2010 Tax Return QUESTION

[Seija 0]

Hello VJ members,

I a little condern about the following and would like your advise.

My wife lives in Russia and we were married 11/27/10 in Moscow. But when I did my taxes I filed as head of household and not Married filling seperately. I don't know what I was thinking... maybe it was a combination of things like - she does not have an SN yet and we were only married for a shortime in 2010. anyway, will this cause any issues/delays when we get to the next stage of our visa Journey? we have a 6/2/11 priority date and I think my case will sit at CSV for about 2-3 months and then be tranfer to the NVC, which at this time I will need to submit AOS and supporting documents. besides the NVC, who else will have access to my tax returns? US embassy in Moscow? if so will they reject/delay our petition due to my mistake? Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

Jose

[Petersburg 5]

Hi, as a tax preparer I know 2 things - if you married even on the last day of the year , you have to indicated status as "married". Second - I can't give an advise n tax without knowing all of the details; sorry, so my suggestions will be in general terms.: If you inducated "Head of Household" , then you have some dependents, is that right? Then, if you claim "Married filing separately", you will take a big hit on return , because you will not be able to claim most of the credits allowed...

My suggestion - I assuming - you still can amend your tax return as married, filing jointly, but with indication "SSN" pending (for wife) . In this case, your will not take a hit on taxes. Contact a tax person with an experience at least 5 years for a consultation. Embassy requires the last year's tax return , they will prebably review and it might be a problem . Maybe other members have a better info?

[Seija 0]

yes, I claimed my daughter as a dependent. but if filed married jointly,I will need to use my wife's income. how do I do that without a W-2 form? I filed my taxes using turb tax last year.

[Petersburg 5]

I think you still can do it; if your wife's income was in Russia, its not taxable (there are rules and limitations) . I would suggest to contact experienced tax preparer (5+ years); usually HR Block has someone on call for off season period; and it should not be that expensive to file an amended return with one adjustment for status. I think it better be safe than sorry. Good luck

[sofya 10]

yes, I claimed my daughter as a dependent. but if filed married jointly,I will need to use my wife's income. how do I do that without a W-2 form? I filed my taxes using turb tax last year.

Through my experience as a certified IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistant: You can definitely file Married Filing Jointly. If your wife was not in the U.S. during the tax period and did not have a W-2, you just put 0.00 in her part of the declaration. Remember, that even aliens (aka foreign citizens), when married to a USC, can be counted as a "resident alien" for tax purposes, where "resident alien" almost equals "USC" in terms of taxation. Also, remember that any U.S. citizen MUST file an income tax declaration, whether they had any income or not. So, even if your wife was out of the U.S., even though she's not a USC yet (but is married to one and thus can be counted as a resident alien for tax purposes), and didn't have any income in the U.S., you can still file jointly. This is one of the things the U.S. government has done right - endowing married couples with an opportunity to take tax advantages of being married, no matter where both spouses live. You are married, period. It is also called "supporting the institute of marriage through policy making"

Now, I'm not exactly sure you can amend your 2010 tax return after the fact... I do advise you to get in touch with a CPA or a tax assistant in that regard. You can also get in touch with your local IRS office directly (look up the closest one on the IRS website).

Finally, your tax return is needed to prove your financial ability as a petitioner. Filing taxes jointly while or before the immigration application is pending will not necessarily advance it in any way. It may be a nice bona fide piece of evidence at some point, but when it's for AOS - don't worry about it.

Good luck!

[sofya 10]

Just to add - by the time you'll get to the AOS stage, your I-130 will have been approved. Which means you don't even need to be adding more bona fides of marriage at that stage. So don't worry about filing Married and Separately. Just make sure you exceed the poverty thresholds for your family size

[Seija 0]

Sofya,

Thank you for your advise.

1) I did speak with IRS and they said that I can amend my 2010 tax return, ( I'm wondering if this is necessary). I don't need any more proof for bonifides of Marriage but I did get a little concern that I did not use the correct filing status. I filed as head of hold and not married. If I change it now I think the credits I got will not apply any more. meanning I will loose some credits and may owe IRS money.

2) I spoke with a USCIS personnel and she said they (USCIS) are more concern about meeting the guidelines regarding the the poverty line which I do and that my incorect filing status may or may not be an issue, she could not tell me with absolute certainty.

3) so you think it will not be an issue if I leave my tax return alone and not amend it?

[LylAndLu 3]

Well, the thing is you taked to USCIS which is only one of the gov entities scrutinazing you... but in Moscow it will be reviewed by a Consular Officer of the embassy who might see it differently and ask you why you claim to be single if you are married? I really a toss up...

[Seija 0]

Thank you all for the advise!

[sofya 10]

Well, the thing is you taked to USCIS which is only one of the gov entities scrutinazing you... but in Moscow it will be reviewed by a Consular Officer of the embassy who might see it differently and ask you why you claim to be single if you are married? I really a toss up...

That's a good point. But in all good faith you can still say that you didn't know any better. All in all, you are saying the truth, and meeting the poverty guidelines is still an overarching purpose of submitting tax returns.