SDB1985

Hi all,

My wife (US cit) and I (PR) jointly filed for the first time this year (entered US Jan 13).

Her employer paid for E&Y to prepare the return for us, however no-one explicity told her to paper file the return and she was under the assumption she could just electronically file as she usual does, and which we did.

I have now sent the paper return as we should have done orginally.

Obviously with hindsight I wish I'd paid more attention to the process as my wife clearly missed something that a second pair of eyes may have seen!

So, I have two questions..
1) Do I need to always file a paper return, whilst I am a PR?
2) She spoke to a representative of E&Y who suggested that as they owe us money, they wont fine us....sounds like bull to me...thoughts?

thanks for any help!

Pulaski

The E&Y rep is correct, as I would expect. The penalty is based on the amount owed, so as long as you're getting a refund you won't be assessed a penalty, although technically I think you could.

SDB1985

Hmm, I guess Im just a cynic then - my first thought was that if they can, they will (fine us) regardless of the situation.
Not overly worried about that part actually - more the other bit, can we file electornically next year or should we be sending paper till whilst Im a PR? thanks

Jscl

What was the reason why they paper filed (or should have paper filed)? The reason will determine whether you would have to paper file again.

SDB1985

Im not 100% on that - my wife works away during the week and I havent had chance to talk to her much about what was said to her specifically - but she said that as it was my first year (or perhaps our first year filing jointly) that we needed to paper file.

She was mad at E&Y and didnt get the answers she wanted (looks like they outsource this stuff India!?) and was waiting on the person she spoke with's manager to call her back.

I was thinking it might just be some standard thing, but if people on here dont know then maybe its something specific about our situation!

Jscl

First year filings are often more complicated, but as you arrived in January (almost entire year in US so you'd almost certainly file as resident) I'd have thought yours would have been okay as an e-file.

Most likely you'll be able to e-file in future, but to be sure you'd need to find out from E&Y why you had to paper file this time. If they're preparing your return next year, request an e-file and see what they say.

SDB1985

Ok, yeah will find out what the reason was. I doubt we'll be using them again as her employer only covered it due to her owing tax in the UK from 12/13 tax year out there. Will likely use else though rather than doing it ourselves for now

Thanks anyway

JAJ

What you have posted above is not clear.
First you say you filed electronically. Then you say you have sent a paper return.

Was the first electronic filing accepted by the IRS? If so, you cannot then file a paper return. Or are you telling us you filed an amended return (1040X)? If so, why?

Non-citizens with green cards, or otherwise U.S. resident, can and do file electronically. However, as someone else has said, the first year of U.S. residence can be more complex and sometimes require paper filing.

SDB1985

We first filed electronically (at least attempted to). My wife thought everything was ok as I believe she received some indication they had it.

However, she found out Monday that this wasnt accepted so I then posted the paper version.

Not sure why the delay between sending and it being rejected.

captainsensible

My wife and I filed jointly for 2012 (the year I moved to the USA). I moved in August so very much a 50/50 UK/USA residence. No problem filing electronically.

There must have been a very specific reason that your original e-filing was rejected.

Jscl

If it was actually rejected (rather than E&Y decided they couldn't e-file and didn't try) then it could be something not related to the content of the form, like a mismatch with the social security card name (REALLY common). The rejection should come with some sort of error code, or maybe even a short explanation that should help you find out why.

SDB1985

E&Y didnt actually file on our behalf, that was left up to us, however I had no input as it was all done by my wife. She told me she sent it by e-file and thought everything was fine. At least this is how I understand it!

The social security card is ok for me by the looks of it, not sure about my wife. Will find out tonight how she specifically knows its "rejected" ...Im guessing either it was officially rejected (as Jscl suggests with some error code) or between me and her something has been lost in translation and it was never submitted in the first place

md95065

When filing a tax return online you normally get an explict acknowledgement that the return was accepted - it usually shows up within a few hours or a day or two at most.

Unless you get that acknowledgement your return has not been accepted.

If you do get the acknowledgement then you have successfully filed your return - the IRS won't turn round later and reject it - they may come back to you (sometimes a couple of years later) about something in the return that they have questions about, but that doesn't alter the fact that you filed the return.

SDB1985

Turns out this was the answer to the rejected/not filed. It was not filed - wife thought they had e-filed, they had not.

As to why I had to paper file, "its because its the PR's first year of entry," is the only answer she was given. So none the wiser on that front!

If it was up to me I'd be pushing back on E&Y to get a solid answer, but my wife doesnt seem to care! Oh well!

Thanks for everyones help anyway, crossing my fingers now that we'll get the money back soon - our wedding ceremony/party is next week so lots of expense coming up!