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dawning

Should I file an amended tax return?

By dawning in Tax & Finances During US Immigration

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dawning Enthusiast

dawning   212

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Venezuela
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Hi Tax-savvy VJer's

I married my husband in 2013, and subsequently filed for a CR-1 visa for him. Due to slow processing, he wasn't able to enter the US until January of 2015. When I went to file my taxes in 2014, I realized that I hadn't thought ahead about obtaining ITIN for him, so I filed as married filing separately for 2013 tax year. I had been self-employed for the year, and hadn't made much money, so paid only social security tax, having deducted as much as I could. After my husband entered the US and obtained his SSN, we filed as married filing jointly for 2014 and 2015, and still being self-employed and not making much money, I got an earned income tax credit, which resulted in some money left over after some was applied to social security tax. I am now looking ahead to my husband's Removal of Conditions in a couple of months, and am wondering if it would be beneficial to file an amended return for 2013, changing the status to MFJ.

I have two questions:

One, will there be any financial benefit (will they give me the earned income credit I wasn't eligible for when filing MFS)?

Two, will it have any benefit for my husband's ROC if our tax returns show a status of MFJ for 2013 instead of MFS?

I am not very knowledgeable on these topics, and would be delighted if someone with more information could give an opinion!

Thanks!

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MariaR323 Proficient

MariaR323   199

Posted
Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Mexico
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Posted

Sounds like it would be beneficial to file an amendment from MFS to MFJ - more tax credits are available to you as MFJ. No big difference for immigration purposes since both filing statuses are for Married people... but an IO might look at a MFJ status more favorable vs a MFS status.

Maria ~ U.S. Citizen

 

K-1 & K-2 Process (Completed in 4 mos. 8 days)

 

1/19/16: I-129F Package recv'd by USCIS via FedEx overnight

4/1/16: NOA2 Approval :dancing:

5/17/16: Interview :star: - APPROVED :dance:

5/25/16 : Visas in hand! :thumbs: 

Aug 2016: Wedding (L)

AOS/EAD/AP Process, K-1 & K-2 (Completed in 4 mos. 15 days)

 

9/21/16: Package recv'd by USCIS via FedEx overnight [Day 1]

10/24/16: AOS Cases (I-864) RFIE recv'd hardcopy [Day 29]

12/23/16: AOS Case Status Updates - Interview Scheduled, text recv'd [Day 94] :dancing:

1/17/17: EAD/AP Combo Card recv'd via USPS Priority Mail [Day 119]

1/27/17: AOS Interview :star: - APPROVED!! :dance:  [Day 129 / 120 w/ 9day RFIE delay]

1/27/17: AOS Case status update - Approved | 1/31/17: New Card in Production | 2/1/17: Card Was Mailed

2/4/17: Green Cards Arrived :thumbs:

ROC Process, Spouse & 2 Step-Sons (Completed in 23 mos. 22 days)

 

1/25/19: Package recv'd by USCIS via FedEx overnight [Day 1]

1/29/19: NOA notice date, text & email recv'd, routed to CSC

2/1/19: NOA 18mo. Extension Letter arrived in the mail, for wife only [Day 7]

3/13/19: Filed SR for non-receipt of NOA for I-751A dependents [Day 48] | 3/21/19: Recv'd NOA for 2 stepsons [Day 56]

4/29/19: Biometrics (Scheduled) Appt Completed [Day 95]

8/28/20: Case Status Update - RFE [Day 582 ~ 19 mos. 4 days] | 11/20/20: Case Status Update - RFE response recv'd [Day 666 ~ 21 mos. 27 days]

1/7/21: Case Status Update - New Card in Production :dance: [Day 714 ~ 23 mos. 14 days] 

1/15/21: Green Cards Arrived :thumbs:[Day 722 ~ 23 mos. 22 days]

Naturalization Process for Spouse - in research stage (Completed in X mos. X days)

 

8/7/24: started research and prep for upcoming filing of N-400 Online

TBD: Filed N-400 Online

 :)

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dawning Enthusiast

dawning   212

Posted
Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Venezuela
 Timeline
  • Author
Posted

Sounds like it would be beneficial to file an amendment from MFS to MFJ - more tax credits are available to you as MFJ. No big difference for immigration purposes since both filing statuses are for Married people... but an IO might look at a MFJ status more favorable vs a MFS status.

Thanks for the answer Maria. Do you have any advice about how to do that? I usually just muddle through with TurboTax.

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  • 2 weeks later...
MariaR323 Proficient

MariaR323   199

Posted
Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Mexico
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Posted

Thanks for the answer Maria. Do you have any advice about how to do that? I usually just muddle through with TurboTax.

TurboTax should have the amendment forms included... not sure if they go by different versions or not. Or go with an independent tax preparer :)

Maria ~ U.S. Citizen

 

K-1 & K-2 Process (Completed in 4 mos. 8 days)

 

1/19/16: I-129F Package recv'd by USCIS via FedEx overnight

4/1/16: NOA2 Approval :dancing:

5/17/16: Interview :star: - APPROVED :dance:

5/25/16 : Visas in hand! :thumbs: 

Aug 2016: Wedding (L)

AOS/EAD/AP Process, K-1 & K-2 (Completed in 4 mos. 15 days)

 

9/21/16: Package recv'd by USCIS via FedEx overnight [Day 1]

10/24/16: AOS Cases (I-864) RFIE recv'd hardcopy [Day 29]

12/23/16: AOS Case Status Updates - Interview Scheduled, text recv'd [Day 94] :dancing:

1/17/17: EAD/AP Combo Card recv'd via USPS Priority Mail [Day 119]

1/27/17: AOS Interview :star: - APPROVED!! :dance:  [Day 129 / 120 w/ 9day RFIE delay]

1/27/17: AOS Case status update - Approved | 1/31/17: New Card in Production | 2/1/17: Card Was Mailed

2/4/17: Green Cards Arrived :thumbs:

ROC Process, Spouse & 2 Step-Sons (Completed in 23 mos. 22 days)

 

1/25/19: Package recv'd by USCIS via FedEx overnight [Day 1]

1/29/19: NOA notice date, text & email recv'd, routed to CSC

2/1/19: NOA 18mo. Extension Letter arrived in the mail, for wife only [Day 7]

3/13/19: Filed SR for non-receipt of NOA for I-751A dependents [Day 48] | 3/21/19: Recv'd NOA for 2 stepsons [Day 56]

4/29/19: Biometrics (Scheduled) Appt Completed [Day 95]

8/28/20: Case Status Update - RFE [Day 582 ~ 19 mos. 4 days] | 11/20/20: Case Status Update - RFE response recv'd [Day 666 ~ 21 mos. 27 days]

1/7/21: Case Status Update - New Card in Production :dance: [Day 714 ~ 23 mos. 14 days] 

1/15/21: Green Cards Arrived :thumbs:[Day 722 ~ 23 mos. 22 days]

Naturalization Process for Spouse - in research stage (Completed in X mos. X days)

 

8/7/24: started research and prep for upcoming filing of N-400 Online

TBD: Filed N-400 Online

 :)

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dawning Enthusiast

dawning   212

Posted
Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Venezuela
 Timeline
  • Author
Posted

TurboTax should have the amendment forms included... not sure if they go by different versions or not. Or go with an independent tax preparer :)

Thx Maria!

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