Back taxes for multiple years need filing, only thing holding us back, what's the quickest option?

[swashbuckler-27 0]

My partner still needs to finish her back taxes for the I-864 affidavit of support, she'll need to talk to the H&R block rep which will happen a week from now and the process can take 2-8 weeks to get the tax returns back. Luckily my spouses history is very straight forward and shouldn't take long but we have to wait untill we have that before sending the readiness for interview form, right?

It just sucks as she will be leaving on February 14th and the taxes are now the only thing holding us back from asking for an interview. We could do the research and file ourselves but neither of us have ever filed us taxes and are worried that we'll make a mistake and waste more time than just waiting for H&R Block to do it for us.

Any advice or information would be much appreciated!

Josh and Gloria

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Cheapest and fastest. Dive in and try it yourself using the free forms and instructions on the IRS website. Second tab is where you find prior years. Every year changes so you need the proper year. https://www.irs.gov/Forms-&-Pubs

She might be able to use 1040A instead instead of the longer form 1040.

Easiest to file Married Filing Separtely than Joint for any year in which she was married on the last day of the year. If not married in a year her filing status is Single.

Print the form and work through the instruction book filling it in in pencil. That way you aren't flipping back and forth on the computer from form to instructions. Once you have it figured out, the form can be filled in online to make a typed tidy copy. Print, sign, photocopy for a record and another photocopy to use with the I-864. Photocopy the W2 wage statement to go with I-864. There is an original to mail with the tax return and an original for her records. The W2 is something employers mail out each January to tell how much they paid you in the tax year and how much they held out for taxes.

Wait--are you the one whose wife lives and works in the UK? Then she has to file the 1040 and will file a FORM 2555EZ to exclude her foreign income. She won't have a W2. She simply self-reports her foreign income from Jan-Dec.converted to US dollars under wages (Line 7). Follow the instructions page by page for each of the forms.

You can do it if you can read and follow directions.

On a married filing separate return, it will ask your name and Social Security number for reference. You don't have a SSN, so she can write NRA which stands for Non-resident alien.

Edited January 14, 2016 by Nich-Nick

[Dave & Gena 1]

I'm a Tax Accountant and have experience with solving this issue with other clients. It is fairly easy, but just time consuming. If you continue to have problems, please feel free to contact me. I wish you great sucvcess in your quest...it is well worth the efforts!