Green Card Lottery = Immigrant Intent ?

When you apply for a nonimmigrant visa, there is a question, “Has anyone ever filed an immigrant visa petition on your behalf.” The Department of State has determined that the correct answer to this question is Yes.

However, the entry into the DV lottery by itself should generally not be sufficient to deny you a nonimmigrant visa and is not an automatic bar to obtaining subsequent nonimmigrant visas.

2013 Diversity Visa (green card) lottery is now open

The 2013 Diversity Visa (green card) lottery is now open for entry. Please enter before the deadline of Saturday, November 5, 2011, at noon EST. The entry must be made online at https://www.dvlottery.state.gov/. After you submit the entry, print out the confirmation number and save it. 

I recommend saving a few copies in different places since there is no way to retrieve it if you lose it. 

Generally, the IRS only audits about 1% of all individual tax returns annually. Certain factors can increase your audit risk such as omitting income, making math errors, and certain credits. Here is a list of 10 “red flags” that draw attention to your tax return and increase your risk of audit.

1.     Failing to report all taxable income. The IRS receives copies of all your W-2s and 1099s. You may not care about reporting a few dollars of bank interest from the 1099-INT but the IRS does. A mismatch increases your audit risk.

2.     Claiming large charitable deductions. If you claim charitable deductions that are disproportionate to your income, this raises a red flag. You need to retain receipts for your cash and property contributions. If your donate more than $500 of property, you must have an appraisal.

3.     Home office deduction. The IRS is interested in this deduction because most people that claim a home office do not meet all the requirements in order to claim this deduction. Among other requirements, the home office must be used exclusively and on a regular basis as your principal place of business.

4.     Business meals, travel, and entertainment. The IRS knows that self-employed people tend to claim excessive deductions.

5.     Cash business. Small business owners who primarily receive cash are less likely to accurately report all their income.

6.     Failure to report a foreign bank account. The IRS is very interest in people with overseas accounts. Failure to report a foreign bank account can lead to significant penalties. The IRS has made this one of their top priorities.

7.     Math errors. This is one of the biggest reasons taxpayers receive a letter from the IRS. If you make an error in your favor, you will get a letter from the IRS and there is a greater risk you will be audited.

8.     Engaging in large currency transactions. The IRS gets reports of cash transactions in excess of $10,000 involving banks, casinos, car dealers and other businesses, plus suspicious activity reports from banks.

9.     Claiming 100% business use of your car. 100% business use is rare and raises a red flag for the IRS. You should maintain mileage logs as wells as calendar entries for the purpose of every trip.

10.        Using round numbers. If most of deductions are round number like $500 or $1,000, then those look like estimates. Too many round numbers on your tax return will raise a red flag.

attorney@mylawllc.com
My Law, LLC
Immigration & Tax Law Firm
www.mylawllc.com

(630) 903-9625

Foreign students on J-1 visa protest Hershey’s factory jobs

Hundreds of foreign students on a State Department J-1 cultural exchange visa program walked off their factory jobs in protest recently.

The J-1 visa program brings foreign students to the country to work for two months and learn English, and was designed in part to fill seasonal tourism jobs at resorts and seaside towns. The 400 students employed at a Pennsylvania factory that packages Hershey's candies make $8.35 an hour, but their rent and program fees are deducted from their paychecks, leaving them with less money than they spent to get the visas and travel to the country in the first place.

Tips for Individuals Selling Their Home

If you have a gain from the sale of your main home, you may qualify to exclude all or part of that gain from your income.

1.     In general, you are eligible to exclude the gain from income if you have owned and used your home as your main home for two years out of the five years prior to the date of its sale.

2.     If you have a gain from the sale of your main home, you may be able to exclude up to $250,000 of the gain from your income ($500,000 on a joint return in most cases).

Tax Tips for Job Seekers

Tax Tips for Job Seekers

Many taxpayers spend time during the summer months updating their résumé and attending career fairs. Job seekers may be able to deduct some of the expenses on your tax return.

Here are seven things that you should know about deducting costs related to your job search.

1.     To qualify for a deduction, the expenses must be spent on a job search in your current occupation. You may not deduct expenses you incur while looking for a job in a new occupation.

2.     You can deduct employment and outplacement agency fees you pay while looking for a job in your present occupation. If your employer pays you back in a later year for employment agency fees, you must include the amount you receive in your gross income, up to the amount of your tax benefit in the earlier year.

Tax Tips for Students Starting a Summer Job

School’s out and many students are working this summer.

Here are five things that students should be aware of when they start a summer job.

1. When you first start a new job you must fill out a Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate. This form is used by employers to determine the amount of tax that will be withheld from your paycheck. If you have multiple summer jobs, make sure all your employers are withholding an adequate amount of taxes to cover your total income tax liability.

2. Whether you are working as a waiter or a camp counselor, you may receive tips as part of your summer income. All tips you receive are taxable income and are therefore subject to federal income tax.

DV-2012 Entrant Status Check available NOW

DV-2012 Entrant Status Check

Green Card Lottery - Diversity Visa – Results are available now, please go to U.S. Department of State Electronic Diversity Visa Entrant Status Check Web Site for DV-2012: http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ESC/

You need your entry confirmation number in order to check your result.

If you are one of the few lucky entrants that are selected, our law firm offers green card application services for DV lottery winners.

My Law, LLC
Immigration & Tax Law Firm

www.mylawllc.com

Phone: (630) 903-9625

1230 E. Diehl Rd. Suite 106

Naperville, IL 60563

E-mail: attorney@mylawllc.com