Does the police report need to be notarized?

[harvestgal&bosah]

Hi, I was just wondering if the police report that we got from China has to be notarized or not. I heard from someone that it needs to be notarized. Also, I need to write a letter explaining that I've been working abroad for the past five years in different countries and have not made enouph to have to pay taxes. Does this letter that I write have to be notarized? That's all. Thanks for you help.

[Guest Duke]

Hi, I was just wondering if the police report that we got from China has to be notarized or not. I heard from someone that it needs to be notarized. Also, I need to write a letter explaining that I've been working abroad for the past five years in different countries and have not made enouph to have to pay taxes. Does this letter that I write have to be notarized? That's all. Thanks for you help.

 

Any document that is not in English must be presented to the Consulate as a "Notarial Translation". First obtain the police report and then take it to the local official Notarial office in China. They'll put it all in a booklet.

 

As for your taxes, the letter needs to refer directly to the IRS regulation that indicates you were not required to file taxes. It may be that you owe no taxes but were indeed required to file tax returns. You'll want to check this out thoroughly before you write the letter. Notarizing would be a good idea for such a document.

[yuliki]

Yes. Your Chinese SO's Police certificat has to be translated into English and notarized in the local notary office.

 

As for Tax, someone else may know better.

[harvestgal&bosah]

Thanks for the information given so quickly. I have one other request to ask about.

 

Can someone give me advice about where I can find information on if I was suppose to file taxes or not. I've been working overseas for about 5 years and have never made more then $13,000 us dollars a year. I thought that when you worked overseas you were exempt from US taxes. I had no idea I might be required to file taxes or even how to file taxes from overseas. Can anyone give me suggestions on what to write in this letter about why I didn't file taxes. I haven't worked in the US since 2001. I've been traveling abroad, during some volunteer work and working as an English teacher in different countries since then.

 

Thanks, any advice or sites where I can find information would be much appreciated.

Edited December 7, 2006 by harvestgal (see edit history)

[Guest Duke]

Thanks for the information given so quickly. I have one other request to ask about.

 

Can someone give me advice about where I can find information on if I was suppose to file taxes or not. I've been working overseas for about 5 years and have never made more then $13,000 us dollars a year. I thought that when you worked overseas you were exempt from US taxes. I had no idea I might be required to file taxes or even how to file taxes from overseas. Can anyone give me suggestions on what to write in this letter about why I didn't file taxes. I haven't worked in the US since 2001. I've been traveling abroad, during some volunteer work and working as an English teacher in different countries since then.

 

Thanks, any advice or sites where I can find information would be much appreciated.

 

Start here. http://www.irs.gov/

[dnoblett]

Thanks for the information given so quickly. I have one other request to ask about.

 

Can someone give me advice about where I can find information on if I was suppose to file taxes or not. I've been working overseas for about 5 years and have never made more then $13,000 us dollars a year. I thought that when you worked overseas you were exempt from US taxes. I had no idea I might be required to file taxes or even how to file taxes from overseas. Can anyone give me suggestions on what to write in this letter about why I didn't file taxes. I haven't worked in the US since 2001. I've been traveling abroad, during some volunteer work and working as an English teacher in different countries since then.

 

Thanks, any advice or sites where I can find information would be much appreciated.

You are exempt from filing taxes, but at that income level, you are not exempt from reporting your income by filing a return.

 

Filing Requirements

 

If you are a U.S. citizen or resident alien, the rules for filing income, estate, and gift tax returns and for paying estimated tax are generally the same whether you are in the United States or abroad.

 

Your income, filing status, and age generally determine whether you must file an income tax return. Generally, you must file a return for 2005 if your gross income from worldwide sources is at least the amount shown for your filing status in the following table.

Filing Status* Amount

Single - $8,200

65 or older - $9,450

Head of household - $10,500

65 or older - $11,750

Qualifying widow(er) - $13,200

65 or older - $14,200

Married filing jointly - $16,400

Not living with spouse at end of year - $3,200

One spouse 65 or older - $17,400

Both spouses 65 or older - $18,400

Married filing separately - $3,200

*If you are the dependent of another taxpayer, see the instructions for Form 1040 for more information on whether you must file a return.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p54/ch01.html#d0e448

 

Some info on the IRS site:

 

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/intern...d=96796,00.html

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/intern...d=96734,00.html

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p54/index.html

[harvestgal&bosah]

Thanks for that info,

 

Wow, so does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should say in my letter for why I didn't file taxes. I honestly had no idea I was even supposed to or even how to do it. I still don't know how to go about doing it from overseas even for this year. I never looked into these kind of things or even thought it was important. How did I even know I'd go overseas and meet my husband and when I did, I was so in love I never thought about it. Then 2 months after we married I was pregnant and we moved around from different countries, had the baby, and then ended up coming to China where I got pregnant again. I just never had time to think about income tax, especially since I wasn't living or working in the States. I guess, I should just put it that way in my letter. That I had no idea I was suppose to file, especially since my tax status is exempt.

 

I made about 13,000 a year in Turkey, 3 years ago. When we moved to Nigeria, I only worked 5 months, so I didn't even make 6000 that year. Then I went to the States to have the baby for about 3 months. Then moved back to Nigeria, where I didn't work. Then we came to China. I worked 3 months in china in 2005 where I made about 2,500. Then I switched schools after not working from Dec till Feb. Then from March till now I've worked making about $500 dollars a month. So I think I was supposed to file 3 years ago, but from the past two years, I still don't think I made enouph to file. Am I right? At least for joint filing anyway. But my husband isn't American so would I be suppose to file joint filing. At some points he wasn't working and now he's just working part time because of our son. This is all so darn confusing to me. If I am suppose to file, how do I file. As married filing together or what. He can't file seperate from me cause he's not American, which I think means he doesn't need to file. We've always lived together since our marriage so we weren't living seperately.

 

So how should we file for this year and how do we file and is there anyway that I can file late for last year? Or is it that I didn't really need to file last year? And any suggestions about what to put in my letter about all this would be highly appreciated.

[dnoblett]

Thanks for that info,

 

Wow, so does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should say in my letter for why I didn't file taxes. I honestly had no idea I was even supposed to or even how to do it. I still don't know how to go about doing it from overseas even for this year. I never looked into these kind of things or even thought it was important. How did I even know I'd go overseas and meet my husband and when I did, I was so in love I never thought about it. Then 2 months after we married I was pregnant and we moved around from different countries, had the baby, and then ended up coming to China where I got pregnant again. I just never had time to think about income tax, especially since I wasn't living or working in the States. I guess, I should just put it that way in my letter. That I had no idea I was suppose to file, especially since my tax status is exempt.

 

I made about 13,000 a year in Turkey, 3 years ago. When we moved to Nigeria, I only worked 5 months, so I didn't even make 6000 that year. Then I went to the States to have the baby for about 3 months. Then moved back to Nigeria, where I didn't work. Then we came to China. I worked 3 months in china in 2005 where I made about 2,500. Then I switched schools after not working from Dec till Feb. Then from March till now I've worked making about $500 dollars a month. So I think I was supposed to file 3 years ago, but from the past two years, I still don't think I made enouph to file. Am I right? At least for joint filing anyway. But my husband isn't American so would I be suppose to file joint filing. At some points he wasn't working and now he's just working part time because of our son. This is all so darn confusing to me. If I am suppose to file, how do I file. As married filing together or what. He can't file seperate from me cause he's not American, which I think means he doesn't need to file. We've always lived together since our marriage so we weren't living seperately.

 

So how should we file for this year and how do we file and is there anyway that I can file late for last year? Or is it that I didn't really need to file last year? And any suggestions about what to put in my letter about all this would be highly appreciated.

 

Contact the local consulate and ask about the IRS there.

 

13) I am a U.S. citizen. I have lived abroad for a number of years and recently realized that I should have been filing U.S. income tax returns. How do I correct this oversight in not having filed returns for these years?

 

File the late returns as soon as possible, stating your reason for filing late. For advice on filing the returns, you should contact either the Internal Revenue Service representative serving your area or the Internal Revenue official who travels through your area (details can be obtained from your nearest U.S. consulate or Embassy). You can also write to the Internal Revenue Service, International Section, P.O. Box 920, Bensalem, PA 19020-8518.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p54/ar02.html#d0e7759

http://china.usembassy.gov/tax.html

Edited December 7, 2006 by dnoblett (see edit history)