I-864 - wife's tax filed as a dependent in 2013 but her father never paid the taxes!!!

[keenanmt 0]

Hi all,

My wife and I are assembling a simultaneous i-130 i-485 package. She is a USC while I am here on a J1. She is currently filing taxes late and has last year (2015) and 2014 sorted, no problems. However, in 2013 she was in college, under 24 and made only a couple of thousand dollars.

We believe she should claim as a dependent under her father. The problem is, he has not paid his 2013 taxes and getting him to do so may prove troublesome!!

For the i-864 should we simply provide no transcript and explain how she was a dependent, or will this backfire seeing as her father never paid the taxes?

Thanks for any help anyone may be able to give, it's a stressful situation for us for sure!

Thanks again!

[umikoikaze 12]

As far as I know, being someone's dependent doesn't exclude one from filing taxes. Only she is responsible for her taxes, nobody else can file for her. Being a dependent on someone else's return only affects the deductions/exemptions she can claim. I would advise reading up on IRS laws and consulting a tax adviser if necessary to see if she was required to file taxes in 2013. Does she still have her W-2 forms from 2013?

Anyway, there are two options:
1) She wasn't required to file taxes in 2013 because her income was too low (You said she made a couple thousand, that could be under IRS tax requirement limits so make sure to check). In this case she would need to include a proof of that (letter/explanation).
2) She was required to file taxes in 2013. In this case I'm not sure what the best way to go about it would be. Probably file the return now and pay all the applicable fees. Maybe consult an attorney or a tax specialist.

Her being her father's dependent doesn't come into play at all and isn't a valid reason for not filing taxes.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/p501--2013.pdf