(family-based)Immigration petition to the US/legal basis for not filing income tax?

Question

HI,

My mom is a US citizen living in Singapore for many years now. Every year she returns to the United States. She does not have income because she's dependent on her Singaporean husband.

Recently, she tried to petition my brother as an immigrant to the US to join the rest of the family . She was informed by the consulate that she needed to submit a letter of explanation on the legal basis of why she had not filed her income taxes in the past years. She was told that she needed to file it even if she had NO income and was dependent on her non-US citizen/resident husband(my dad of course).

Does a US citizen need to file income tax if she is not in the US and is a dependent wife of a non US citizen? Is anyone familiar with the US tax laws regarding this? Should we get a lawyer?

We need to know what to do and what explanation to give in order to submit this letter of explanation to the US consullate and expedite my brother's petition. Mom is willing to do what is necessary. We'd appreciate any constructive advice.

Thank you so much in advance.

Crispy, thanks for your answer and t he link to the irs website. I'm still chekcing it out. I tried to send you a message but your profile is not enabled. Actually my mom wasn't asked for her reason for not having income(she gave that already). They wanted the "legal basis for not filing income tax" which the consular officer claimed was necessary evev without an income.

Answer 1

Your family has a more important problem. This is that your brother cannot immigrate on a petition filed by your mother if she is not domiciled in the US. That means she must actually live there, have her home there, and yes, pay taxes there. Without a legal and genuine US domicile, she can't submit an I-864 Affidavit of Support; without an I-864 from the petitioner, the immigrant visa cannot be issued.

.................

In response to the private email you sent insisting that your mother really does live in the US:
You wrote, "My mom is a US citizen living in Singapore for many years now. Every year she returns to the United States. She does not have income because she's dependent on her Singaporean husband." That, plus a few things you wrote later, sound to me as if she is NOT domiciled in the US. A yearly visit does not count.

As for whether or not she had to file taxes, see page 12:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040.pdf

Answer 2

My understanding is that there has to be a minimum amount of income for tax to apply, but I don't know how they would count the fact that her husband makes money and she is a citizen. I know others have had problems with rules about 'foreign source income' when they were a citizen, because while you can typically get a credit for foreign taxes paid, you do have to at least account for them in the US, generally.

The IRS would know, but you really might want to talk to a certified public accountant first since if she should have filed there are penalties etc., and having a professional negotiate the process would probably be a benefit.

Answer 3

No. If your mother has no income, then she does not have to file. The tax code clearly says so. Normally, U.S. citizens abroad must file 1040A, 2555 or 2555EZ, and possibly 1116 if they paid taxes to a foreign government. Likewise, U.S. citizens abroad must file with the U.S. regarding all foreign earned income, even if they had no U.S. income. If they had no income (either from U.S. or foreign sources), then they should not have to file. Perhaps what they mean is that she needs to file the letter to explain why it appears she had no income.

Good luck.

Answer 4

My wife is a accountant, and I know things can get funky when you cross the IRS with the INS ... so I would talk to a lawyer