After 3 years of working ESL, I'm moving from Japan to US. I-864 Tax return requirement?

Question

I'm a U.S. Citizen.

I have been working in Japan for various ESL jobs for about 3, going on, 4 years now.

For each job, I payed city tax as well as national tax annually (I know the tax system is 1 year retroactive).

In April, my spouse and I got married in Japan. We are planning to move to the U.S. as soon as possible. However, the process of doing so is quite slow and sometimes frustrating. So here are some questions that I have been confused about for the last 2 months;

1. Which form should be done first? I-130 or I-864? For form I-864 the tax return for the past 3 years requirement is the most difficult to deal with, so we chose to focus on that one first.

2. I live in Osaka, can't I just go to the American embassy and get some kind of "ok" if I show them my Japanese tax reciepts? There is a law against double taxation, isn't there?

Answer 1

As a US citizen living abroad you are required to file US income taxes on all income, including Japanese income.  You have the same April 15th cutoff date each year as the rest of us. There are certain deductions for foreign income taxes paid and, depending on how long you have been out of the USA, some income is excluded, but you are required to file each and every year.  Those 1040's are the ones you'd submit.

So, the first thing you are going to have to deal with is a potential tax evasion case against you.

Since you are living in Japan you would file I-130, I-864 and G-325A directly with the US embassy or consulate in Osaka.  This is called direct consular filing.  Expect it to take less than 6 months.

The US embassy in Tokyo should have an IRS Agent assigned who can assist you in filing all your back tax returns.  If you're real lucky they won't assign you any penalties.

Good luck.