suppose it's easy to take on the responsibility of everyone else in this process. I'll tell him to fill the form out to the best of his ability and advise to include a statement claiming he didn't receive a 1099 if he in fact didn't. 

 

Thanks for all of the help! 

[pushbrk 12,979]

58 minutes ago, Orzo said:

Thank you again. 

I suppose it's easy to take on the responsibility of everyone else in this process. I'll tell him to fill the form out to the best of his ability and advise to include a statement claiming he didn't receive a 1099 if he in fact didn't. 

 

Thanks for all of the help! 

Please tell him to become an a-student of the instructions and the form before he starts filling it out.  No need to explain about the 1099.  Those are for contractors working as non-employees for companies.  He works for himself, so no 1099.