US citizin living overseas and need your help

[jordan dentist 0]

I am a new member in this great forum….my husband is an American citizen living all his live overseas and now we are together in Saudi Arabia. We have been married for five years and no children. We decided to move to America and start a new live. We submitted I-130 and we got the approval from the NVC and now we are in the process of filing the DS-230 & I-864 "affidavit of support", but I have some questions and need your help:-

1. We have no income inside the United States as my husband is working with one of the local companies in Saudi Arabia and once I get the immigration visa he will resign and we will go together to America. Is the income that we are getting now from his current job in Saudi acceptable in the affidavit of support? If not, what will be the alternative?

2. My husband has no federal tax records as he was never living in America and we are required to submit a written explanation for not filing federal income tax return. Is living overseas an acceptable explanation? If not, what shall we do?

3. From your experience, what would be accepted to establish a domicile in the states, would signing a job contract help?

4. In case we needed a joint sponsor shall we fill the form or wait for them to ask for it?

I would appreciate your support and advice.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

1. Has to be "ongoing" income. They look at the entire income history.

2. Your husband, unless he had some sort of special law/rule, is required to file taxes on any income, no matter if it was earned overseas.

Yes - you have to show why the rules didn't apply.

3. Lease/Mortgage agreement shows intent on domicile.

4. You will probably need one.

[YuAndDan 153]

1) Income needs to continue after returning to the USA, US Citizen MUST provide an I-864 and I-864 REQUIRES US Domicile. (The BIG DCF Hitch)

2) IRS Returns MUST be filed late, A US citizen may be exempt from paying tax on foreign income, HOWEVER they are NOT exempt from filing a retun every year unless their income falls BELOW as set level, I believe $6000 or so.

3) Signed job contract and lease mortage, US Bank account, US driver's license, an address in the USA where has been receiving mail...

4) You can.

MORE: http://travel.state.gov/pdf/I-864GenInfo-FAQ-Final.pdf

[txladykat 1]

If he has lived overseas his entire life, does he even have a US passport? He will need a US passport to enter the US as a US citizen. If he doesn't have one, he is going to have a hard time getting one if he has not filed tax returns. They will check with the IRS when he applies for a US passport.

Also, when he does return to the states and begins filing tax returns, he is going to have problems with the IRS. They are likely going to assess him with penalties for not filing, whether he owed taxes or not

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Also, when he does return to the states and begins filing tax returns, he is going to have problems with the IRS. They are likely going to assess him with penalties for not filing, whether he owed taxes or not

If he did not file taxes and did not owe taxes, he will not necessarily have to pay penalties. I did not file for twelve years while I lived in the UK, and only found out I was supposed to have been doing so when I filed for DCF. I was instructed by the IRS field office in London to complete only three years' worth going back, as I never earned enough in one year to exceed the minimum required in each year to pay taxes on my foreign earned income (usually floating around $80-82k p.a.). I filed the three years in question (2004-06) and have not had any problems with filing stateside in 2007 or 2008. No penalties.

When I visited the field office, I made a particular point of asking whether I should also file for the years 1995-2003. The answer was that if I never made enough for the double taxation to kick in, I should just forget about it. I asked again if I would get in trouble later on down the line when I returned to the US. I was told categorically no.

[txladykat 1]

As with anything, it all depends on the IRS agent you are dealing with. I have been through two audits in my lifetime, the first one was smooth sailing, took what I said at face value and off we went. The second one was a big jerk, and even suggested I "fabricated" some of my supplier invoices to backup my records and refused to allow them in.

[msdelila 1]

If he has lived overseas his entire life, does he even have a US passport? He will need a US passport to enter the US as a US citizen. If he doesn't have one, he is going to have a hard time getting one if he has not filed tax returns. They will check with the IRS when he applies for a US passport.

Also, when he does return to the states and begins filing tax returns, he is going to have problems with the IRS. They are likely going to assess him with penalties for not filing, whether he owed taxes or not

It's definitely possible that he has a passport. If his mother had citizenship, she could have applied for him, EVEN if he wasn't born in the States. I know this because my friend was born and raised in Israel, but both her parents were American, and she has a valid US passport. They changed the rules now, and now I don't think it is possible. I think the child has to reside in the States for a certain amount of time before they will get a US passport.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

As with anything, it all depends on the IRS agent you are dealing with. I have been through two audits in my lifetime, the first one was smooth sailing, took what I said at face value and off we went. The second one was a big jerk, and even suggested I "fabricated" some of my supplier invoices to backup my records and refused to allow them in.

Sorry that happened to you, and I really mean that.

I don't mean to be argumentative, but it has been stated time and again on here from USCs who have had to backfile that if you do not owe taxes for the years you didn't file, you do not accrue penalties. It doesn't make sense -- how can you pay a penalty for not paying taxes if there were no taxes to file in the first place, considering that the penalty is based on the amount of taxes that were due to be paid?

[motu 6]

Tax rules are rather simple. You must file and pay taxes if due, on income from all sources. Yes, if you are working and living abroad, you can exclude a large chunk of your income (up to $87,000 a year, I think). It's never a good idea to not pay taxes - one could have every penny due come back and haunt you for the rest of your lives (you may be assessed penalty for late filing and not filing; and yes there is always the interest due on taxes not paid). Anyone working in a decent sized organization can ask the accounting dept. people for help in understanding this - its not that hard to find out. Secondly, you can use turbo tax to file your taxes for the years he didn't (you will need to buy the cd for the specific years and perhaps you can file online but I am not sure) - you may or may not owe taxes but its good idea to always file your taxes; with the large exclusion allowed for living and earning abroad, why not , especially with the ease of filing through the internet. Good Luck

As with anything, it all depends on the IRS agent you are dealing with. I have been through two audits in my lifetime, the first one was smooth sailing, took what I said at face value and off we went. The second one was a big jerk, and even suggested I "fabricated" some of my supplier invoices to backup my records and refused to allow them in.

Sorry that happened to you, and I really mean that.

I don't mean to be argumentative, but it has been stated time and again on here from USCs who have had to backfile that if you do not owe taxes for the years you didn't file, you do not accrue penalties. It doesn't make sense -- how can you pay a penalty for not paying taxes if there were no taxes to file in the first place, considering that the penalty is based on the amount of taxes that were due to be paid?

elmcity: IRS can construe that you were trying to be fraudulent - and that can cook your goose - remeber your friend Al Capone - why did he go to prison? Not for criminal activity - but for not filing taxes!

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Fine, I ain't gonna win this one. Once I found out I was supposed to have been filing, I filed. I continue to file. I sent Uncle Sam a gigantic check this year. I am only stating what I was told by the IRS. What do they know?

[It's me 1]

Fine, I ain't gonna win this one. Once I found out I was supposed to have been filing, I filed. I continue to file. I sent Uncle Sam a gigantic check this year. I am only stating what I was told by the IRS. What do they know?

i dont have to file, ever! My income non-taxable, and considerd non reportable income

[jordan dentist 0]

I would like to thank all for your help....you have pointed some things that I wasn't aware of.....

I think I will try to contact an IRS agent...

Thank you all