H4 visa holders don’t have authorization for US employment, including self-employment. So unless you’re doing your app development entirely in your home country, IMHO you have a legal question before you have a financial aid question.
http://www.h1base.com/content/h1bvisa
Do you even need to apply for financial aid? This link says H1B visas are issued to foreign skilled professionals that US companies recruit to work for them for a few years. Do you think you will qualify for aid with your parent’s income?
@mommdc Yes, our household is actually quite poor; my father (an H1B holder) only earns about $50,000 annually.
You said in another thread you were applying ED to Dartmouth? Did you get an aid package from them?
Did you get matched to any Questbridge schools?
I was rejected from Dartmouth and am not participating in the Questbridge program. I’m just asking this question in context of applying for financial aid during the regular decision round.
What is your home country? where were the apps developed?
If you’re required to file US tax returns, then you must file. Assuming you’re resident alien tax status, you may file the 1040 with the ITIN. See IRS Pub 519 U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens" https://www.irs.gov/publications/p519/
Filing tax return should not causing you to get any attentions from USCIS.
PayPal has a reports function that will generate sales reports and annual financial summaries. (Look on the top menu bar for REPORTS). That should be adequate documentation, should you be asked to provide it.
Foreign nationals who earn income while in the US must pay taxes on that income.
$50K income a year that your father makes is not “quite poor”. It is right about average.
The income gets reported/taxed in the country in which it was earned-- unless you’re American, in which case you have to report it to the IRS no matter in what country it’s earned.
I think that visa status means u can’t accept a job from an employer in the US, but I see no reason why that prevents u from gaining income in the US in other ways (own business, investments, inheritance). If u receive income in the US above a threshold amt, u need to account for it w the IRS using the TIN.
So reading the response from @GMTplus7 , it looks like your self employed income in excess of $400 might need to be reported to the IRS here.
You need to clarify that.
Regardless…I don’t think you qualify for a non-filer status…but that is just my opinion. You earned too much as a self employed person here.
Does you dad get a living allowance here as well? That might be considered part of his income too.
The ITIN exists to enable you to file your tax return in the US. Who helped you get the ITIN to begin with? Ask that person to help you track down the correct paperwork to sort out what taxes your small business owes for the past two years. Check the state and local tax rules as well as the federal ones.
His / Her parents. OP got an ITIN because OP’s parents need to claim OP as dependent
I did some research and it looks like my entire business operation is illegal, just as @allyphoe suggested. If I report the income, I’ll break U.S immigration law, and if I don’t report it, I’ll break U.S tax law. I’d end up breaking a law one way or another.
Breaking U.S tax law sounds like a less big of a deal than breaking U.S immigration law, so I think I’ll go with that.
No, regardless reporting or no, you already broken the immigration laws of US. If you don’t report the incomes, you will also breaking the tax laws too.
@4kidsdad You’re right. I meant to say that if I report the income, I would have provided evidence of breaking immigration law. But if I don’t, I could theoretically just go on like nothing happened.
Did you mention your business in your college essays?
If you apply for financial aid from a college you need to report the income.
I also hope you will only make apps from now on if you provide them for free.
You can’t go on like nothing happened, you have money in your paypal account.
^ Did you mention the app creation business in your college essays?
You need to file your tax return and report your 2015 income. Even people who earn money through illegal means (selling drugs, extortion) need to report the income and pay taxes.