Question about income from worldwide tax before moving to US

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

4 minutes ago, corvusheart said:

Thats with this information that I specified?

 Also with not reporting and amending the tax form will this leave a bad mark when he applies for citizenship? Or would this hurt his ROC process?

Made a new calculation with that info..

 

Won't affect ROC, I suppose you could bring an updated return to the potential interview - but it's so minor. For citizenship I know they look more carefully at taxes. AMending them wouldn't hurt - but no one can tell you whether it will do you any good either.

 

[corvusheart 163]

6 minutes ago, Suss&Camm said:

Made a new calculation with that info..

 

Won't affect ROC, I suppose you could bring an updated return to the potential interview - but it's so minor. For citizenship I know they look more carefully at taxes. AMending them wouldn't hurt - but no one can tell you whether it will do you any good either.

 

 But it's the law that all income is declared. So if we for example didn't do this we would probably be bitten in the rear much harder for not reporting or amending at all?

Edited April 28, 2017 by corvusheart

[Pennycat 880]

First of all, never fear, this is mostly just procedural, and I don' think you'll owe much if anything but also remember you're on an immigration website, not a tax website so folks won't really know for sure and probably  won't really be able to answer questions about fines and penalties (of which I don't personally think there will be any but I can't say for sure).

 

The heart of the issue is that you opted to treat a non-resident alien spouse as a resident alien for tax purposes (so that you could file MFJ and get double the standard deduction), which is perfectly within your rights and is the correct decision for most couples. When you decide to do that, you are required to report the alien's worldwide income and possibly pay taxes on it (because you can't get the best of both worlds, essentially). I say possibly because he likely qualifies for the foreign earned income exclusion. Basically, you report the income because you have to if you want the benefits of filing MFJ, but then you apply to exclude it because he earned it abroad AND was outside of the US for 330 days in a rolling 12 months that began or ended in the tax year in question.

 

You can't do any of this on TurboTax. I would also very politely demand my money back from that tax professional who didn't know there was anything special you had to do. That's a little stunning, actually. You were supposed to write a letter explaining that you were choosing to treat Husband, a non-resident alien, as a resident alien. Simple as that. Not claim that is was a resident. I don't think that gets you into any trouble, though. 

 

I know nothing about how to file amended returns, sorry. But when you do it, include that note, report his income (when you can determine it), then file a 2555-EZ (you probably only need the "EZ" version). Show this thread to a new tax professional if necessary. But if you don't feel ok about DIY, search for a tax pro who has dealt with immigrants before.

Edited April 28, 2017 by CatherineA

[corvusheart 163]

I just don't want to go to jail or have this give us a criminal record or hurt his immigration status.

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

4 minutes ago, corvusheart said:

I just don't want to go to jail or have this give us a criminal record or hurt his immigration status.

As I have already told you. This is extremely MINOR. The difference comes out at $150 dollars which is below $200 and therefore doesn't even give a penalty. People amend and make mistakes on taxes all the time. You will file 1040X to amend and it will have to be paper filed with the election statement and 2555ez. You will NOT go to jail for something like this!!!!!!! I can't be more clear.

Edited April 28, 2017 by Suss&Camm

[Pennycat 880]

Just now, corvusheart said:

I just don't want to go to jail or have this give us a criminal record or hurt his immigration status.

Slow your roll on this one. Jail? Criminal record? No. Calm down and read. 

 

You are fine. You made a mistake. Or actually, a tax professional made a mistake on your behalf. You can fix this, I have told you how to do it above. You probably don't even *have to* fix it, but I think you should, mostly for your own peace of mind, and yes, because if he reported $0 income in 2014 but he actually made $10,000, that's incorrect and something being incorrect come citizenship time could be a problem. I still don't think that anyone cares about this in the slightest because of the foreign earned income exclusion, the end result is probably the same (ie, you won't owe taxes on it). 

 

There is a difference between obligation to report income on a tax return and obligation to pay taxes on said income. He is extremely unlikely to be obligated to pay taxes on that income from that year. But he was obligated to report it because you chose to treat him as a resident. Residents are obligated to report worldwide income. 

[Pennycat 880]

2 minutes ago, Suss&Camm said:

As I have already told you. This is extremely MINOR. The difference comes out at $150 dollars which is below $200 and therefore doesn't even give a penalty. People amend and make mistakes on taxes all the time. You will file 1040X to amend and it will have to be paper filed with the election statement and 2555ez. You will NOT go to jail for something like this!!!!!!! I can't be more clear.

I didn't get as far as the page where you broke this out financially. Exactly. All of this. 

[corvusheart 163]

 SO when citizenship time comes and they saw we had to amend a return would that hurt his citizenship application?

[Pennycat 880]

2 minutes ago, corvusheart said:

 SO when citizenship time comes and they saw we had to amend a return would that hurt his citizenship application?

Why would it? Why would someone noticing a mistake, and taking the effort to fix that mistake be in any sort of trouble? 

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

4 minutes ago, corvusheart said:

 SO when citizenship time comes and they saw we had to amend a return would that hurt his citizenship application?

N.O.

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

Nein. ... Nej.... Non.... etc

 

 

[Pennycat 880]

Also, who would be in more trouble? The person who noticed and fixed the mistake or the person who didn't notice (or did but failed to fix) and let the government see it for themselves? Somewhere on the K1 application, you listed his employer (and income? I never got a good look at the DS-160 so I don't know). In theory, they could look at those documents next to your tax return from that year and see the discrepancy pretty easily (I seriously doubt they would and I further doubt that there are negative consequences over an HONEST MISTAKE but hey, we're going worst case scenario here so...)

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

Seeing how many tax agents get this wrong,  I would never trust anyone but myself... smh

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

Just now, Dee elle said:

As said above.. kindly, nicely and encouragingly but NO  😎

[Pennycat 880]

2 minutes ago, Suss&Camm said:

Seeing how many tax agents get this wrong,  I would never trust anyone but myself... smh

And immigration lawyers with a lot of this stuff, too. I have seen stories of them getting stuff wrong that would make your hair stand on end and probably resulted in a LOT of unnecessary fees and maybe even a deportation