i-864 - help! have never filed tax return with the US

[mbamkaikato]

I am petitioning for an immigrant visa for my husband at the US embassy in Greece. I now realized that I will have to sponsor him with the i-864 affidavit of support. However I have never filed a tax return with the US in my life. I am a US citizen but have lived in europe all my life. I am a self-employed architect, and the IRS states that if i was making more then $400/year i should of filed tax returns with the IRS. So i am guessing i can't just file a statement with my i-864 saying i wasn't required to file a tax return, because according to the handbook i should of, but I never knew this until now. what do i do? the IRS website is seriously confusing me and I have no idea how to go about filing tax returns for up to 3 years ago now!
any help would be greatly appreciated!
any accountants are also welcome to pm me with their details if they can aid me in filling out the proper paperwork!

[Jeff4cpa]

The rules

Hi. You are running into a couple of problems. One is the self employement tax issue, which is that if you make more than $400/year as a self employed person then you have to file a return. The other is, if you make more than the personal exemption amount, you have a filing requirement. The general rule for all U.S. citizens is that you declare your worldwide income and take a credit for foreign taxes paid. Additionally, you may be elgible for the foreign income exclusion. You need to address this issue for the past and put in place a strategy for the future that will save you taxes. We have done this for similar clients working overseas. I would like to give you a quote but I need a little more infomation. I hope you will contact our office. My email is [email protected] .

Regards,

Jeff Pickering, CPA