affidavit of support form I-864

[RuthJo 0]

My income was affected by covid, so my 2020 total income was relatively lower than last year's total income. When I was completing Form I-864, I noticed they asked for the income amount of the most recent three years; if I'm choosing to submit my tax return transcript of 2019 as my supporting document, should I just fill out the form according to the 2019 tax return transcript and report the income amount of 2019 as the "most recent"? or am I suppose to include my 2020 total income, 2019 total income and 2018 total income as well while giving them my 2019 tax return transcript as the supporting document?

[Dashinka 24,744]

You should start with the latest tax year.  If you just put 2019 as your current income, it will raise questions as current income is important.

 

Good Luck!

[Agolbaghi 5]

27 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

You should start with the latest tax year.  If you just put 2019 as your current income, it will raise questions as current income is important.

 

Good Luck!

 

1 hour ago, RuthJo said:

My income was affected by covid, so my 2020 total income was relatively lower than last year's total income. When I was completing Form I-864, I noticed they asked for the income amount of the most recent three years; if I'm choosing to submit my tax return transcript of 2019 as my supporting document, should I just fill out the form according to the 2019 tax return transcript and report the income amount of 2019 as the "most recent"? or am I suppose to include my 2020 total income, 2019 total income and 2018 total income as well while giving them my 2019 tax return transcript as the supporting document?

I was told unemployment benefits also count as valid income. Did you include them?! It seems reasonable especially during pandemic!

[RuthJo 0]

1 hour ago, Agolbaghi said:

 

I was told unemployment benefits also count as valid income. Did you include them?! It seems reasonable especially during pandemic!

Yes I did it still wasn't enough, that's why I wanted to use my 2019 tax return transcript as the supporting document and explain on the form that I didn't use my 2020 total income because it was affected by covid and I was out of work. I don't know if that's possible to do.

 

Edited July 2, 2021 by RuthJo

[RuthJo 0]

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

You should start with the latest tax year.  If you just put 2019 as your current income, it will raise questions as current income is important.

 

Good Luck!

thanks for the reply, would it be wise to report my 2020 total income as my current income but give my 2019 tax return as supporting document?

[Chancy 6,243]

29 minutes ago, RuthJo said:

Yes I did it still wasn't enough, that's why I wanted to use my 2019 tax return transcript as the supporting document and explain on the form that I didn't use my 2020 total income because it was affected by covid and I was out of work. I don't know if that's possible to do.

 

No -- you can not choose which year to report as current income.  If you are employed by a company (ie. not self-employed), CURRENT annual income is calculated from your recent pay stub in 2021, or taken from your actual employment letter.  If you are unemployed right now and have no other income source, your current individual income listed in the I-864 should be $0.

 

Report of PAST income is a separate requirement and should be listed in the I-864 under Federal Income Tax Return Information.  The income figures required in that section must be copied as is from your tax returns or transcripts for the 3 most recent tax years, ie. 2020, 2019, 2018.

 

[RuthJo 0]

8 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

No -- you can not choose which year to report as current income.  If you are employed by a company (ie. not self-employed), CURRENT annual income is calculated from your recent pay stub in 2021, or taken from your actual employment letter.  If you are unemployed right now and have no other income source, your current individual income listed in the I-864 should be $0.

 

Report of PAST income is a separate requirement and should be listed in the I-864 under Federal Income Tax Return Information.  The income figures required in that section must be copied as is from your tax returns or transcripts for the 3 most recent tax years, ie. 2020, 2019, 2018.

 

what about the supporting documents? I know it asks for the most recent tax transcript, but what I want to know is whether I could send the 2019 tax transcript instead of the 2020 because the 2020 doesn't reflect what my income usually is.

[Chancy 6,243]

31 minutes ago, RuthJo said:

what about the supporting documents? I know it asks for the most recent tax transcript, but what I want to know is whether I could send the 2019 tax transcript instead of the 2020 because the 2020 doesn't reflect what my income usually is.

 

No -- the 2020 tax return or transcript is required.  The 2019 and 2018 tax paperwork may also be submitted in addition to those for 2020, but they cannot be used in lieu of the tax filing for 2020.

 

Again, if you are employed by a company, neither your 2020 nor 2019 returns reflect your CURRENT income.  Like I said above, that's your PAST income.  Here's what the I-864 instructions actually say about supporting evidence for current income -- https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr.pdf

 

"[...] you may include a recent letter from your employer, showing your employer’s address and telephone number, and indicating your annual salary. You may also provide pay stubs showing your income for the previous six months. If your claimed income includes alimony, child support, dividend or interest income, or income from any other source, you may also include evidence of that income."

 

Edited July 3, 2021 by Chancy
typo

[RuthJo 0]

41 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

No -- the 2020 tax return or transcript is required.  The 2019 and 2018 tax paperwork may also be submitted in addition to those for 2020, but they cannot be used in lieu of the tax filing for 2020.

 

Again, if you are employed by a company, neither your 2020 nor 2019 returns reflect your CURRENT income.  Like I said above, that's your PAST income.  Here's what the I-864 instructions actually say about supporting evidence for current income -- https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr.pdf

 

"[...] you may include a recent letter from your employer, showing your employer’s address and telephone number, and indicating your annual salary. You may also provide pay stubs showing your income for the previous six months. If your claimed income includes alimony, child support, dividend or interest income, or income from any other source, you may also include evidence of that income."

 

ok thank you