Earned Income Credit Eligibility Help

[goobies 79]

Hello,

 

My husband is a greencard holder, and I am a US citizen. 

 

I was here in the US the full year of 2021. He was not here at all.

 

Am I able to claim the EIC, considering that I, the only income earner, was present the full year?

 

I keep getting conflicting answers, and none of the forums I have read reflect this situation.

[Boiler 45,753]

Has he or is he intending to formally abandon his GC?

[goobies 79]

No, that is not his intention. We are working toward SB1 Visa.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

32 minutes ago, goobies said:

I keep getting conflicting answers, and none of the forums I have read reflect this situation.

I would read the information provided by the IRS.

Publication 596 Earned Income Credit 2021

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p596.pdf

It explains the rules in detail.

 

Also the IRS has an interactive tax assistant you can go through answering with your specifics. 
https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/use-the-eitc-assistant

[iwannaplay54 985]

1 hour ago, goobies said:

No, that is not his intention. We are working toward SB1 Visa.

No matter what you are working on his GC is valid until a judge takes it.

File MFJ, declare his, and your, income, process his (if any) as foreign earned physical presence, and TurboTax or whoever you use will calculate what you qualify for.

Always file your spouse “resident for tax purposes” no matter where he is.

An LPR on temporary visit overseas is treated taxwise no differently than if he’s on vacation.  The LAST thing you want to do is not treat him as a US resident if he’s applying for SB1.  We got one of those.  They look for any reason possible to deny it.

If he’s on a temporary absence he’s assumed to be a member of your household.

PS you’re going to be filing a new support affidavit.  Gear up for that.

If he has foreign earned income you’re out of luck and done in regards to EIC but the software will tell you that.

Edited March 25, 2022 by iwannaplay54

[goobies 79]

15 minutes ago, iwannaplay54 said:

No matter what you are working on his GC is valid until a judge takes it.

File MFJ, declare his, and your, income, process his (if any) as foreign earned physical presence, and TurboTax or whoever you use will calculate what you qualify for.

Always file your spouse “resident for tax purposes” no matter where he is.

An LPR on temporary visit overseas is treated taxwise no differently than if he’s on vacation.  The LAST thing you want to do is not treat him as a US resident if he’s applying for SB1.  We got one of those.  They look for any reason possible to deny it.

If he’s on a temporary absence he’s assumed to be a member of your household.

PS you’re going to be filing a new support affidavit.  Gear up for that.

If he has foreign earned income you’re out of luck and done in regards to EIC but the software will tell you that.

Thank you for all of this insight!

 

I agree with all you said. Just needed to confirm, and you did that. Thank you, dearly.

[iwannaplay54 985]

1 minute ago, goobies said:

Thank you for all of this insight!

 

I agree with all you said. Just needed to confirm, and you did that. Thank you, dearly.

Has he applied for his SB1?  Two interviews.  One to determine if he qualifies, second for the visa itself.  What reason has he given for circumstances outside his control?

Edited March 25, 2022 by iwannaplay54

[goobies 79]

1 minute ago, iwannaplay54 said:

Has he applied for his SB1?  Two interviews.  One to determine if he qualifies, second for the visa itself.  What reason has he given for circumstances outside his control?

No, we are waiting on a response from the Kenyan Embassy.

 

Reasoning is that we traveled to UG in September 2019, he remained behind due to COVID to get his mom a better living arrangement. Airports closed down before he got all that sorted out. Airport stayed closed until October 2020, so he had been out 11 months, and by the time I had $ together for a ticket, 13 months. We didn't have a re-entry permit, so he was scared of traveling. 

 

We didn't know about SB1 visa until a couple weeks ago.

 

I'm not sure it will work, but figured we should try it. If it doesnt work, he  will surrender the GC to try for IR1 visa, as a last resort.

[iwannaplay54 985]

25 minutes ago, goobies said:

No, we are waiting on a response from the Kenyan Embassy.

 

Reasoning is that we traveled to UG in September 2019, he remained behind due to COVID to get his mom a better living arrangement. Airports closed down before he got all that sorted out. Airport stayed closed until October 2020, so he had been out 11 months, and by the time I had $ together for a ticket, 13 months. We didn't have a re-entry permit, so he was scared of traveling. 

 

We didn't know about SB1 visa until a couple weeks ago.

 

I'm not sure it will work, but figured we should try it. If it doesnt work, he  will surrender the GC to try for IR1 visa, as a last resort.

Been there too.  One of each LOL

You’re doing the right thing in my view.  No problem all the way through N400.

 

Good luck!

Edited March 25, 2022 by iwannaplay54

[goobies 79]

On 3/25/2022 at 2:43 PM, iwannaplay54 said:

Been there too.  One of each LOL

You’re doing the right thing in my view.  No problem all the way through N400.

 

Good luck!

Thanks for the feedback. If you don't mind, I'd love to know your journey through the SB1 visa. It doesn't seem to be commonly written about.

 

You can inbox, if that's more comfortable.