Tax Season With Foundation Communities

Foundation Communities is a non-profit organization, we have been providing this free tax preparation service to the immigrant community in the United States for over 15 years.

Foundation Communities has been promoting these services for 15 years in a row, so they have a lot of experience, love and help to offer to those who need it.

Who Has To File Tax Returns?

There are certain requirements for filing an IRS (Internal Revenue Service) tax return, which are based on the filing status and income of each family.

The IRS has the following requirements:

• Individuals who generate an income of more than $12,550 per year.
• Households of two to four people that generate an income greater than $12,550 per year.
• Married individuals who file taxes jointly and have an income greater than $25,100 per year.

Individuals who have an income greater than the above amounts and who are categorized in that household status are required to file a tax return.

Individuals who do not have to meet that requirement because they do not reach that minimum annual income, Foundation Communities encourages this part of the community to file their taxes because they may qualify for a refund.

If you have a tax credit, you may qualify for tax credits that could be refundable as well, and you could count on that money.

Another aspect that is important to mention for the immigrant community is that when starting an immigration process for an adjustment of status, it is very important to have these documents online, to have them in order because it is something that they are going to be asked for.

One reason it is also important for you to file a tax return is because it is often required as a condition of applying for financial aid for college.

From any point of view, filing your taxes annually is something that can benefit you in the present or in your future for many things you want to do in the United States.

What Happens If As An Undocumented Immigrant I Don’t File Taxes?

It depends on the status of the undocumented person or if you have to file taxes because you fall under the IRS requirement, such as if you earn higher income and qualify for the IRS requirement, it is something you have to do.

If you do not have this requirement you do not have to do it, but since you are an undocumented member living in a society within the United States, the immigration agency will ask you for these documents and it is important that you have them.

In the case of people who are required to have a high income and do not declare it, things can happen such as fines, then you can accumulate interest for not doing so, and in certain occasions, the IRS may file a substitute return because you did not end up filing it.

If you have a loan, suddenly they did not place expenses that you had and for that you end up paying much more.

The best thing to do is to have your documents in order and file your taxes so that you do not have any unforeseen problems in the future.

How Can I File Taxes Without A Social Security Number?

For individuals who do not qualify for a social security number, the IRS issues them a number called a ITINThis number, which is unique per person and is issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), is for individuals to file a tax return.

The IRS issues this ITIN number so that people who don’t qualify for social security can start all the tax filing processes, and that’s something that we’ve been working on. Foundation Communities can assist the immigrant community in applying for the issuance of this number.

IRS In Brief

The IRS or the Internal Revenue Service is the tax service to which U.S. residents must report if we have earned income in the United States.

This is the federal agency where people must send their tax returns stating what they did during the income year.

Depending on each person’s income, they determine how much must be paid to social security, and how much must be paid in the case of people who have retirement income.

They will determine what goes where and how much money you should keep.

At the end of the day this is going to benefit you, because although many people think that the IRS is taking money away from them, they don’t realize that it is money that was not theirs to begin with.

How Do Taxes Affect Your Immigration Case?

This can be a very common confusion for the immigrant community that is working to support their family or to live in the United States, but there are people who are working and do not have social security and the company or the boss asks for documents, there are those who are working with false documents, but the company will still report these payments and will pay taxes to the IRS for that person throughout the year.

That is why it is important for most people to file their taxes with an ITIN, because sometimes they qualify for a refund.

We are not just talking about people who have to pay money to the government when they are doing their taxes, they are the majority of people who qualify.

One way to work in the United States for people who do not have social security is if they have their own company, for example, if they offer cleaning services, as a contractor or any other service.

If a person is hiring that person’s service, sometimes they are not paying you directly as an employee as they would be paying for example a company, they are going to do the W-9 form to report to the IRS that that person hired a service to fix their office, and everything that person paid was an expense of their company.

This document is going to be given to the IRS saying that you paid that person’s company, so if an undocumented person has been working for other people, and those people have already reported the income to the IRS, to be in good standing with the agency everyone must report their taxes, no matter if they have social security or not.

For an immigration case there are defensive cases and affirmative cases, defensive cases are for people who are in removal proceedings in front of an immigration judge, and almost 100 percent of immigration judges will want to see your taxes for each year during your time in the United States.

There are many judges who will not approve cases for people who have been in the U.S. for 10 years without doing their taxes, so this is a very important point for you to protect yourself in the future.

For affirmative cases such as VAWA or other types of immigration cases, you must prove your good moral character to qualify for the benefit, and the most common way to prove your good moral character is to have paid your taxes and be in good standing.

There are many reasons why it is important for everyone to file their taxes, we are not telling everyone that they are going to have to write a check or pay stub at the same time, not everyone has to make this payment.

What Are The Benefits Of Paying Your Immigration Taxes?

Paying your taxes can prove to be helpful in many areas for an immigration case, for example if someone is applying for DACA they have to stop to prove their presence in the United States, so this will prove their time and their work during the years they were here, when they filed their taxes, but it would also prove their good moral character.

In these pandemic times with Covid, there are many people receiving government assistance, social security for the disabled (Supplemental Security Income SSI), rental assistance from Foundation Communities for example, but they still must file and report their taxes if they are receiving government assistance, otherwise it is considered fraud.

It is not worth hiding your income to qualify for another benefit because that can be fraud, but sometimes depending on the immigration program you are applying for, it could also be considered criminal.

It is an important message to everyone in the immigrant community, you should not hide your income to qualify for any type of assistance, you should never do that because it brings consequences.

What Is The ITIN Number?

The ITIN stands for Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, what this identification number does is to be able to start a filing history.

This number is for tax filing purposes only, it does not give you any work permit nor does it give you any immigration status, it is only used for tax purposes.

Learn About The U Visa & How Much It Costs

The U Visa program is to grant legal status to victims who have suffered crimes in the United States, who have reported and assisted police and prosecutors in their investigations.

The reason Congress passed this program is to help the public safety of the community, to get much more cooperation between the immigrant community and the police, that is why one of the requirements of this U Visa program is the certification from the police confirming that the applicant was the victim of the crime and also helped them.

This does not mean that they gave testimony or that they went to the police to make a written statement, but regardless of what the person asks or wants, it is necessary to cooperate with the police and obtain certification.

At Lincoln-Goldfinch Law we have had many clients who have made a report to the police but left the cooperation process up in the air, did not answer, did not return calls, and the police always warn that they will not certify such a case because they needed help, and the applicant did not help them. This is an important point in the process.

Most private attorneys like us offer a U Visa case to our clients, however, if we have to stop after requesting certification and the police deny it, we will refund most of the money for your case, because we cannot move forward in this immigration process, so we invite you to schedule a private consultation with us and only then can we investigate your eligibility.

If I Don’t Have Papers & Pay My Taxes Do I Qualify For Tax Return?

It depends a lot on each case because the situation is different from one person to another, first of all we have to understand that there is no mathematical table that reflects the precise amount of what you earn and will receive back.

All cases are different, and that is why we invite you to approach the Foundation Communities team, which is a totally free service, and also has a staff that speaks your language, and this organization of people willing to help you, are certified by the IRS to be able to determine all these personalized situations.

Under the new U.S. bailout plan that came out, there are certain tax credits for which mixed status taxpayers on our returns are eligible for some tax credits.

The answer is that it is very likely yes, but it is important to note that all cases are different even though there is a possibility that they may qualify for reimbursement, and therefore should be consulted.and should therefore be consulted.

Foundation Communities Consultations

During the 15 years that the non-profit organization Foundation Communities has been operating, they have always consulted with the immigrant community physically in person, the last 2 years when everything related to the Covid pandemic started, they were able to provide their services online virtually.

This year 2022 they returned to the mode in person by appointment to respect social distancing and the safety of all with prudent measures for the Covid.

Foundation Communities has 5 locations already open around the United States, so there are possibilities in various venues around the city where you can attend.

Paying My Taxes Gets Me A Green Card?

Just doing your taxes will not get you a Green Card, but that could be an important consideration for an immigration case if you are filing for a family member, if you are applying for a DACA Work Visa, if you are filing for a humanitarian case such as the U Visa program, the T Visa, VAWA or if you are defending yourself in deportation proceedings.

All of those cases are probably going to be more successful with a history of you having paid your taxes, so it is worth doing it for immigration cases.

How Do I Know If I’m Really Being Talked To By The IRS?

Many people in consultations with Foundation Communities go in and are certain that they were told by the IRS, that they are being asked for money, they say they are being threatened with jail time.

First of all, the IRS does not talk to people over the phone, if the IRS is to have contact with you it is going to be by letter first, it is going to let you know that there are some things it has to work out with you and it always lets you know by letter first.

At Lincoln-Goldfinch Law we have received fraud calls posing as the IRS, but they will never want to make contact by email, phone or text message, they will only send letters to your home address.

You can call them anyway, there is a line but the wait is longer at this time, they will never call you back and you should be aware that there are many scams in that area, you can always hang up when you receive ”a call from the IRS” because it is not true.

In case you have additional questions about the IRS, the ITIN number, or your specific case, you can contact us at (855) 502-0555. After a short 10 minute evaluation of your case over the phone we will let you know what options you have. You can also follow us on our social networks so as not to miss our weekly transmissions via Facebook, YouTube & Twitch.