# IRS tax US/french dual citizenship



## Leila_Garnet

Hi!

Let me present myself and my situation. I was born in San Francisco from an American father and a french mother. At the time I was 2-3, we moved back to France and I have lived and studied in France ever since.

I have recently graduated from University and I have had a job opportunity in the US starting beginning of December. My husband and I got married last June so that we could file I-130 petition for alien spouse in order for him to get a US immigrant visa. I have succeeded in finding the correct way to ask for exceptional circumstances and that the form be treated at the US embassy in Paris and not go through the usual processing protocol through Chicago.

We just have a few last steps left before asking for the last interview for my husband before he gets his visa. And of course, the US embassy knows that my contract starts in December and they are trying to make things go faster, luckily for us ;-)

However, I have to fill up the Affidavit of support in which they ask if I have filed a Federal income tax return for each of the three most recent tax years. Unfortunately, I had no idea that I needed to declare taxes in both France and the US and I have stumbled upon this information as of today…

My situation is tricky: I need to file this form pretty quickly so that my husband gets his visa as soon as possible (especially since our move is planned for end of November), and yet, I need to get clean with the IRS since I will be working for the next 3 to 5 years in the US.

My questions are these:
- I do not understand how much I will need to pay if I file the tax return of the 3 last years (my biggest income was 19,605€ and I have already payed my french taxes on this earned income…). How much will I have to pay?

- and I do not know what I should fill up in the form concerning my federal income tax return information. Should I sort of lie and say that I was a classical student without any income and deal with my tax situation once in the US or should I say that I did not file any tax return?

Thanks for all the help!!


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## Bevdeforges

Don't panic - it sounds as if your situation is probably pretty simple and you can probably get through those three back filings in short order.



> My questions are these:
> - I do not understand how much I will need to pay if I file the tax return of the 3 last years (my biggest income was 19,605€ and I have already payed my french taxes on this earned income…). How much will I have to pay?


You probably won't need to pay anything. There are a couple of provisions to avoid "double taxation" so that the fact that you've declared and paid your taxes in France should make it go quicker.


> - and I do not know what I should fill up in the form concerning my federal income tax return information. Should I sort of lie and say that I was a classical student without any income and deal with my tax situation once in the US or should I say that I did not file any tax return?


Don't lie - that will come back at some point to bite you. But, assuming that you have only earned income (i.e. salary) and maybe a bit of bank interest, you should be able to get those forms filled quickly and easily.

Take a look at IRS publication 54, which is for people filing from overseas. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p54/
You are supposed to declare all your worldwide income. But you are clearly eligible to take the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (form 2555) which will formally "exclude" all your salary income from being taxed. (Use the bona fide resident category - not sure how much more "bona fide" you can get than being a French citizen living in France!) 

You also need to declare any and all bank interest (even from the "tax free" accounts like a Livret A) - but up to about $10,000 in interest, that will all be eliminated by the personal exemption and standard deduction.

For the years before you got married, you file as single. For last year, when you got married, you file as "married, filing separately" and just enter "NRA" (for non-resident alien) where they ask for your spouse's name and social security number. (Since he is not subject to filing, there's no US return for them to match up with yours.) 

All in all, you'll need to file a form 1040, a 2555 (probably the EZ version - it's shorter) and include a Schedule B, not to itemize your interest income, but to check the little boxes at the bottom of the form stating whether or not you have bank accounts overseas (i.e. in France) that total more than $10,000 in deposits.

You don't need to go through any of that "streamlined" nonsense. Late filing is only subject to a penalty if you owe tax (and at that, it's a percentage of the amount owed). It sounds very much like you will only have to fill out the forms, sign them and send them in. Then you can honestly state that you have filed for those three prior years.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Leila_Garnet

Thanks Bev for the quick reply!!

This is great news! I went through publication 54 this afternoon and hardly understood everything. So I decided to post my situation here  Although pu. 54 was mainly gibberish for me, I did understand that I had to declare my french income in the US…

So all in all, I just need to file the forms 1040, 2555-EZ and include a schedule B (for now, I have no idea what they are but I'll manage) and give that for the Affidavit of Support for my husband (if I understand correctly).


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## Leila_Garnet

Hi,

I've filled my tax returns today. It was way more complicated than the french system! But I've managed and will very certainly double-check (for a fourth time!) in December.
However, I have been trying to find how long does the IRS processing last until I can get an IRS-generated tax return transcript from them. It seems I need these transcripts for the my husband's visa (for the Affidavit of Support I-864).

Can anybody help me out on the subject? I have tried googling it and haven't found any delay information regarding my situation… I'm afraid that it will last long and that my husband will unfortunately not be arriving to the US with me at the end of the month…

Thanks for the information!

Leïla


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## Bevdeforges

Unfortunately, these things take as long as they take. (Hm, seems I have been telling folks over here in France the same thing for ages, too.) One big point in your favor, though, is that this is the "off season" for taxes, so chances are you may be able to get those transcripts within a few weeks. Had you submitted stuff in April, your back filings would go in the hopper with all the folks filing at the last minute for the April 15th deadline in the US. 

Start checking the online transcript site https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript a couple of weeks after you've submitted your forms and see how far you get. Or check the FAQ for transcripts and see what they can tell you about checking online to see when your transcripts are available. 
Cheers,
Bev


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## Leila_Garnet

Thanks for the answer Bev


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## ForeignBody

Leila_Garnet said:


> It seems I need these transcripts for the my husband's visa (for the Affidavit of Support I-864).


I believe I-864 asks for a *photocopy or* a transcript for the most recent tax year. So a photocopy of your return should be fine and you do not need to wait.


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