Confused about previous tax transcript amounts

[shutterbugcel 0]

I am filling out the I-864 affidavit of support and am confused as to what to put for earlier tax years. I was previously married and did not work. However, we did jointly file every year. I now work and do make the minimum requirements for the poverty guidelines. I am just confused whether to put 0 for income or the amount filed for previous tax years even though it was not my income.

Your help is greatly appreciated. Sorry if this is a repeat question.

Thanks all!

[Dave&Roza 748]

I am filling out the I-864 affidavit of support and am confused as to what to put for earlier tax years. I was previously married and did not work. However, we did jointly file every year. I now work and do make the minimum requirements for the poverty guidelines. I am just confused whether to put 0 for income or the amount filed for previous tax years even though it was not my income.

Your help is greatly appreciated. Sorry if this is a repeat question.

Thanks all!

IMHO it depends on how you feel about this. In some states what is one spouse's is the others and in others you have to define what is considered community property. If you do not feel comfortable putting anything down as it was your ex's income don't. Also, why are you including past income tax returns? You are only REQUIRED to include the previous years--years two and three are optional. and in your case provide no additional income information for yourself and current situation.

Dave

[MUXAGIRL 69]

Hi,

I am going to give you example based on I-864 EZ which is quite similar I-864 except simpler.

If you look at the line 18 and 19 of I-864 EZ, there you need to list the income.

Line 18 is for your current individual income. For example, if you filed "married filing jointly" for tax year 2013, and your combined income was $65K but your own individual income was $25 K, then on line 18, you have to list $25k as your current individual income.

On line 19, you need to list your total income as listed on the form 1040 or 1040ez.

If your total income , which is the adjusted gross income, on your 1040 was, say, $65k for year 2013 and your contribution was $25K, you still list Total Income for 2013 = $65K

If for tax year 2012, your income was $0K and your spouse's income was $40K, and on your joint return you listed $40K as your total income, then you write Total Income for 2012 = $40 K

Same thing goes for 2011 tax year.

If however, in the 2013 tax year, you were already divorced from your previous spouse and your tax filing status was either single or if you were not divorced but still filed separately from him so that your filing status was " single" or "married filing separately" and your own individual income was $25K and that was also the total income on your 1050, then for the individual income you put $25K and for the Total income for the most recent tax year, you also put $25 K.

I hope this answers your question. This is how a customer service rep at NVC explained tax stuff on I-864 to me.

[MUXAGIRL 69]

It's not true that you don't need to provide any information except your most recent tax year.

USCIS wants to know that you filed tax at least for three previous years. If you just started your job and your tax history is only one year old, that's different. Otherwise, it is a requirement to list the Total Income of the most recent tax year plus two previous years.

What else is mandatory, is the photocopy of form 1040 of the most recent year, or the tax transcript of that year, if available.

What is Optional, is the transcripts of the two previous years. You don't need to provide the transcripts of those optional years, but you do need to list the total adjusted gross income as it appears on the form 1040, does not matter whose name was listed first, yours or your ex-husband's.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I am filling out the I-864 affidavit of support and am confused as to what to put for earlier tax years. I was previously married and did not work. However, we did jointly file every year. I now work and do make the minimum requirements for the poverty guidelines. I am just confused whether to put 0 for income or the amount filed for previous tax years even though it was not my income.

Your help is greatly appreciated. Sorry if this is a repeat question.

Thanks all!

I will tell you what I did and didn't get an RFE.

One of my three years on the tax return question was joint with a former husband who was deceased. I entered exactly what was on line 22 of the 1040, even though it was easily $100k+ more than my current listed income. The question says (my paraphrase) "what does line 22 of your 1040 say for x,y, and z year?" It doesn't say "what was your income for three years?" That was my tax return. I used the number off of it. A different area of the I-864 is asking about your current individual income. I included transcripts for all three years so if they wanted to figure out why one return was so out of line with the rest they would see it was a joint return that I filed that year. Only the most recent transcript has to be mailed in, but I sent three for that reason.

Edited August 2, 2014 by Nich-Nick

[KayDeeCee 4,896]

Your current annual income and the tax return information are two separate things. You list what the Total Income was from the last 3 years, which is line 22 of the 1040. If you used the 1040EZ, then it would be the AGI you list instead. The tax information and the current income do not need to match.

[shutterbugcel 0]

Thank you all! I am going to list what line 22 on the 1040 states for every tax year that was a jointly filed return. I appreciate the help!