no income since I got greencard, need to file a tax return for N-400 purpose or not?

S

Sandra500

New Member
This question just occured to me.... :eek: (yes, kind of late....)

Since I acquired my greencard and moved into the US five years ago, I have not had any income at all. However, I did win about $23,000 when I hit a mini-jackpot at a Vegas casio about 3 1/2 years ago. The casino gave me a tax form or something and my CPA friend filed a tax return for me at that time. I do have the forms/documents for this.

Since I did not have any other income, was I still required to file a tax return showing zero income? (for N-400 application purpose)

THank you for your advice! :)
 
Well for N400 purposes I don't know.... But If you don't have an income.. How are you to file..... What you can do is call the IRS and request information on the last 5 years....

I didnt file for 2006 and I called the IRS and requested a doc stating that i did not have any wages that year... So maybe you can do the same....GL:)
 
Well, this might be falling into issues of good moral character, where they look into gambling income. However, I don't think that mini-jackpot is going to be a big issue. What could be an issue is the lack of tax filing. I am not an expert on this, as this is not anything that applied to me. My best guess is that the lack of tax returns might lead into questions about how are you supporting yourself in the U.S. Depending on your answers it might lead to further questions. Now, let's say that you are married to a U.S. citizen and he supports you and you haven't worked, then I don't see an issue. However, the way you tell the story that doesn't seem the case, so it might lead to questioning about how you support yourself. All this is hypothetical, it will depend on your particular IO and particular circumstances of your case.
 
Sandra500 said:
This question just occured to me.... :eek: (yes, kind of late....)

Since I acquired my greencard and moved into the US five years ago, I have not had any income at all. However, I did win about $23,000 when I hit a mini-jackpot at a Vegas casio about 3 1/2 years ago. The casino gave me a tax form or something and my CPA friend filed a tax return for me at that time. I do have the forms/documents for this.

Since I did not have any other income, was I still required to file a tax return showing zero income? (for N-400 application purpose)

THank you for your advice! :)
Click to expand...

The question I would like to know is how do you survive 5 years without any income? Are you living off your parents or are you disabled?
 
Huracan said:
Well, this might be falling into issues of good moral character, where they look into gambling income. However, I don't think that mini-jackpot is going to be a big issue. What could be an issue is the lack of tax filing. I am not an expert on this, as this is not anything that applied to me. My best guess is that the lack of tax returns might lead into questions about how are you supporting yourself in the U.S. Depending on your answers it might lead to further questions. Now, let's say that you are married to a U.S. citizen and he supports you and you haven't worked, then I don't see an issue. However, the way you tell the story that doesn't seem the case, so it might lead to questioning about how you support yourself. All this is hypothetical, it will depend on your particular IO and particular circumstances of your case.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I hope you're not suggesting that I'm in the Sopranos family or something like that? :D (because I am definitely not and they probably don't want someone as old as I am anyway... :D ) :D

I have been a very good law-abiding person all my life. (okay, I did have two $50 parking tickets in the last few years. :( ) My CPA friend is the one who told me that I didn't need to file a tax return, except for that one-time casino win. She said I didn't need to file the other years, because, well, there was no income... but her advice was strictly for the the purpose of the IRS, not the USCIS... which is why I'm asking here....

Thanks! :)
 
You don't need to file taxes for the years you don't have income, but you do need to show how you've been surviving financially, whether it is your spouse's or parents income, your savings, an inheritance, disability checks, etc. Filing a series of zero-income tax returns won't answer the question of where your financial support is coming from.
 
Lets flip this around. You are required to be able to show USCIS that you are a good person and have paid any taxes that you owe. The easiest way of doing this is to be able to show tax transcripts if asked. Of course, to show a transcript, you need to have filed a return...

You can file $0 returns, and you can file returns for prior years, so maybe you want to look into that possibility.
 
Did you bring plane full of money from Mexico???? How can someone have no income for 5 years in USA and survive as an immigrant... did u live those 5 years with the money you won in Las Vegas? Or is it something in Las Vegas...
 
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