Taxes not filed while abroad (split)

[Ashes 0]

Hi @markwebb - I'm in the same boat you are - never filed taxes in the US as I've been living abroad for the last 25+ years and now trying to backfile to meet the i-864 requirements. Would you be able to help clarify the following:

 

1.  Which tax forms you filled out? My understanding is the 1040EX and 2555-EZ apply to a situation like this.

2.  How did you backfile i.e. where did you email/snail mail the tax forms to?

 

Thank you so much for any insight you can offer!

[Wuozopo 4,293]

1 hour ago, Ashes said:

Hi @markwebb - I'm in the same boat you are - never filed taxes in the US as I've been living abroad for the last 25+ years and now trying to backfile to meet the i-864 requirements. Would you be able to help clarify the following:

 

1.  Which tax forms you filled out? My understanding is the 1040EX and 2555-EZ apply to a situation like this.

2.  How did you backfile i.e. where did you email/snail mail the tax forms to?

 

Thank you so much for any insight you can offer!

The main tax form is the 1040. (The 1040x version is for people who already filed that year and need to make a correction,) Each tax year the forms and instructions change so you will have to find the correct years on the IRS website. Type in 1040 in the search box and you Weill see forms and instructions.
Past forms are found here:   

https://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/priorFormPublication.html;jsessionid=GsDTbnOU0A_suaylr88bldyS.21?value=1040&criteria=formNumber&submitSearch=Find

 

 

For your immigration purposes you need 3 years so 2019, 2020, 2021.

You may need other forms besides the 1040 as well.

Schedule B if you have investments that earned money during the tax year  or earned interest.

Form 2555 is for Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. There has not been a 2555EZ since 2018.

Schedule 1 if you use the form 2555.
Search for the forms for the year you are working on.

This won’t be easy if you have no prior knowledge of even the terminology because the 1040 instructions are over 100 pages, most of which you won’t even use. If you want to do it yourself, I suggest you use the 2021 TurboTax or other software and see how you do. Then you will have a template of sorts to tackle the other two years because they will be similar and you will know what parts and forms need to be filled out. Back years versions of software are sometimes more expensive to purchase or use.

 

You can mail all of them together to the 2021 filing address. Persons in a foreign country mail to

Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service

Austin, TX 73301-0215

 

 

Edited March 25, 2022 by Wuozopo

[Ashes 0]

28 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

The main tax form is the 1040. (The 1040x version is for people who already filed that year and need to make a correction,) Each tax year the forms and instructions change so you will have to find the correct years on the IRS website. Type in 1040 in the search box and you Weill see forms and instructions.
Past forms are found here:   

https://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/priorFormPublication.html;jsessionid=GsDTbnOU0A_suaylr88bldyS.21?value=1040&criteria=formNumber&submitSearch=Find

 

 

For your immigration purposes you need 3 years so 2019, 2020, 2021.

You may need other forms besides the 1040 as well.

Schedule B if you have investments that earned money during the tax year  or earned interest.

Form 2555 is for Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. There has not been a 2555EZ since 2018.

Schedule 1 if you use the form 2555.
Search for the forms for the year you are working on.

This won’t be easy if you have no prior knowledge of even the terminology because the 1040 instructions are over 100 pages, most of which you won’t even use. If you want to do it yourself, I suggest you use the 2021 TurboTax or other software and see how you do. Then you will have a template of sorts to tackle the other two years because they will be similar and you will know what parts and forms need to be filled out. Back years versions of software are sometimes more expensive to purchase or use.

 

You can mail all of them together to the 2021 filing address. Persons in a foreign country mail to

Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service

Austin, TX 73301-0215

 

 

Thank you for your feedback, @Wuozopo- appreciate it! Just to clarify it would only be the 1040 and not 1040EZ? (Not EX as I correctly wrote). Additionally once I file do you know how long before the transcripts become available?

[Wuozopo 4,293]

5 minutes ago, Ashes said:

Thank you for your feedback, @Wuozopo- appreciate it! Just to clarify it would only be the 1040 and not 1040EZ? (Not EX as I correctly wrote). Additionally once I file do you know how long before the transcripts become available?

You’re reading old stuff. 1040EZ ended in 2017. 
 

Efile your 2021 with software and you may have a transcript quicker. With the older returns, I wouldn’t count on getting a transcript this year. You only need to submit 2021.  If you want to send the three years, then you will have to use photocopies of the whole tax return for those years with no transcript available.

 

Make a profile and timeline. What visa, what country/embassy, where are you in the process? It’s helpful to people who answer you questions. 

[seekingthetruth 1,248]

5 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

Efile your 2021 with software and you may have a transcript quicker. With the older returns, I wouldn’t count on getting a transcript this year. You only need to submit 2021.  If you want to send the three years, then you will have to use photocopies of the whole tax return for those years with no transcript available.

 

FYI, for anyone interested, I e-filed my 2021 taxes on Feb 15th 2022 and when I checked today my 2021 transcript was there.  I had not checked for a few weeks so it may have been available earlier.  For my 2020 e-filed return, the transcript was available in about 2 weeks.

 

Still waiting for my 2020 refund of $263!  Seems to have disappeared into a black hole!

[Penguin_ie 5,995]

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