N400 Tax Question

[dan2000 0]

Hi everyone,

I arrived in the US on May 24th 2009

Received my green card on August 10th 2009

Started working April 2010.

I made no income during 2009.

The instructions say that we should include IRS tax returns for the previous 3 years, but I (the non US citizen) did not file any taxes for 2009. My wife (US citizen) filed for 2009 individually and then for 2010 and 2011 we filed jointly.

Should I include a letter saying that I made no income during 2009 and did not file or do I need to file now for 2009?

if anyone knows what I should do in this situation please let me know.

THANK YOU

[X Factor 1,112]

Were you married by the end of 2009? If you were then you should have filed with your wife as married filing jointly or your wife should have filed married filing seperate.

[dan2000 0]

yes we were married in June 2009. I didn't know at the time that we were supposed to file married jointly.

Im not sure what to do now?

[X Factor 1,112]

O.K. Your wife could have gotten a bigger refund if you had filed married filing jointly . You could sent a letter saying that you weren't aware of this. You could also do a 2009 tax amendment to show the correct filing status and you would possible get extra money that would off set the fees for doing the amendment. Then you could send a letter with an explanation that you have just filed an amendment for 2009 taxes.

Edited April 23, 2012 by kennard

[dan2000 0]

O.K. Your wife could have gotten a bigger refund if you had filed married filing jointly . You could sent a letter saying that you weren't aware of this. You could also do a 2009 tax amendment to show the correct filing status and you would possible get extra money that would off set the fees for doing the amendment. Then you could send a letter with an explanation that you have just filed an amendment for 2009 taxes.

OK thank you for your help!

I would prefer not to do a 2009 tax amendment as we just want to get the N-400 filed and done with. Just making sure should the letter say that we were unaware that we were supposed to file married jointly or that I just didn't file because I had no income?

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hi everyone,

I arrived in the US on May 24th 2009

Received my green card on August 10th 2009

Started working April 2010.

I made no income during 2009.

The instructions say that we should include IRS tax returns for the previous 3 years, but I (the non US citizen) did not file any taxes for 2009. My wife (US citizen) filed for 2009 individually and then for 2010 and 2011 we filed jointly.

Should I include a letter saying that I made no income during 2009 and did not file or do I need to file now for 2009?

if anyone knows what I should do in this situation please let me know.

THANK YOU

LPRs are required to file tax returns regardless if they have income or not. If you were married at the end of 2009, even on December 31, you should have filed a joint return. If you were not married you should have filed an individual, single, return.

File NOW for 2009. If you were married you will need to file "married, filing separate" Goosle "1040-2009" If there is no tax due (and there should not be) then there is no penalty for filing late. Make a copy of your tax return with all attachments (if any) and include it with your I-751. You may also want to look into filing a joint, amended, return for 2009. You may get some money back if you do (provided you WERE married)

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

yes we were married in June 2009. I didn't know at the time that we were supposed to file married jointly.

Im not sure what to do now?

Do it both ways. See which is better and file the one that is better for you. Immigration wise it would be better to file the amended joint return. You may be in for a large tax refund if you were married in 2009.

The form you want for the amended return is the "1040-X"

Edited April 23, 2012 by Gary and Alla

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

OK thank you for your help!

I would prefer not to do a 2009 tax amendment as we just want to get the N-400 filed and done with. Just making sure should the letter say that we were unaware that we were supposed to file married jointly or that I just didn't file because I had no income?

You CAN file either jointly or separately. If you file your tax return before you file the I-751 there is no need for ANY letter, just attach a copy of the return. I think you should seriously look at filing an amended return, you could get quite a bit of money in a refund. It would not take long to basically fill out a 1040-x and attach everything else to it, you are basically changing the cover sheet and the filing status and recalculating the tax

[ChetT 9]

LPRs are required to file tax returns regardless if they have income or not. If you were married at the end of 2009, even on December 31, you should have filed a joint return. If you were not married you should have filed an individual, single, return.

File NOW for 2009. If you were married you will need to file "married, filing separate" Goosle "1040-2009" If there is no tax due (and there should not be) then there is no penalty for filing late. Make a copy of your tax return with all attachments (if any) and include it with your I-751. You may also want to look into filing a joint, amended, return for 2009. You may get some money back if you do (provided you WERE married)

I did not know that. My parents are LPRs and has no income. Travel back and forth between Asian and U.S. Will this apply too ?

[w1331 2]

OK thank you for your help!

I would prefer not to do a 2009 tax amendment as we just want to get the N-400 filed and done with. Just making sure should the letter say that we were unaware that we were supposed to file married jointly or that I just didn't file because I had no income?

I think it's safer for you to amend your 2009 tax return to the correct filling (married filling jointly). You don't want to complicate you N-400 application by filling your tax return incorrectly.

[CarlosAndSveta 808]

I did not know that. My parents are LPRs and has no income. Travel back and forth between Asian and U.S. Will this apply too ?

Permanent Residents are treated the same as U.S. Citizens for tax purposes. If their gross income is below the filing requirement then they don't normally have to file a return. See the link below to the IRS website to see if your parents need to file a return.

Do You Need to File a Federal Income Tax Return?

[dan2000 0]

Thank you all for your replies, I spoke to accountant today and he is going to file an amended return for us (filing jointly).

[dan2000 0]

I found out that the amended processing time is 8 to 12 weeks, do I have to wait until the amended return is processed until I can file the N-400?

or is there some kind of proof I can send with the N-400 that shows we have filed for the amendment?

I was planning on filing the N-400 May 15th until I found out about the 3 previous year tax returns I needed to send.

[Eric-Pris 1,606]

File an amended 2009 return.

It will lower your wife's taxable income by $9450 (extra $5800 standard deduction + your personal $3650 exemption). Your wife will receive a nice refund back, just for claiming you. Assuming she has at lesat $10,000 taxable income, she will get back at least $1,200-1500. If she's in the 25% tax bracket, she's looking at $2500+ refund by filing the amendment to MFJ from either Single or MFS. Trust me, I do tax return preparation.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I did not know that. My parents are LPRs and has no income. Travel back and forth between Asian and U.S. Will this apply too ?

Yes. LPRs MUST file tax returns.

I found out that the amended processing time is 8 to 12 weeks, do I have to wait until the amended return is processed until I can file the N-400?

or is there some kind of proof I can send with the N-400 that shows we have filed for the amendment?

I was planning on filing the N-400 May 15th until I found out about the 3 previous year tax returns I needed to send.

No. YOu can attach a copy of the amended return with all schedules and attachments. You do not need a transcript.