AOS/tax returns - not living in US for 8 years/with joint sponsor

[JessRainbows 0]

Hello, I keep hearing different things about this and would like to know if anyone has experience or knowledge they can share to help me figure this out.

I've been living in Japan for about 8 years and have not earned a single US penny during that time.

I have been paying my student loans, from either my own earned money from working at Japanese companies here, or with my husband's help.

(Basically I wire money to my US bank and pay through the US bank.)

Other than that, I have don't nothing involving work or money in the US all that time and have been told therefore I'm exempt from having to pay or file taxes.

Therefore I don't have any tax returns.

My mother is the joint sponsor, but rather, she is the only sponsor right now. Her income is above 125% poverty level and she can support us. I have registered with my state's work force and am ready to look for work as soon as I know around what date I'll be there.

My question is:

Do I even need to fill out the AOS I-864, or can my mother just do it? She has sent me her tax records/W2s but I'm very confused about my part in this.

If I do, do I need to have my tax returns from the past 3 years or some kind of proof from the IRS that I'm exempt?

Also, if I still need to fill out the AOS form, I am really confused what to put for things like my income, since it's not income made in the US/at a US company, nor is it in US$.

-PS: Sorry for the underlines. They're for people with limited time or attention spans, like myself

[AB loves AG 54]

Not really the answer to your question but...If you're a US citizen I think you were still supposed to file US taxes...As a US citizen you're taxed on income you earn anywhere in the world.

[hellraiser 42]

Few questions:

1. Are you USC? Doesn't sound you are

2. Is your Mom a USC?

3. If she filed for you, what stage are you in? Did you get your LPR status in the past and left out of US for an extended # of years?

4. For the income related questions if they aren't talking about income in USA, then specify your income in other countries. If you were exempt from filing taxes some kind of proof from IRS would definitely be great.

Wish I could give you some suggestion but lack the info and don't want to confuse you further.

Good luck

[jsumner86 403]

Regardless of where you live, being a US citizen requires that you file a tax return with the IRS. Don't know where you got the idea being outside the US, and not earning income in the US makes you exempt.

You both need to fill out I-864 forms, you're the petitioner and always will be a "sponsor" and responsible for the immigrant you are petitioning for, even if you don't make the 125% threshold. Your mother will be a joint sponsor, and will be able to help sponsor for the principal applicant.

Plus, your income will be 0.00 if the income you're receiving in Japan is going to end once you move back to the US.

Edited June 25, 2014 by jsumner86

[Rlelle09 28]

Hello, I keep hearing different things about this and would like to know if anyone has experience or knowledge they can share to help me figure this out.

I've been living in Japan for about 8 years and have not earned a single US penny during that time.

I have been paying my student loans, from either my own earned money from working at Japanese companies here, or with my husband's help.

(Basically I wire money to my US bank and pay through the US bank.)

Other than that, I have don't nothing involving work or money in the US all that time and have been told therefore I'm exempt from having to pay or file taxes.

Therefore I don't have any tax returns.

My mother is the joint sponsor, but rather, she is the only sponsor right now. Her income is above 125% poverty level and she can support us. I have registered with my state's work force and am ready to look for work as soon as I know around what date I'll be there.

My question is:

Do I even need to fill out the AOS I-864, or can my mother just do it? She has sent me her tax records/W2s but I'm very confused about my part in this.

If I do, do I need to have my tax returns from the past 3 years or some kind of proof from the IRS that I'm exempt?

Also, if I still need to fill out the AOS form, I am really confused what to put for things like my income, since it's not income made in the US/at a US company, nor is it in US$.

-PS: Sorry for the underlines. They're for people with limited time or attention spans, like myself [/quote

As a US citizen, you MUST file taxes ANYWHERE you are in the world. You must get the total of what you made in Japan EACH year and exchange it to US currency and the number you come up with must be entered on line 7 of your 1040. Go here to find the exchange rate for each year. http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Yearly-Average-Currency-Exchange-Rates there are caps for each year, meaning if you make under a certain amount it will be completely exempt. Also, depending on how much you've made each hear you may find out you are not required to file taxes at all, but you must talk to the IRS about that. To get your income exempt you will need to file a 1040 plus a 2555 for EACH year.

Now about the AOS - YOU ARE the sponsor therefore YOU MUST fill out an i-864. Your mother is just a helping hand, lending her income to support your spouse, fiance or whatever the case may be ( sorry i did not read your timeline).

In regards to your current income on the AOS, if you are currently receiving foreign income that WILL NOT continue when you relocate to the states then you should enter 0 for yourself and add a letter explaining why you did this (pretty much what I just told you).

Now, it sounds like your biggest hurdle will be proving domicile since you've been in Japan for 8 years. You need to show proof of you having connections to the US. Your bank account is a good start, but not enough. Read here http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/NVC_Process

Good luck to you!

Edited June 25, 2014 by Rlelle09

[Rlelle09 28]

You can also go here to get some ideas for domicile http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/164618-proving-domicile-when-not-living-in-the-us/page-8

[JessRainbows 0]

Not really the answer to your question but...If you're a US citizen I think you were still supposed to file US taxes...As a US citizen you're taxed on income you earn anywhere in the world.

Few questions:

1. Are you USC? Doesn't sound you are

2. Is your Mom a USC?

Yes, I'm a US Citizen by birth and so is my mother.

Regardless of where you live, being a US citizen requires that you file a tax return with the IRS. Don't know where you got the idea being outside the US, and not earning income in the US makes you exempt.

As a US citizen, you MUST file taxes ANYWHERE you are in the world. You must get the total of what you made in Japan EACH year and exchange it to US currency and the number you come up with must be entered on line 7 of your 1040. Go here to find the exchange rate for each year. http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Yearly-Average-Currency-Exchange-Rates there are caps for each year, meaning if you make under a certain amount it will be completely exempt. Also, depending on how much you've made each hear you may find out you are not required to file taxes at all, but you must talk to the IRS about that. To get your income exempt you will need to file a 1040 plus a 2555 for EACH year.

I've asked someone from H & R Block about this, my first two years living here because I was worried about this and hearing different things. They've told me this:

"The US tax law wants all US citizens to file a return, even if they work in another country. However, they allow you to exclude from tax up to about $85,000 of income earned in that country."

I don't think I've earned even that much in a year except for my first two years which was 4-5 years ago. It's been extremely difficult finding and keeping work as an foreigner in Japan, and when I do get one they're very quick to lay off the foreigners, suddenly, with little or no reason and no compensation. (Hense, why I want to get out of this country.)

I will also quote a friend of mine who works in the NVC in Vermont:

"I think you should be fine with the tax thing. As long as your mom's affidavit of support has all the necessary evidence with it, yours doesn't have to have much with it. I do recommend writing an affidavit (signed by you) stating that you have not resided in the States for the past several years, and you don't have tax documents. This will eliminate any potential confusion/questions."

I can double check with the IRS, but everyone who should know the best about this has told me "you'll probably be ok not filing this year" while living here.

As for showing a domicile,

- I've got my bank account's address set to my father's address since he never moves. I didn't have a car even before I went to Japan (neither did my family at the time) so that won't work.

- I've applied to the Work Force job search for my state (run by the state) and also applied to my mother's company's job search since I would ideally like to work there.

- I've also inquired about the city's orchestra, since being in a local community orchestra is kind of what I do wherever I go.

(I made screenshots of all of this - do you think I could use that to prove I'm preparing to live where I'm gonna live?)

- I also am preparing package to send over, I suppose receipts of the packages would also be good proof, right?

Another big thing is that I'm going to see my brother get married in November. This whole thing is being timed so that it'd be a surprise for him. (Of course if the visa process becomes delayed I'll just go anyway, ahead of my husband.)

I've always had it in my mind that 2014 would be a good time to finally leave Japan, and everything's just pointing that way right now. My brother getting married, stuff starting to suck here beyond tolerance for us, everything we liked is changing, cannot get a job. I've been told, directly to my face by store managers, more than once, that they won't hire foreigners anymore because ONE exchange student couldn't handle their peak hours and quit on his/her own volition. And I'm fluent!

[JessRainbows 0]

I have not earned enough to really file, I think, but I've been paying student loans and I guess that falls under "Education Credits" which need to be redeemed? It's nice because I'll get some money back, but now it's going to be a hassle to figure out how I'm supposed to file from Japan.

How do people do that? I can't seem to find any way to get ahold of the IRS or H&R Block from online. I really don't want to have to make a huge long-distance call...

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hi,

If you made more than $9000 in any of the years in Japan, you owe Uncle Sam a US tax return.

While there is the $85,000 Foreign Earned Income Exclusion which would leave you with no tax liability, it doesn't excuse you from filing.

You have to file,nthen take the exemption to bring your taxable income to zero.

[NikLR 13,227]

Last year the foreign earned income exclusion was $97,000.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Last year the foreign earned income exclusion was $97,000.

It's indexed for inflation. The amount will vary every year.

[shiroiuso 3]

I have experience with this - been in Japan 7 years, earning money but not enough to exceed the foreign income exclusion.

I think you're getting confused because of the particular phrasing, "exempt from filing taxes." As a US citizen, you are NOT exempt from filing a tax return. You are, however, probably exempt from paying taxes on what you earn.

You still have get a record of how much you earned overseas (if you are working for a Japanese company, this will be on your 源泉徴収票/gensen choshuhyo; if you don't get them or lost them, there's an IRS form that will allow you to use an estimate of your income along w/ a letter of explanation as to why you think that estimate is accurate). You convert your Japanese income to USD (Google is fine for this), and then report that number to the IRS. If, like me, you haven't earned enough to exceed the foreign income exclusion - which as mentioned above is something like $90k - you can file a form 2555 to have your foreign income excluded from taxation by the US government. That means your gross income will end up $0.00. Voila, no taxes!

If you haven't been doing this, the good news is you can still do it now. I got lazy and didn't file taxes for like 3 or 4 years. This would usually be fine, since your income is $0.00 - if you don't owe anything, the IRS generally won't bother you. (This might be why H&R Block said don't worry about it.) However, since we're sponsoring an immigrant, the IRS is going to get nosy about our income - so you've got to turn in your $0.00 tax returns for at least the past 3 years to prove that you never owed them anything.

Then you will fill out the i-864 with your $0.00 income and your mom will fill out her joint sponsor form with her income.

If you search these forums, you will find this exact question from many, many people in Japan who haven't been bothering to file their tax returns. The advice to them is always the same: you should turn in your $0.00 tax returns for the past 3 yrs in order to do the i-864. Just doing it is actually probably easier than stressing out about contacting H&R Block and worrying yourself sick over whether or not your letter of explanation will make NVC happy.

One tip: if you turn them in and at the same time mail in a request for transcripts of those years (here: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript), they will get done very quickly!

Good luck!

Edited July 2, 2014 by shiroiuso

[JessRainbows 0]

I have experience with this - been in Japan 7 years, earning money but not enough to exceed the foreign income exclusion.

I think you're getting confused because of the particular phrasing, "exempt from filing taxes." As a US citizen, you are NOT exempt from filing a tax return. You are, however, probably exempt from paying taxes on what you earn.

You still have get a record of how much you earned overseas (if you are working for a Japanese company, this will be on your 源泉徴収票/gensen choshuhyo; if you don't get them or lost them, there's an IRS form that will allow you to use an estimate of your income along w/ a letter of explanation as to why you think that estimate is accurate). You convert your Japanese income to USD (Google is fine for this), and then report that number to the IRS. If, like me, you haven't earned enough to exceed the foreign income exclusion - which as mentioned above is something like $90k - you can file a form 2555 to have your foreign income excluded from taxation by the US government. That means your gross income will end up $0.00. Voila, no taxes!

If you haven't been doing this, the good news is you can still do it now. I got lazy and didn't file taxes for like 3 or 4 years. This would usually be fine, since your income is $0.00 - if you don't owe anything, the IRS generally won't bother you. (This might be why H&R Block said don't worry about it.) However, since we're sponsoring an immigrant, the IRS is going to get nosy about our income - so you've got to turn in your $0.00 tax returns for at least the past 3 years to prove that you never owed them anything.

Then you will fill out the i-864 with your $0.00 income and your mom will fill out her joint sponsor form with her income.

If you search these forums, you will find this exact question from many, many people in Japan who haven't been bothering to file their tax returns. The advice to them is always the same: you should turn in your $0.00 tax returns for the past 3 yrs in order to do the i-864. Just doing it is actually probably easier than stressing out about contacting H&R Block and worrying yourself sick over whether or not your letter of explanation will make NVC happy.

One tip: if you turn them in and at the same time mail in a request for transcripts of those years (here: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript), they will get done very quickly!

Good luck!

This is extremely helpful. I will get on this right away!

I wonder if I could contact the companies I worked for in the last 3 years for the gensen. Hopefully they kept a record.

One last question:

You said,

"If you turn them in and at the same time mail in a request for the transcripts"

turn them in = $0.00 tax returns?

I'm sorry if this is a totally stupid question but I've never filed taxes before in my life, so do you know how I could do that from Japan (and for previous years)?