Amended tax return with I-864

[Kelli S 0]

I know this was very stupid, but I mistakenly filed my 2023 taxes as single when I was married late in the last fiscal year. I had filed my own taxes in all previous years and evidently was not smart enough to do that with any life changes. My spouse and I are in the process of completing our I-485 packet and I am trying to figure out what I should provide for tax returns now.

 

We consulted with an immigration attorney, who did not seem very concerned, but agreed we should file a 1040-X with a tax expert, which was done today. We changed my status to married filing separately on their advice since my spouse filed that way on his 1040-NR. I did end up owing money and will send that in ASAP, but I know these generally take awhile to process. My income is just fine otherwise and did not change.

 

My question is, should I just send in my 1040-X along with W2/1099 at this point? I had my tax transcripts all ready to go until I discovered the mistake and am worried about messing something up again. Thanks!

[Crazy Cat 41,844]

I would send the 1040X and supporting documents as it is the latest return.....or you could send both the pre-amended transcript and the 1040X (plus supporting documents) as you are just amending filing status.

[M plus D 57]

Pre-amended transcript seems the most safe route to avoid an RFIE. USCIS in general likes Tax Transcripts the most, because it is a government-verified document. Unfortunately, there are people who have gotten an RFIE despite sufficient income, simply because USCIS didn't feel like accepting the Tax Return with W-2.

 

[Nena Lis 1]

On 8/30/2024 at 8:46 PM, M plus D said:

Pre-amended transcript seems the most safe route to avoid an RFIE. USCIS in general likes Tax Transcripts the most, because it is a government-verified document. Unfortunately, there are people who have gotten an RFIE despite sufficient income, simply because USCIS didn't feel like accepting the Tax Return with W-2.

 

I have a similar issue. My 2023 taxes are filed as married filing jointly, however, my divorce from my ex-husband was finalized in October the same year. 
I am working on putting together my I-485 for CR 1 visa. Would it cause me trouble to send that transcript that said married  when i was divorced that same year? Should I ammend?

[Nena Lis 1]

On 8/28/2024 at 12:05 AM, Kelli S said:

I know this was very stupid, but I mistakenly filed my 2023 taxes as single when I was married late in the last fiscal year. I had filed my own taxes in all previous years and evidently was not smart enough to do that with any life changes. My spouse and I are in the process of completing our I-485 packet and I am trying to figure out what I should provide for tax returns now.

 

We consulted with an immigration attorney, who did not seem very concerned, but agreed we should file a 1040-X with a tax expert, which was done today. We changed my status to married filing separately on their advice since my spouse filed that way on his 1040-NR. I did end up owing money and will send that in ASAP, but I know these generally take awhile to process. My income is just fine otherwise and did not change.

 

My question is, should I just send in my 1040-X along with W2/1099 at this point? I had my tax transcripts all ready to go until I discovered the mistake and am worried about messing something up again. Thanks!

I have a similar issue, what did you decide to do? My 2023 tax was filed as married filing jointly but my divorce from my ex-husband was finalized that same year. I am not sure if I should send those transcripts anyway or if I should amend. 
any advice?

[W199 333]

1 hour ago, Nena Lis said:

I have a similar issue, what did you decide to do? My 2023 tax was filed as married filing jointly but my divorce from my ex-husband was finalized that same year. I am not sure if I should send those transcripts anyway or if I should amend. 
any advice?

Did your ex file this joint tax return with you, or did she file her own tax return?

[Nena Lis 1]

1 minute ago, W199 said:

Did your ex file this joint tax return with you, or did she file her own tax return?

3 minutes ago, W199 said:

Did your ex file this joint tax return with you, or did she file her own tax return?

Yes, we filed together that year although the divorce was finalized in October that same year. 

[W199 333]

Just now, Nena Lis said:

 

Then at least you are safe from am IRS audit. If you amend the return, then your ex will need to also amend otherwise an automatic audit will come in 2 years. And usually your divorce agreeement spells out an agreement on how the last tax return filings will be done.  So if the divorce agreement conflicts with that, and she doesn't agree to amend with you, that will be another nightmare. 

 

The I-864 is only to prove your income.  Does it identify what portion is your income vs your ex?  I would imagine when K-1's are processed quickly, its common for the prior year transcript to be a joint.  I don't know how USCIS deals with that.  But there is also a wages tax transcript which shows all the W-2's.   I would just be sure the tax transcript makes it clear that you have the required income, include the wages/w-2 transcripts or copies of your W-2 for additional proof of income.   Then pray you don't get an RFE.  Or you could do it all correctly, which is to file the amendment. But that can take 1-2 years to process so you won't have a transcript and will need to send in your tax return with W-2 and 1099's.. and still hope for no RFE due to tax transcript. But that is less risky. Probably best bet is to consult with some lawyers or agencies that have had real experience with this

[Nena Lis 1]

7 minutes ago, W199 said:

Then at least you are safe from am IRS audit. If you amend the return, then your ex will need to also amend otherwise an automatic audit will come in 2 years. And usually your divorce agreeement spells out an agreement on how the last tax return filings will be done.  So if the divorce agreement conflicts with that, and she doesn't agree to amend with you, that will be another nightmare. 

 

The I-864 is only to prove your income.  Does it identify what portion is your income vs your ex?  I would imagine when K-1's are processed quickly, its common for the prior year transcript to be a joint.  I don't know how USCIS deals with that.  But there is also a wages tax transcript which shows all the W-2's.   I would just be sure the tax transcript makes it clear that you have the required income, include the wages/w-2 transcripts or copies of your W-2 for additional proof of income.   Then pray you don't get an RFE.  Or you could do it all correctly, which is to file the amendment. But that can take 1-2 years to process so you won't have a transcript and will need to send in your tax return with W-2 and 1099's.. and still hope for no RFE due to tax transcript. But that is less risky. Probably best bet is to consult with some lawyers or agencies that have had real experience with this

Thank you very much, I appreciate your reply 😊

[Nena Lis 1]

Question. Once I marry my boyfriend that lives in Colombia, how do I file taxes in the US? Married? But of course we are just initiating the CR1 process and he doesn’t have a social security number. Or should I file single as the marriage has not yet been registered in the US?

[OldUser 6,636]

14 hours ago, Nena Lis said:

Question. Once I marry my boyfriend that lives in Colombia, how do I file taxes in the US? Married? But of course we are just initiating the CR1 process and he doesn’t have a social security number. Or should I file single as the marriage has not yet been registered in the US?

No, once you're married you're married everywhere in the world.

You cannot file taxes as single, in fact this can hurt your spouse's future immigration. You need to file taxes as Married Filing Separately or Head of Household. You also will get larger tax break compared to filing single.

Edited yesterday at 06:35 PM by OldUser

[Nena Lis 1]

6 hours ago, OldUser said:

No, once you're married you're married everywhere in the world.

You cannot file taxes as single, in fact this can hurt your spouse's future immigration. You need to file taxes as Married Filing Separately or Head of Household. You also will get larger tax break compared to filing single.

Thanks a lot for your answer 😊. 

[W199 333]

6 hours ago, OldUser said:

No, once you're married you're married everywhere in the world.

You cannot file taxes as single, in fact this can hurt your spouse's future immigration. You need to file taxes as Married Filing Separately or Head of Household. You also will get larger tax break compared to filing single.

Actually you can also file as "married jointly".   If he has no income to declare, then this will result in a much lower tax. You can do this even though he is not a US resident and doesn't have a SSN.  But there are a few simple steps to follow to do this; they are clearly documented on the IRS webpage.