What if I have tax return for 4 years only?

[Birjinia]

Hello everyone,

I have been in the US for more than 4 years and got my US green card 5 years ago. However since I didn't have any income in the US in 2017, I filed my taxes in another country. Therefore, I don't have any 2017 tax returns. Can you please advise what I should do? do I need a 2017 tax return as well?

[Dx134]

Not knowing anything about your specific tax situation, I'd guess that you had a legitimate reason not to file a tax return for 2017 (although you state that you filed in another country; if you had income there, you might have been required to file in the US too). If that is indeed the case, then I'd speculate that it's perfectly fine to answer the question "Have you even not filed a tax return since becoming a PR?" on the N-400 with "Yes" and attach an explanation, but I'd probably check with an immigration attorney if I were in your position. AFAIK, you can always file/amend a tax return for a previous tax year; I don't know if that changes anything regarding your naturalization case.