I864-self employed and need proof of income

[monicatony 0]

Hi all

This is confusing me! My husband, the USC, is self employed. He does not deduct a personal salary but takes money from his business accounts as he needs it. He reinvested a lot of money into his business last year and (I don't know how the accountant manages this) but his personal income form that he filed shows a negative balance. Of course USCIS looks at that bottom line and we received an RFE for proof of income. HELP! We cannot provide the suggested pay stubs or employer letter in this case! I was thinking a letter from the bank manager showing total deposits/credits from his business accounts and stating that my husband is the sole owner of the business might help. He can provide bank statements for the last year showing checks written to him personally and withdrawals he's made. I'm rambling here but I guess my question is has anyone else been in the situation and have you found something that USCIS accepted as evidence other than the standard methods? Failing all of this I think we might be able to ask my Father in law to cosponsor ( he doesn't have to live with us for that does he?) What is required of the cosponsor exactly?

Stuck

[Mike and Elisa 0]

Hi all

This is confusing me! My husband, the USC, is self employed. He does not deduct a personal salary but takes money from his business accounts as he needs it. He reinvested a lot of money into his business last year and (I don't know how the accountant manages this) but his personal income form that he filed shows a negative balance. Of course USCIS looks at that bottom line and we received an RFE for proof of income. HELP! We cannot provide the suggested pay stubs or employer letter in this case! I was thinking a letter from the bank manager showing total deposits/credits from his business accounts and stating that my husband is the sole owner of the business might help. He can provide bank statements for the last year showing checks written to him personally and withdrawals he's made. I'm rambling here but I guess my question is has anyone else been in the situation and have you found something that USCIS accepted as evidence other than the standard methods? Failing all of this I think we might be able to ask my Father in law to cosponsor ( he doesn't have to live with us for that does he?) What is required of the cosponsor exactly?

Stuck

You say he is the only owner. If the business is a sole proprietership, a single member LLC or an S-corp, it's income would be reported on your husband's personal 1040. The business income would be reported on his schedule C or D (most commonly) depending on the type of business. One of the advantages of owning a business is the deductions you get to take and using expenses to offset income. The more income you offset, the less you have to pay in taxes. The problem, as you've seen, is that with no income showing on the 1040 your husband can't directly prove he qualifies as a sponsor.

If the company is a C-corp, it would file it's own tax return. The company's stocks that your husband owns will be treated as assets and it's up to him to place a reasonable dollar value on those stocks. The value he uses would be based on the income the company produces, the equity in the company and the ease with which he could sell those stocks to someone else.

I see a couple of options. File an ammended return omitting some of the deduction to which your husband would be entitled so that you can show the necessary level of income. Note that doing this will result in his having to pay federal and state taxes on the income he winds up reporting.

Another option would be to use his assets in place of income. Any asset he ownes such as a car, real estate, cash in the bank, company stocks, etc that he could reasonably sell within one year can be used in place of income. Note that he doesn't have to actually sell anything, he just has to be able to show the value of the assets he COULD sell.

Depending on your classification, he would have to show that his assets are worth 3 or 5 times the difference between the income he reported and the income he needs to show. For example, assuming it's just the two of you, he would need to show an income of just over $17,000. If he reported an income on his 1040 of $5,000, he has a shortfall of about $12,000. If he can show he has assets of 3 times $12,000 or $36,000 he should be able to use this in place of the actual income. I'm using 3x in the example. Depending on your classification, it might be 5x.

I hope this helps. Any other suggestions or comments?