I-134 Landlord Income, Self Employed or Not (I have no 1099, most landlords have no 1099 either, we do a Schedule E)

[Sun808 6]

Hey guys I'm filling out the I-134 and I'm very confused with so much of it, I'd appreciate some help.

 

So my only income last year (2022) was from my rental properties, for a total of about $53,000 on my taxes, that's gross, as in my actual income from rents that I took home, after all expenses and before paying taxes for the year.

 

The I-134 asks if I'm "Self-Employed" which in tax terms I'm not as I don't file a form 1099 like people that are "Self-Employed" for tax purposes do. All my rental income goes on the Schedule E, where landlords enter their rental income. But in layman's terms I'm "Self-Employed" as I don't work a 9 to 5 or get a W2.

 

So I'm thinking on "Section 11 Employment Status" I should put "Self Employed" since in layman's terms I'm self employed and embassy employees probably will give me grief if I instead check the "Other (Explain)" box and then enter: "I'm a landlord, rents come in every month since 2013."

 

However if I do that I'm afraid they'll for sure want a 1099 since I'm "Self Employed." But I'm not "Self Employed" by the tax definition, it's just rental income so there's no 1099 (I'm not a real estate agent or anything like that).

 

Basically will I be shooting myself in the foot by selecting the "Self-Employed" box and then sending my 2022 tax transcript (and 2023 also if we get there in a few months) plus bank statements for all of 2022 and 2023, but no 1099?

 

Or should I select the "Other (Explain)" box knowing that box will definitely open up a can of worms since by clicking on that box you definitely get on the embassy's "very extra special attention" list.

 

I also definitely don't want to list my properties as assets since that will entail thousands of dollars in costs for absolutely nothing just to get them appraised, so I'm for sure not listing the properties as assets.

 

Thanks guys, just wanting to get past this, it's so frustrating, paperwork is the absolute bane of my existence but I managed to do a solid job on the initial K1 application and got approved with no RFE on that part so I want to make sure I fill out the I-134 in a way that raises no red flags/doesn't create any extra work for the embassy folks that would cause them to cause trouble for us.

 

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

 

Edited November 14, 2023 by Sun808

[D-R-J 156]

I think I would check other and write “real estate investment income - see schedule E.”

 

I’m not sure that real estate is as liquid as they would want for assets. But if you were to try to use it, I would just include property tax assessments.

 

For financial situations that are not the ordinary, it might be good to play it safe with a traditional w2 co-sponsor if there is someone you can ask. We qualified with assets, but the CO almost denied my wife because she misread my account statement. We had my parents as co-sponsors as back up.

[Sun808 6]

13 minutes ago, D-R-J said:

I think I would check other and write “real estate investment income - see schedule E.”

 

I’m not sure that real estate is as liquid as they would want for assets. But if you were to try to use it, I would just include property tax assessments.

 

For financial situations that are not the ordinary, it might be good to play it safe with a traditional w2 co-sponsor if there is someone you can ask. We qualified with assets, but the CO almost denied my wife because she misread my account statement. We had my parents as co-sponsors as back up.

 

Interesting option.

 

And yeah for K1 Fiancee Visas for Manila you can't use assets anyways so the properties wouldn't help anyways so not even exploring that.

 

Luckily I do make enough income (it's just her and I, just the two of us no kids or exes on either side) and the bank account is healthy and shows all the monthly deposits...I just want to fill the form out the "right" way, the "best" way to make the immigration agent's job the easiest.

Edited November 14, 2023 by Sun808

[IWander 581]

2 hours ago, Sun808 said:

 

Interesting option.

 

And yeah for K1 Fiancee Visas for Manila you can't use assets anyways so the properties wouldn't help anyways so not even exploring that.

 

Luckily I do make enough income (it's just her and I, just the two of us no kids or exes on either side) and the bank account is healthy and shows all the monthly deposits...I just want to fill the form out the "right" way, the "best" way to make the immigration agent's job the easiest.

90% chance Manila won't even want to see the I134 especially since it is  only the two of you.

[Sun808 6]

6 minutes ago, IWander said:

90% chance Manila won't even want to see the I134 especially since it is  only the two of you.

 

You just took a big weight off my shoulders, thank you, this helps us put things in perspective.

 

Thanks again!

[IWander 581]

2 minutes ago, Sun808 said:

 

You just took a big weight off my shoulders, thank you, this helps us put things in perspective.

 

Thanks again!

You need to have it in your back pocket just in case.

 

Just an FYI, your income is not your gross receipts but your net income after expenses so the $53k is not your income.  It is an urban legend that Manila won't consider liquid assets in lieue of income.  Manila just doesn't put a lot of emphasis on the I134 because it is non binding 

[Sun808 6]

1 hour ago, IWander said:

You need to have it in your back pocket just in case.

 

Just an FYI, your income is not your gross receipts but your net income after expenses so the $53k is not your income.  It is an urban legend that Manila won't consider liquid assets in lieue of income.  Manila just doesn't put a lot of emphasis on the I134 because it is non binding 

 

That's great to know the bank account could help then!

 

And apologies that was a typo/error on my end I had just been reading the other posts on the forum on gross income and net income from rentals before I posted, the $53k is the net take home after all the expenses and such.

 

Hopefully we'll be good to go, appreciate the insight.

 

[IWander 581]

54 minutes ago, Sun808 said:

 

That's great to know the bank account could help then!

 

And apologies that was a typo/error on my end I had just been reading the other posts on the forum on gross income and net income from rentals before I posted, the $53k is the net take home after all the expenses and such.

 

Hopefully we'll be good to go, appreciate the insight.

 

Then you are golden.  

[SteveInBostonI130 3,319]

I assume this is supplemental income?  That is, you do not consider yourself a full time manager working 40 hours per week for your rental property?

 

Technically your status is unemployed or retired. 

 

Self employed people would pay quarterly taxes and also pay double SSI and medicare.

 

You can claim $53k as your AGI, as evident on rental income in your transcript or schedule E.

 

 

Edited November 15, 2023 by SteveInBostonI130

[Sun808 6]

4 hours ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

I assume this is supplemental income?  That is, you do not consider yourself a full time manager working 40 hours per week for your rental property?

 

Technically your status is unemployed or retired. 

 

Self employed people would pay quarterly taxes and also pay double SSI and medicare.

 

You can claim $53k as your AGI, as evident on rental income in your transcript or schedule E.

 

 

 

Right I'm not a full time manager working 40 hours per week on the rentals, don't pay quarterly taxes, and it's reported on the Supplemental Income Schedule E so yes the $53k shows up on the official Tax Transcript as AGI.

 

I could check the "Unemployed or Not Employed" box or the "Retired" box like you said, but I would assume that would look bad?

 

And I do show the places, do leases, cleanings, paint, light repairs, and manage everything but it's nowhere close to 40 hours a week, it's a small fraction of that, averaged out.

 

I could also check the "Other" box and then add a note in the additional info section regardless of which box I check.

 

I'll have to pick one but hopefully we'll be ok either way since the amount clears the requirement.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 15, 2023 by Sun808

[IWander 581]

4 hours ago, Sun808 said:

 

Right I'm not a full time manager working 40 hours per week on the rentals, don't pay quarterly taxes, and it's reported on the Supplemental Income Schedule E so yes the $53k shows up on the official Tax Transcript as AGI.

 

I could check the "Unemployed or Not Employed" box or the "Retired" box like you said, but I would assume that would look bad?

 

And I do show the places, do leases, cleanings, paint, light repairs, and manage everything but it's nowhere close to 40 hours a week, it's a small fraction of that, averaged out.

 

I could also check the "Other" box and then add a note in the additional info section regardless of which box I check.

 

I'll have to pick one but hopefully we'll be ok either way since the amount clears the requirement.

 

 

 

 

Who said you have to be full time?  You manage your own properties therefore you are a property manager 

[Sun808 6]

7 minutes ago, IWander said:

Who said you have to be full time?  You manage your own properties therefore you are a property manager 

 

In layman's terms yes it's as simple as "I'm a property manager," it just gets more complex once discussing actual legal classifications.

Property owners get a lot of preferential treatment under tax laws and one of the perks is to be able to not have to be classified as "Self-Employed" under the law when you own properties that give you rent (so you don't have to pay taxes every 3 months or pay the extra self employment taxes).

 

But back to the original question, I think D-R-J's response of "I think I would check other and write “real estate investment income - see schedule E" is pretty reasonable. They can see that note, check the AGI on the tax transcript and the Schedule E, and hopefully it'll be good to go.

 

I'll update this once we get approved (hopefully) so in future others can know what we did.

 

 

 

 

[Crazy Cat 39,361]

***A non-contributory post removed****

[SteveInBostonI130 3,319]

For Philippines, as long as your AGI qualifies the occupation doesn't seem to matter.

 

 

[Sun808 6]

On 11/14/2023 at 5:45 PM, D-R-J said:

I think I would check other and write “real estate investment income - see schedule E.”

 

I’m not sure that real estate is as liquid as they would want for assets. But if you were to try to use it, I would just include property tax assessments.

 

For financial situations that are not the ordinary, it might be good to play it safe with a traditional w2 co-sponsor if there is someone you can ask. We qualified with assets, but the CO almost denied my wife because she misread my account statement. We had my parents as co-sponsors as back up.

 

I went ahead and checked "Other" and wrote a little note about being a landlord in the blank space provided next to "Other" and we were approved with no issue.

 

I included two years of bank statements, two years of tax transcripts, and two years of 1040's. I also included records of Xoom transfers and a signed letter totaling the Xoom transfers to my fiancee over the past few years.

 

I did not get the bank letter that's supposed to be signed by an officer of the bank, we didn't do that.

 

Also, this was Manila/Philippines and they didn't ask any questions at all on income or even ask to look at the I-134 or the financial documents we included, like IWander mentioned might happen.

 

Hope that helps someone in the future.

Edited December 13, 2023 by Sun808