Just curious..

[Mandysbaby 0]

What everyone's doing as far as filing their spouses on their taxes if they're still considered nonresident aliens but have valid ssn? Hubby is still waiting on his namecheck so he's not approved for his green card yet. But he does have a valid ssn. I'm more concerned about filing taxes and then "losing out" on the tax rebate if they find out he's a nonresident alien even though his ssn is valid.

[Kez/JWolf 6]

He became a resident the day he arrived on his visa for tax purposes... he does not need to wait for his greencard to be classed as a resident....

You will need to file as married if you were married as of Dec 31st 2007 you can file as joint or separate...

Kez

[Mandysbaby 0]

He became a resident the day he arrived on his visa for tax purposes... he does not need to wait for his greencard to be classed as a resident....

You will need to file as married if you were married as of Dec 31st 2007 you can file as joint or separate...

Kez

Even if he was over on a tourist visa when we married?

[Kez/JWolf 6]

He became a resident the day he arrived on his visa for tax purposes... he does not need to wait for his greencard to be classed as a resident....

You will need to file as married if you were married as of Dec 31st 2007 you can file as joint or separate...

Kez

Even if he was over on a tourist visa when we married?

I was in the same situation and we filed as married jointly for 2005.... you can choose to be treated as resident for tax purposes, it just means you have to declare your worldwide income for the tax year....

Kez

[Mandysbaby 0]

Well he def has no worldwide income for the tax year. thanks for your help

[one_day_at_a_time 0]

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p519/ch01.html#d0e1628

Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident

If, at the end of your tax year, you are married and one spouse is a U.S. citizen or a resident alien and the other spouse is a nonresident alien, you can choose to treat the nonresident spouse as a U.S. resident. This includes situations in which one spouse is a nonresident alien at the beginning of the tax year, but a resident alien at the end of the year, and the other spouse is a nonresident alien at the end of the year.

If you make this choice, you and your spouse are treated for income tax purposes as residents for your entire tax year. Neither you nor your spouse can claim under any tax treaty not to be a U.S. resident. You are both taxed on worldwide income. You must file a joint income tax return for the year you make the choice, but you and your spouse can file joint or separate returns in later years.

How To Make the Choice

Attach a statement, signed by both spouses, to your joint return for the first tax year for which the choice applies. It should contain the following information.

A declaration that one spouse was a nonresident alien and the other spouse a U.S. citizen or resident alien on the last day of your tax year, and that you choose to be treated as U.S. residents for the entire tax year.

The name, address, and identification number of each spouse. (If one spouse died, include the name and address of the person making the choice for the deceased spouse.)

[payxibka 10,045]

He became a resident the day he arrived on his visa for tax purposes... he does not need to wait for his greencard to be classed as a resident....

You will need to file as married if you were married as of Dec 31st 2007 you can file as joint or separate...

Kez

He became a resident alien for tax purposes when one of the following three situation are met...

1) Possessed a valid green card for any part of the tax year

2) Met the substantial presence test (essentially 183 days of physical presence calculated using the IRS prescribed formula)

3) Is married to a USC and opts for the special exception to declare himself a resident alien for tax purposes.

These may or may not have been the situation on the first day he arrived on his tourist visa.... but as long as one of them occured before the end of the tax year, then all is well....

Edited March 13, 2008 by fwaguy

[Sapphire 0]

He became a resident the day he arrived on his visa for tax purposes... he does not need to wait for his greencard to be classed as a resident....

You will need to file as married if you were married as of Dec 31st 2007 you can file as joint or separate...

Kez

Even if he was over on a tourist visa when we married?

I was in the same situation and we filed as married jointly for 2005.... you can choose to be treated as resident for tax purposes, it just means you have to declare your worldwide income for the tax year....

Kez

How do I do about "declaring my worldwide income for the tax year"? A simple declaration is enough? Has anyone been in such a situation and how did you support your declarations about your income obtained from your country before coming to USA?

Also, as an additional question, what about my daughter? On a short glance, it seems my husband (the USC and taxpayer) cannot declare her as dependent if she did not live with him for at least 6 months, is that right? (since he did not adopt her). If that is true, but if me and my husband file jointly, do I become in this case "a taxpayer" and can I declare her as dependent (since she is my daughter and she did live with me for the whole year)? I am veeery confused and I am trying to figure all this out in order to choose the best option for filing the taxes...

Hoping I can find a good advice, tks, Bianca

[payxibka 10,045]

To claim a dependency exemption for a qualifying child or a qualifying relative, the citizen, national, or resident test and joint return test must be met.

[Elmira 1]

We just did out taxes togethere with my husband (he is an US Citizen) yesterday as we married before 31 dec 07... People in agency told us that even if I don't have a GC yet we need submit taxes together as we are married and i have SSN Good luck

[payxibka 10,045]

We just did out taxes togethere with my husband (he is an US Citizen) yesterday as we married before 31 dec 07... People in agency told us that even if I don't have a GC yet we need submit taxes together as we are married and i have SSN Good luck

Mostly true... You must file as Married... That can either be together as Married Filing Joint or not together as Married Filing Separate

[Sapphire 0]

To claim a dependency exemption for a qualifying child or a qualifying relative, the citizen, national, or resident test and joint return test must be met.

Yeah, meanwhile I did read more and found out about the "nationality / residence test". Thanks for your answer, fwaguy.

That is such a ... so I declare my incomes obtained in my country, even though they were subject to taxation there, but I cannot claim her as a dependent HERE, even though I did have all the expenses related to her for the whole year...

I have to do some calculations to see if it's worth it to file for 2007 jointly...

Anyway, I would still appreciate an answer, if anyone tried this way, to my question related to supporting docs for the income obtained outside USA. Additionally, what income should I declare, gross I suppose (again, in my country the gross income is subject to alot of withdrawals, separate from the income taxation)? Romania has a Double Taxation prevention treaty signed with USA, would that apply?

Edited March 13, 2008 by Sapphire

[payxibka 10,045]

To claim a dependency exemption for a qualifying child or a qualifying relative, the citizen, national, or resident test and joint return test must be met.

Yeah, meanwhile I did read more and found out about the "nationality / residence test". Thanks for your answer, fwaguy.

That is such a ... so I declare my incomes obtained in my country, even though they were subject to taxation there, but I cannot claim her as a dependent HERE, even though I did have all the expenses related to her for the whole year...

I have to do some calculations to see if it's worth it to file for 2007 jointly...

Anyway, I would still appreciate an answer, if anyone tried this way, to my question related to supporting docs for the income obtained outside USA. Additionally, what income should I declare, gross I suppose (again, in my country the gross income is subject to alot of withdrawals, separate from the income taxation)? Romania has a Double Taxation prevention treaty signed with USA, would that apply?

You would exclude the income via Form 2555 or claim a tax credit via Form 1116. You would figure it both ways and see which one provides the best benefit.