Income Tax filing newly married

[tom&tata 2]

Thank you for posting this and i really appreciate every help we can get.. Im sure myproblem is somehow the same as yours. I got here in August but before that i was working.. and filing in the philippines is being done by the accountants or the HR (which i am ) i just get a form every april that says IM GOOD, I HAVE PAID TAXES.. but the problem is.. im not sure where is that form anymore and i really have no idea on how was my taxes computed last year let alone how much was my earned income...

how then can we file ours? we tried tax act which giving us a very sweet amount, but we are not sure.. my father in law who was a retired IRS agent said we have to delcare my earnings in 2008 from January to July... but where will i get the figure?

thank you so much in advance.

-MIcah

You need to get the filing done by your old employer - to show your income for 2008 or get your last pay check if you got YTD number. Use the conversion rate (I used oanda.com) to convert to USD. You need to report this income in your US tax return as you are taxed on worldwide income. You get to exempt this income by using form 2555.

[rin and john 71]

Stumbled across this thread, and it is full of great information. I'm still a bit confused, though.

SO and I got married in November of 2008 in Japan

I'm back in the US (US Citizen), she's still in Japan, and isn't going to be coming to the US

I'm moving to Japan later this year (2009)

She hasn't lived in the US since 2007, where she had an SSN but it was with a student visa (temporary)

So, when I'm filing for taxes, it sounds like I need to file married (of course), but can I use her old SSN? Do I need to still fill out any extra forms?

Thanks!

SSNs never change, so her SSN is still valid.

For your filing options;

1) You can file MFJ (you will need to get a copy of her passport notarized at the US Embassy in Japan and a letter from the two of you stating she wishes to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes ). Also, her income will be taxable as US income (with a foreign exclusion using form 2555). By doing this, she will also receive the $600 recovery tax rebate and you will have the benefit of MFJ versus MFS.

2) You can file MFS. This might be better if her income exceeded the amount allowed on form 2555.

3) You can file HOH (if you meet certain criteria).

I recommend you read through several of the threads on VJ about taxes plus IRS pub 519 and pub 54 (then come back with more specific questions, if necessary).

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

Alright so we tried a little more with TaxCut with no luck (btw we were using the online version, so supposedly up-to-date). So I decided to just try to fill out the form manually.

I think we did pretty good, the amount in the end is what TaxCut told us + the $600 recovery rebate or whatever it is called. For info, we're pretty sure TaxCut told us the right amount, the problem is that it says there are errors so we can't proceed until the end. So we did it manually. It wasn't too hard since there are only two files and the instructions are pretty good most of the time. We even did the state taxes too.

Assuming all this is good, I know we have to add a statement saying that we want me to be treated as a US resident even though I don't have my green card yet.

But I have one more question: am I supposed to show a proof of my foreign income (the US citizen shows his W2, what does the foreign spouse show?) and if so, what am I supposed to give them? I didn't find any instructions about that.

[tom&tata 2]

Alright so we tried a little more with TaxCut with no luck (btw we were using the online version, so supposedly up-to-date). So I decided to just try to fill out the form manually.

I think we did pretty good, the amount in the end is what TaxCut told us + the $600 recovery rebate or whatever it is called. For info, we're pretty sure TaxCut told us the right amount, the problem is that it says there are errors so we can't proceed until the end. So we did it manually. It wasn't too hard since there are only two files and the instructions are pretty good most of the time. We even did the state taxes too.

Assuming all this is good, I know we have to add a statement saying that we want me to be treated as a US resident even though I don't have my green card yet.

But I have one more question: am I supposed to show a proof of my foreign income (the US citizen shows his W2, what does the foreign spouse show?) and if so, what am I supposed to give them? I didn't find any instructions about that.

We just kept the documentation ourselves. For me, it was in Indonesian & in Indonesian currency too. I also document the source of rate I used for the conversion.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Alright so we tried a little more with TaxCut with no luck (btw we were using the online version, so supposedly up-to-date). So I decided to just try to fill out the form manually.

I think we did pretty good, the amount in the end is what TaxCut told us + the $600 recovery rebate or whatever it is called. For info, we're pretty sure TaxCut told us the right amount, the problem is that it says there are errors so we can't proceed until the end. So we did it manually. It wasn't too hard since there are only two files and the instructions are pretty good most of the time. We even did the state taxes too.

Assuming all this is good, I know we have to add a statement saying that we want me to be treated as a US resident even though I don't have my green card yet.

But I have one more question: am I supposed to show a proof of my foreign income (the US citizen shows his W2, what does the foreign spouse show?) and if so, what am I supposed to give them? I didn't find any instructions about that.

I've mailed mine. It included in this order:

• Subsitute W2 Form 4852 filled out and signed by the one with foreign income.
• USCs W2s attached to front of 1040
• Form 1040
• Schedule B & D (you might not have these depending on your income)
• Form 2555EZ Foreign Earned Income Exclusion ( I did the pdf version from irs.gov where you can type and save and print)
• Statement: Nonresident spouse treated as resident signed by both

You could have different Schedules, like Schedule A if you itemize or other forms that fit your return so my list is not what everybody would have. Bolded items you would have most likely. I chose to use the 2555EZ from the IRS and took out the 2555 printed by TurboTax because it was a shorter, easier form for people not taking a housing exclusion. I flled it in on TurboTax to do the exclusion but traded forms for mailing. There wasn't an EZ in my version of TurboTax.

There's always free TurboTax online if you want to give it a run through to compare totals. I came up with the same number on both free online versions. Wouldn't be a bad idea to check yourself since this is a complicated tax year. TurboTax wil let you move forward without info being completed.

Edit: Forgot to say, no actual UK documents were sent as "proof" of income. Just the subsitute W2 Form 4852.

Edited February 5, 2009 by Nich-Nick

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

Thank you

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

I have to say your help is very appreciated. I had forgotten about that form 4852.

And I will definitely try to check our results with TurboTax online.

[mrsartis 10]

thanks for your replies.. it really helps.. i didnt even know we need the form 4852.. thank you so much,,,

we'll update you what happened,,.

[Hope10 0]

Hello Guys! I got married in 2008 and a friend of mine is trying to convince me that all newly weds are getting 600$ each just cause of the fact that we got married. Its something like a stimulus for the newly weds? Guys, have you heard about anything like this? My friend told me that they sent you the money but i really doubt this cause on the return there is no indication of such thing. please let me know your thoughts. i appreciate your help sincerely!

[BTalley 0]

It's a "recovery rebate credit."

That $600 you probably got in 2008 now should be $1,200 because you are married.

Line 70 on Form 1040 is where you put $600 (if, after doing the worksheet, that is indeed the amount).

That $600 is added to your "total payments" and basically gives you an additional $600 refund (or lowers your tax obligation by $600).

Edited February 10, 2009 by BTalley

[Hope10 0]

It's a "recovery rebate credit."

That $600 you probably got in 2008 now should be $1,200 because you are married.

Line 70 on Form 1040 is where you put $600 (if, after doing the worksheet, that is indeed the amount).

That $600 is added to your "total payments" and basically gives you an additional $600 refund (or lowers your tax obligation by $600).

Well that is what I thought too , but she tells me that its a different thing and this $600 are just because you got married. she also mentioned that if you have a child the year you are filing the taxes for , you are entitled to that money as well. It seems like this is not true though. Well , thanks for answering and have a nice day!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Your filing status has to change from 2007 to 2008 to qualify for the Recovery Rebate. So going from single to married is a change that qualifies so maybe that's why she's saying $600 for getting married.

But it doesn't work out that way for everybody who got married.

Example: 2007 incentive offered $1200 to a married couple or $600 to a single person.

Mary got $600 as a single in 2007. Joe got $600 as single in 2007.

Mary married Joe in 2008 so their filing status changed and they qualify for the 2008 Recovery Rebate of $1200. BUT~~~

IRS says ok there's $1200, but you have to take off anything you already got in 2007. So Mary takes off her $600 and Joe takes off his $600 and that leaves $0 for them to get in 2008.

The only way it works for getting money is if one of the newly married partners didn't get their whole $600 in 2007. In our VJ community, there happens to be alot of new partners who didn't get their $600 last year because they were aliens and not eligible in 2007. Marriage to a USC makes them eligible if they declare that they want to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes.

Edited February 11, 2009 by Nich-Nick

[rin and john 71]

Your filing status has to change from 2007 to 2008 to qualify for the Recovery Rebate. So going from single to married is a change that qualifies so maybe that's why she's saying $600 for getting married.

But it doesn't work out that way for everybody who got married.

Example: 2007 incentive offered $1200 to a married couple or $600 to a single person.

Mary got $600 as a single in 2007. Joe got $600 as single in 2007.

Mary married Joe in 2008 so their filing status changed and they qualify for the 2008 Recovery Rebate of $1200. BUT~~~

IRS says ok there's $1200, but you have to take off anything you already got in 2007. So Mary takes off her $600 and Joe takes off his $600 and that leaves $0 for them to get in 2008.

The only way it works for getting money is if one of the newly married partners didn't get their whole $600 in 2007. In our VJ community, there happens to be alot of new partners who didn't get their $600 last year because they were aliens and not eligible in 2007. Marriage to a USC makes them eligible if they declare that they want to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes - and have/obtain a SSN.

bold added.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

bold added.

Right-O! I get so tired of writing this stuff over and over that I do tend to leave out bits.

[payxibka 10,045]

bold added.

Right-O! I get so tired of writing this stuff over and over that I do tend to leave out bits.

make sure you are here a year from now, you can start all over again