taxes for 2007

[polar77 0]

Hi all, I'm trying to get prepared for tax season.....

From what I have researched it looks like I can treat my nonresident spouse as a US resident for tax purposes for 2007 while we are doing AOS.

(from IRS website)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.

My question is, have any of you US citizen spouses here on VJ changed their W4 at work once they were married to their nonresident alien spouses??? I was going to change mine to reflect that I am married, but I see that it says to leave the box as single if your spouse is a nonresident alien, but seeing that I can actually treat her like a resident for tax purposes, I wonder if I should change my W4 to married now?

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf

Thanks anyone for advice...

[dale_trisha 3]

What you would do depends upon the source of the income from your spouse. If the income is earned as a non-resident alient in the US then different tax laws apply. In my case I elected to select married since my spouse does not work in the US and does not work in Phil since she is currently a student. I can claim her as a deduction but need to file a W7 with the 1040 once we do the 2008 taxes.

Hope this helps you

[polar77 0]

My spouse has not worked in the USA yet and never worked in the Philippines either. I still wanted to file married Joint for 2007. Is this ok?

[dale_trisha 3]

Sure you can but without anytime lines I can not tell when your wife entered the US so it is hard to give specific data. But you can file Married Joint in 2007 , assuming you were married in 2007. Then you both can an exemption which is what your probably trying to do. For the SSN she will not have one. This is where the W-7 comes in. You need to complete that to get her a Tax Id Number (TIN). The 1040 and W7 gets sent to Austin for processing if memory serves me correctly.

The best thing to do for documentaiton is to get an athenticated passport copy at DFA for her. That takes about one week processing time in Manila. I my my wifes for 2008 ready to go.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Just a note--2007 taxes were for Jan 1, 2007-Dec 31, 2007 and were due by April 15, 2008. Are you filing 2007 taxes late?

Another comment. That W-4 form for withholding from your paycheck is just an estimate to try to make you come out even at tax filing time. If you claim married and claim your spouse, you will get more take home pay for now. But the final tax bill is what you file on your tax return. If you take home too much now, you will owe it later at filing time. If they take too much out now, you will get it back as a refund when you file. You can claim whatever you want on that W4 form within reason. Hope this makes sense to you. Your tax is not what comes out of your paycheck. It's the bottom line when you fill out the 1040 tax return. The W4 is just a tool to help you get a good estimate.

For example: On your return you come up with

$5000 (tax owed) based on your income, marital status, number of kids, deductions, etc.

$5500 (held from paycheck)

so $500 refund check sent to you

Or

$5000 (tax owed)

$4000 (held from paycheck)

so $1000 taxes due the IRS for underpayment during the year. Send a lump sum check before Aprl 15.