Delinquent taxes and filing for naturalization

M

msutton

New Member
Hello Everyone: I have an issue and wanted some input about this.

I am ready to file for my wife Citizenship based on marriage. When we filed for the I-751 to remove her conditions last year around April 2011 - we mailed it with COPIES of the 2009 and 2010 tax returns Since this was in April 2011 it was the same time we filed our taxes for 2010 - so we put the original 2010 tax return in the mail to the IRS and a copy of that 2010 tax return was also mailed to the USCIS with the I-751 (as I explained). When I filed my 2011 taxes returns with the IRS, the IRS informed us that they never received our 2010 tax returns only the 2009 tax returns. So they asked me to get another copy filed with the and to file both 2010 and 2011. Now keep in mind that USCIS has the copy of the 2010 I mailed them when I also mailed the original to the IRS thinking that they got it but they didn't. So I called my accountant and told her to prepare another 2010 and when I reviewed it something didn't look right so I asked her about it and she figured out that she (my accountant) made a mistake and I told her to correct it before I subit it to IRS. She corrected the mistake and it was a small mistake however it does change the numbers on the form. The gross yearly income stays the same but the inside - the numbers are different because instead of writing my income as 1099 she put it as W-2 which is a mistake. So now she changed it and corrected it and I filed it the IRS. Now that we are filing for Citizenship with the USCIS, we are required to give them tax returns for 2009, 2010 and 2011 - now 2009 and 2011 are okay but the 2010 copy will send them will not match the copy they got when we filed the I-751 a year ago. So my question is: Do you think this is a problem. It was a mistake made by my accountant and now I'm not sure how USCIS will look at that - any suggestions???? What should I do???? Also we do owe some back taxes and we are in the process of working out a payment plan with the IRS - my wife will have the IRS installment agreement in hand when she goes to the interview - if she does have an agreement in had do you think the Immigration Interviewer will still have an issue with the fact that we still owe money to the IRS??? Please help with any suggestions....Thank you
 
msutton said:
Hello Everyone: I have an issue and wanted some input about this.

I am ready to file for my wife Citizenship based on marriage. When we filed for the I-751 to remove her conditions last year around April 2011 - we mailed it with COPIES of the 2009 and 2010 tax returns Since this was in April 2011 it was the same time we filed our taxes for 2010 - so we put the original 2010 tax return in the mail to the IRS and a copy of that 2010 tax return was also mailed to the USCIS with the I-751 (as I explained). When I filed my 2011 taxes returns with the IRS, the IRS informed us that they never received our 2010 tax returns only the 2009 tax returns.
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Note a particularly believable story. If you were owed a refund for 2010, you would have certainly noticed that it never arrived. If you owed a tax for 2010 and sent a check with your 2010 return, you would have noticed that it was never cashed.

So they asked me to get another copy filed with the and to file both 2010 and 2011. Now keep in mind that USCIS has the copy of the 2010 I mailed them when I also mailed the original to the IRS thinking that they got it but they didn't. So I called my accountant and told her to prepare another 2010 and when I reviewed it something didn't look right so I asked her about it and she figured out that she (my accountant) made a mistake and I told her to correct it before I subit it to IRS. She corrected the mistake and it was a small mistake however it does change the numbers on the form. The gross yearly income stays the same but the inside - the numbers are different because instead of writing my income as 1099 she put it as W-2 which is a mistake. So now she changed it and corrected it and I filed it the IRS. Now that we are filing for Citizenship with the USCIS, we are required to give them tax returns for 2009, 2010 and 2011 - now 2009 and 2011 are okay but the 2010 copy will send them will not match the copy they got when we filed the I-751 a year ago. So my question is: Do you think this is a problem. It was a mistake made by my accountant and now I'm not sure how USCIS will look at that - any suggestions???? What should I do????
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The first thing you do is actually read the N-400 instructions and the N-400 document checklist:
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/us...nnel=11616c854523d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD

You'll see there that you should not submit copies of tax returns (photocopies of tax returns have zero value to USCIS as they don't prove that a tax return was actually filed for a given year). Instead, your wife (assuming that her N-400 will be based on 3 years of marriage to a U.S. citizen spouse) will have to provide official IRS tax return transcripts for the tax returns for the last three years. Such transcripts can be ordered from IRS either by phone or by visiting a local IRS office in person (where you can get the transcripts on the spot).
If there are some issues regarding back taxes owed, it is also a good idea to get tax account transcripts from IRS for the last three years - they will show what tax payments have been made for each of the years and if there is still a balance due.



Also we do owe some back taxes and we are in the process of working out a payment plan with the IRS - my wife will have the IRS installment agreement in hand when she goes to the interview - if she does have an agreement in had do you think the Immigration Interviewer will still have an issue with the fact that we still owe money to the IRS??? Please help with any suggestions....Thank you
Click to expand...

One of the questions on N-400 explicitly asks if the applicant currently owes any back taxes. Your wife will have to answer it "Yes" even if by that time she'll have an installment agreement with IRS. She'll also need to bring the installment agreement to the interview.
The fact that there are back taxes owed, in and of itself, does not prevent the applicant from being naturalized, but the IO will want to see a proof that there is a valid installment agreement in place with IRS for any back taxes owed, before N-400 can be approved.
 
baikal3 said:
The fact that there are back taxes owed, in and of itself, does not prevent the applicant from being naturalized, but the IO will want to see a proof that there is a valid installment agreement in place with IRS for any back taxes owed, before N-400 can be approved.
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I understand this principle, but this was not my experience in April 2013 in San Antonio, Texas. I was told to pay my back taxes despite having an installment agreement in place and having paid on time.
 
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