Eric

I hope somebody can help me on this.
I�m a green card holder temporarily outside the US on a reentry
permit.
I stupidly followed wrong advice and in 2005 I didn�t file my tax
returns (federal
and State). I didn't have any US income for 2004 so I didn't owe any
money,
but now I�m very concerned about the repercussions on my immigration
status.
What should I do?
thank you very much.

Kevin Keane

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You may want to double-check this with a tax expert, but it probably is
harmless.

If IRS regulations do not require you to file a tax return, then it should
not affect your immigration status, either.

The only thing that *will* affect your immigration status is if you file a
tax return as a non-resident, or if you don't file because you consider
yourself a non-resident. Not filing because of a lack of income is
different.

Also, if it turns out that you do need to file, then you may still be able
to file the return late.

eric wrote:

    > I hope somebody can help me on this.
    > I´m a green card holder temporarily outside the US on a reentry
    > permit.
    > I stupidly followed wrong advice and in 2005 I didn´t file my tax
    > returns (federal
    > and State). I didn't have any US income for 2004 so I didn't owe any
    > money,
    > but now I´m very concerned about the repercussions on my immigration
    > status.
    > What should I do?
    > thank you very much.

- --
Please visit my FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com before asking a question here.
It may answer your question. Remember, I am strictly a layperson without
any legal training. I encourage the reader to seek competent legal counsel
rather than relying on usenet newsgroups.
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Babak

Kevin Keane (see Web site for email) wrote:
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    > You may want to double-check this with a tax expert, but it probably is
    > harmless.
    > If IRS regulations do not require you to file a tax return, then it should
    > not affect your immigration status, either.
    > The only thing that *will* affect your immigration status is if you file a
    > tax return as a non-resident, or if you don't file because you consider
    > yourself a non-resident. Not filing because of a lack of income is
    > different.
    > Also, if it turns out that you do need to file, then you may still be able
    > to file the return late.
    > eric wrote:
    > > I hope somebody can help me on this.
    > > I�m a green card holder temporarily outside the US on a reentry
    > > permit.
    > > I stupidly followed wrong advice and in 2005 I didn�t file my tax
    > > returns (federal
    > > and State). I didn't have any US income for 2004 so I didn't owe any
    > > money,
    > > but now I�m very concerned about the repercussions on my immigration
    > > status.
    > > What should I do?
    > > thank you very much.
    > - --
    > Please visit my FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com before asking a question here.
    > It may answer your question. Remember, I am strictly a layperson without
    > any legal training. I encourage the reader to seek competent legal counsel
    > rather than relying on usenet newsgroups.
    > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
    > Version: GnuPG v1.4.0 (GNU/Linux)
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    > nzxhbhMT1NG2YJ4Wq2fFMCk=
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I would also note that based on my understanding, it is not US income
that is subject to taxation, but rather worldwide income of a US
resident. As Kevin mentioned, It is important that you consider
yourself a US resident, so your tax obligations will depend on any
income you had that year, anywhere in the world. The good news is that
you will likely have deductions available to you to avoid
double-taxation on taxes you've already paid elsewhere.

Sad Expat

On 2006-01-08, eric <[email protected]> wrote:
    > I stupidly followed wrong advice and in 2005 I didn�t file my tax
    > returns (federal and State). I didn't have any US income for 2004 so I
    > didn't owe any money,

I thought that once you got Permanent Residency you had to declare all
income to IRS, and be taxed on it, not just US income.