Tax returns filed late. What should citizenship application say?

lawyerless

New Member
Hello, I have been a Green Card holder for over 5 years now, and am now looking to apply for my citizenship. I have filed tax returns for all years on time except 2012. I just filed my 2012 tax returns a week ago... so up until now, 2012 was not filed but it is now filed late. Question 7A on the citizenship application form N-400 is "Have you ever not filed a Federal, State, or local tax return since you became a Permanent Resident?". I'm considering answering this question with "No". Do you believe this question requires any special or additional addressing of my late filing? Technically I have filed all my returns but the tax returns for 2012 were just filed late. So do you think answering this question with "No" would be perceived as misleading or misrepresenting what happened? If I do not need to mention the late filing, I do not want to bring it up and raise any unnecessary flags. But if you think I should mention the late filing, do you think that will be a problem and have them question my moral character? And is a tax filing even considered late if I filed an extension for that year AND/OR if I did not owe any taxes that year but actually have a refund coming my way. As FYI if it matters any, I filed 2012 so late because I got divorced in 2012 and have a business, which complicated the filing a bit, but as I said nevertheless I did not owe any taxes for that year. I was just late filing. Thanks again for your attention to this question and I'll look forward to learning what your thoughts are on it. Any experience with cases related to question 7 of the N-400 application or other similar situations would be very helpful.
 
Don't stress yourself out.

You answer "No"

The question doesn't ask if you filed late, it asks if you have ever not filed. The fact you submitted them late but now have them filed, corrects the problem you had.

They are concerned that you haven't filed taxes, that's it. It's a serious matter in the US, filing late, not so much.

By the time you get to an interview, i.e. 3-6 months from now depending on your DO, your tax records will be updated.

If, and I mean "IF" they even concern themselves with your taxes for your interview, they will see what is required, i.e. you filed and have no tax liability.

Just make sure you request from the IRS 5 years of tax statements showing no liability that you can bring to the interview.

For the record, I filed several years late, had penalties etc due to extremely large tax bills I owed. After filing, paying the taxes etc., I answered the same way I told you to answer. My tax records etc. never came up in my interview and it rarely comes up at all from what others have written.
 
Thank you for the question reply. I do have some further thoughts on this though :) If I answer "No I have never not filed tax returns" wouldn't that be misrepresentation? I didn't own taxes for the year I filed late, so I'd hate to mess this up on the grounds of not answering a question truthfully especially if the additional info I can provide can show I was actually owed a tax refund for the year I filed late. In other words, how truthful of an answer would "No" be in this case?
 
How many times do you want to ask the same question?

Does it ask you if you filed late or does it ask you if ever not filed (i.e. inall the years you've been resident)?

If you want to read more into the question than what is being asked - well that's just a waste of your time and peace of mind.
 
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