So… the title might be a bit dramatic, but I’ve been living abroad for 10 years and I have not made enough income to have to pay taxes. I think this might not necessarily have been the right decision, but here we are nonetheless. This year is my first time that I will have to file, as now I have graduated university and have my first real job.
I have so many questions, and I am so overwhelmed… my spouse is not a US citizen and has been the main breadwinner for our family, and I was a full-time student/SAHM.
Did I mess up by not filing? Should I file the last 3 years? Does anyone have experience in this?
I appreciate all help and tips that come my way, thank you so much in advance!
If you haven’t made enough to pay any income tax then it should be pretty cheap to file the last 7 tax returns. It will be a lot of paperwork but if there was no tax owed you should be good.
Or just don’t. Unless the IRS gets paperwork from another company saying you earned money they don’t care. During that time did you earn any US based interest income or work for any US company that would have sent that data to the IRS? If not you may not be known to them.
@Amari
If I were to just not file, would I face any repercussions just filing this year? No company will report any earnings, because I made in total for the year like max $5,000
Zed said: @Amari
If I were to just not file, would I face any repercussions just filing this year? No company will report any earnings, because I made in total for the year like max $5,000
It would only need to be a few hundred to be reported. You still need to file if you don’t earn enough to pay taxes, but if you don’t earn any income at all that is reported to the IRS then they won’t know.
Take a deep breath and relax. This happens way more than you think.
If you don’t owe any money, there’s no problem not filing, at least with the IRS. Sounds like you are still abroad and that will complicate matters somewhat. I’d recommend trying to find a credentialed tax pro (CPA, EA) that works with expats in the country you are residing. Let that pro handle the current year and then talk through the prior years. The tax pro will be able to tell you if you need to file the prior years. You could try to do the current year on your own, but by your own admission, you’re “overwhelmed”. I’d highly suggest not doing this yourself.
Since your spouse is not a US citizen and as long as he wasn’t working in the US, his income should not be taxable in the US.
@Keenan
Thank you so much for this, I truly appreciate it! I was working with a tax office here, but not one specialized in American taxes. I’ve been paying taxes here, so I do know that there is some exceptions there…
