Can Cirizenship be denied due to late filing of returns

A

amann

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

A few days back I posted a question saying my corporate state returns were filed late on 2 occasions due to a CPA oversight...one of these returns was filed more than a year late as that is when I got the letter from the state govt...I had to pay a small fine and interest...and everything has been resolved...after this lesson, I dropped the CPA and hired a more professional CPA...

Recentlly, I filed the N-400 and have taken a conservative approach and mentioned that in my application as an addendum...(answered 'No' to the question 10.A.4 and put an asterix saying "please see addendum")

Wanted to check with this forum what kind of issues can I expect during the interview....and if this is an issue to worry about from now till the interview....

Everything else on my application is very clean ...no issues at all on my personal returns / taxes side as well

Your inputs would be highly appreciated...

Thanks.
 
The answer still remains no. First you have to understand that failure to file taxes is different in the context of criminal and immigration consideration. In criminal, the plaintiff will have to prove that you intentionally refused to file taxes. In immigration, all they have to prove is that you failed to file. However, in this case, your filing is done by a CPA. The best case scenerio is to sue the CPA in a small claims court (or something similar) and have a judgement entered against the CPA something in the nature of collecting late fees imposed by the state (you are not interested in the money and after the court case, you can just forget about collecting the mony). In the absence of that, I will just gather all my documnets and show that you did pay your taxes and the delay was due to CPA.
If you still feel uncomfortable, hire an immigration attorney.

amann said:
Hi,

A few days back I posted a question saying my corporate state returns were filed late on 2 occasions due to a CPA oversight...one of these returns was filed more than a year late as that is when I got the letter from the state govt...I had to pay a small fine and interest...and everything has been resolved...after this lesson, I dropped the CPA and hired a more professional CPA...

Recentlly, I filed the N-400 and have taken a conservative approach and mentioned that in my application as an addendum...(answered 'No' to the question 10.A.4 and put an asterix saying "please see addendum")

Wanted to check with this forum what kind of issues can I expect during the interview....and if this is an issue to worry about from now till the interview....

Everything else on my application is very clean ...no issues at all on my personal returns / taxes side as well

Your inputs would be highly appreciated...

Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
You may have opened a can of worms by adding that addendum. Do you seriously think any of the Immigration Information Officers will review your material thoroughly? They do not have the power to adjudicate anything at the service center and can only 'flag' files, initiate checks, and prepare the checklist for the adjudicator by indicating what evidence is missing, possible fraud, etc. I personally suggested in your previous post to take evidence of filing to the interview as that is the best opportunity one has to 'set the record straight' should the need arise. Again, filing late is not the same as having failed to file. Now that you put the addendum in the application and it is permanently in your A-file, please be sure to bring evidence of tax filing to your interview. I still don't anticipate any problem.
 
The question in the N-400 asks:
"...have you ever failed to file a required Federal, state or local tax return"

You were late, but did retrospectively file the missing returns and pay the fines etc, etc. Therefore, your answer to this question is "NO".

USCIS only really care that you've either paid all taxes owing, or have made arrangements to pay those taxes.
 
Boatbod is 100%%% right; don't give them volunteerarily any extra info until it was specifically asked for. Those suckers would use it against you later, so be specific....
 
My analysis

Thanks all.

Here is the analysis...

I spoke with 25 immigration attorneys on the phone ...(met 2 of them)...

80% of them said I should mention it in an addendum...

20% of them said I need not mention it on the form...

ALL (including the 20%) of them agreed that mentioning it in an addendum will not hurt...

The 80% of them said if I do not mention and they come to know from whatever search they do, then it may be used against me...for lying, misrepresentation of information, withholding of material information etc...

25% of the 80% also mentioned that it will look good on my part if I mentioned it...

The definition of "Late filing" and "failure to file" is very fuzzy and is open to interpretation...it can go either way....

Also, are "corporate returns" the same as "personal returns" for a person who is responsible for both...is a fuzzy area...and is also open to interpretation...

Except for 3 Attorneys out of the bucket of 25, none of the remaining 22 were sure if "corporate returns" are treated the same way as "personal returns" for the purpose of naturalization...

Hence, the dilemna...

As I mentioned, I took the most conservative way out...

Wanted to check what the immigration community thinks about this...I would have preferred to not put an addendum....but adding an addendum appeared to be more safe....

Please let me know your thoughts on this...

Thanks.
 
If you are not sure always take the suggestion give to you by the lawyers. But I don't think you have to worry about this... this is like paying the credit card bill late with a fine added to it. Actually there are businesses and individuals who pay their taxes a year late sometimes... it is not something very uncommon. So you should be fine... they might just ask you to give them the prove that you paid in the interview time which I doubt it coz your interview is at least 4-5 months down the road. If you are not sure don't lose your sleep and do what the lawyer said... you have not broken any law.. you defaulted and you paid the fine.
 
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